Power requrements for X800

[Guest]

I bought a Sapphire X800 GTO. And while it runs great when my system is at
333mhz fsb xp2500 1.65v. <my stock speed>,When I overclock my system to
400mhz fsb xp3200 with a 1.75-1.8 vcore my frame rates go down terribly
while playing BF2 and my system reboots. What I'm wondering is, is my antec
trupower 420 not powerful enough to power this card, 2 hd's a dvd burner and
floppy? Also the VPU temp seems to hover around 40 C. Is that normal? I have
only 2 cards in my system, my video card and a soundblaster Audigy.
This has been driving me nuts since I got the card, and I'm not sure which
step to take. Obviously something is at fault here, but, hey, 4 weeks b4
Christmas, I cant just start replacing things I "think" might be the
problem.......
I'm guessing power supply as my voltages are all short, and fluctuate
tremendously. they are as follows
My Vcore @2500 1.65 <default> 1.57 - 1.76
My 3.3v 3.25 - 3.33
My 5v 4.87 - 4.98
<never @ 5v>
My 12V 11.58 - 11.64
<never @ 12v>

I wrote Antec about this issue and they told me that they are "within spec".
I'm not an engineer but, I assume that when an electronic device requires X
number of volts there is a "little" fluctuation expected, but mine seem
extreme. I am using MSI's PCAlert4 for monitoring, but I have also checked
them in the bios, with Everest home edition, speedfan, and also with
systool.
Do I blow some $$ and get a 450-600W power supply? or look at something
else?
Heat is not an issue as my CPU runs at about 110-125 F with my Thermaltake
volcano 12. Thanks for any help ya'll can give.


--
{SFU} Jackyl

MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR
Athlon XP2500
ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256
1gb Geil DDR 3200 DC

 

[Batman or Superman]

I bought a Sapphire X800 GTO. And while it runs great when my system is at
333mhz fsb xp2500 1.65v. <my stock speed>,When I overclock my system to
400mhz fsb xp3200 with a 1.75-1.8 vcore my frame rates go down terribly
while playing BF2 and my system reboots. What I'm wondering is, is my antec
trupower 420 not powerful enough to power this card, 2 hd's a dvd burner and
floppy? Also the VPU temp seems to hover around 40 C. Is that normal? I have
only 2 cards in my system, my video card and a soundblaster Audigy.
This has been driving me nuts since I got the card, and I'm not sure which
step to take. Obviously something is at fault here, but, hey, 4 weeks b4
Christmas, I cant just start replacing things I "think" might be the
problem.......
I'm guessing power supply as my voltages are all short, and fluctuate
tremendously. they are as follows
My Vcore @2500 1.65 <default> 1.57 - 1.76
My 3.3v 3.25 - 3.33
My 5v 4.87 - 4.98
<never @ 5v>
My 12V 11.58 - 11.64
<never @ 12v>

I wrote Antec about this issue and they told me that they are "within spec".
I'm not an engineer but, I assume that when an electronic device requires X
number of volts there is a "little" fluctuation expected, but mine seem
extreme. I am using MSI's PCAlert4 for monitoring, but I have also checked
them in the bios, with Everest home edition, speedfan, and also with
systool.
Do I blow some $$ and get a 450-600W power supply? or look at something
else?
Heat is not an issue as my CPU runs at about 110-125 F with my Thermaltake
volcano 12. Thanks for any help ya'll can give.

My guess is that you have an unstable overclock. It's not heat that
causes it to become unstable, it's the CPU operating too much beyond
spec. The proper way to overclock is to overclock in small increments,
testing it each jump. As far as your PS goes, it should be fine for an
X800GTO. Also, 40C is actually a nice operating temp for you card.

 

[Glen]

I've seen blurbs all over the net about Antec supplies and their weak
+12V rails. Problems usually start surfacing after several months of
use. Definitely not good news.

BTW did you mean TP430? I don't believe Antec ever made a 420.

 

[Guest]

Yes, my bad, 430..... I pulled my Raidmax 420 out of my server to test. Too
many possibilities, so I want to try this first. and I have another
correction, my frame rates drop at stock speeds, even at 800x600 low
settings!!!!!!!!!! So, I've either got a power problem, a worn out windows
install, or a bad card, I'll start with the power supply first. I'll keep ya
posted. I know what I've heard, I "SHOULD" be able to play BF2, D3 with
settings on high at decent rez's. If this doesn't fix it, next step is to
pull my HD out of my sever and try a fresh install of windows on my system
<too many music files and family pics to dick with my HD right now.......>
LOL

 

[Guest]

Update
I ran BF2 for almost 2 hours, and ran Aquamark3d, fps in BF2 was between 40
and 90. Aquamark3d finished with a 49,699. <wouldn't finish with my Antec,
always rebooted when I ran it @3200. Temp stayed between 115 and 130 F!!! I
think I'll be getting a new power supply. Screw the warranty. strike 1 and
you're out in my book!!!

 

[Guest]

Hi Everyone,
Well, I found out what the problem is/was..... While Antec is "supposed" to
be a good power supply, apparently I got a dud. I took the pwr supply out of
my server, stuffed it into my system,and fire'd it up this morning @400mhz
fsb 1.8v Vcore. And Wala, system ran, CPU stayed about 114-125 < up to 125
when playing BF2> and, I was able to raise my rez up to 1280x960 <I think,
something like that> 2xaa and was getting 50-74 fps. Played again when I got
up, and I also ran Aquamark3d 49509, and 3dmark 03 17631. My voltages dont
vary as much as they did. So, I guess I'll be buying a new power supply,
enough to handle 2hd's, cdrom, DVD burner, my video card and all my fans. I
think I'll invest in a watercooler that way I can cut down on required
power, and cool it better, and that way when I do upgrade to my athlon 64
system I can just change the waterblock on my CPU