Hardware Power supply question

[Kendo]

I have a Pentium 4 399ghz x2. running Windows XP. A while ago my power supply packed up so I bought a new one. It is the same, 300w. Ever since, my graphic card has been a little iffy, and now it is unusable due to garbled graphics. Its an ATI 3800 HD 512mb AGP card which cost £95 9 months ago. The computer manufacturer states I have a PCI slot, but I don,t, I have an AGP slot lol . Presuming it was the card that was effected, I bought a new Geforce 6200 512mb AGP as I dont want to spend a lot more money on the computer. This loads up to the the welcome screen then compltely freezes. I had no problms running Orbiter 2006 or 2010, my frame rates were around 180 to 200 plus with the ATI. I,m using my built in card at the moment so I cant run Orbiter or any 3d games etc. What I am asking is, I presume I need a larger Power supply ie a 450w or 500w. I,m hoping this is all that is effected and can get the ATI to work again. Maybe someone could give me some advice. Kind regards Ken.

 

[Lucy]

Firstly, you'll have both PCI and AGP slots. PCI slots are the (usually) white slots on the board just next to the AGP slot. PCI-E is something totally different, which replaces AGP slots.

Now, the Geforce 6200. I used to have one of these cards, and yes, you'll need a meatier power supply to make it work properly, somewhere in the range of 450 to 500 watts like you thought. Before I upgraded my PSU to cope with the card the system used to hard reboot every time the driver initialised the card, but your mileage may vary on that one.

I think it's also likely that the 300w supply you installed could have been defective, which would almost certainly be the root cause of the graphics issues. Damaged / nonfuctional power supplies can cause a wide range of errors which tend to mask out the actual source of the problem. Really, the PSU is the first thing to test in a diagnostic crisis.

Beyond all that, I found the 6200 a solid card, and it'll certainly do you for Orbiter and Windows XP, but it's getting on a bit now. If I were you, I'd be saving up for a full system upgrade if you're not already, but the rig you have will certainly work (with a stronger PSU).

 

[Kendo]

Wow Xyon, that was quick. I wish to thank you, you have put my mind at ease. My house is on the market, so as soon as its sold I,m going to buy a damn good computer believe me. That why I don,t want to spend too much on this one. Once again many thanks for the advice.:thumbup:
Kind regards, Ken

 

[Tommy]

I agree with xyon. When I built my PC 9 years ago, I spent more on the power supply (an Antek) than I did on the processor. I have no regrets about that, as this computer still runs fine today. In fact it outperforms many newer computers.

I also spent a few years in the arcade business, and as xyon said, you check the power supply first. A slightly failing (or simply under powered) power supply can manifest as any number of seemingly unrelated symptoms. What may seem to be a faulty keyboard may in fact be a power supply problem.

A quality power supply in the 450 watt range should cost around $60 to $80 USD. Or around forty pounds. It's a worthwhile investment, since a overstressed PS can cause physical damage to other components such as the CPU, chipset, drives, or cards. My recommendations are Antec or PC Power and Cooling. There are other quality products out there, but avoid the "Sun Tsaio" or other cheap brands often sold iun "box" stores or used as OM on prebuilt PC's.
The power supply doesn't just provide the DC voltages, it is also a key component in the cooling system - so get a fan with two (not just one) fans built in.

 

[jedidia]

ai sorry, posted in the wrong thread. I wanted to post in the cooling thread...

 

[N_Molson]

Try (with caution) what I call "manual detection". If the CPU is really at 90°C, then you should not even be able to touch it (or you'll get a bad burn). Also there should be a distinct smell of overheated plastic/metals. If you find that the temp seems alright, maybe the temperature probe is failing.

Else I had the same issue with my GPU, same temps and very slow going down too (what I call "thermal inertia"). The inside of the fan was full with "computer mud" (that gray, fine dust saturated with humidity), which rendered it completely inoperative. A good cleaning (by blowing air through it with my breath) solved the problem entirely. I wasn't aware there could be so much dust in a small thing like that. It's a matter of density, the fine dust agregates with humidity.