Frequent post-patch crashes/reboots from game

[jetski]

Originally Posted by Retaliator

@Russkly: I've got 630 W PSU... I think it could be the PSU. I'm now running a test with the windows certified drivers for my NVIDIA and let you know. Do you know about any software that can measure V and A for my ASUS P6T?

@whiplash: No, still on 1.00.13 patch. Will try the new one as soon as it's final

Hi,

I have also found an issue with the PC suddenly shutting off*. I have come to the conclusion that this is due to the graphics card over-stressing the PSU. The indicator is that the switch off is instantaneous and nothing is logged as abnormal. This is because the system is shut down before the OS can log what is going on. The next entry int the event log was the system starting again.
What is happening? - the PSU has an "overcurrent shutdown" feature which acts like a fuse and shuts off all power rails if one of the rails starts drawing too much power.
Cause - I upgraded my graphics card without paying enough attention to the rating of my PSU.
How to check? - run a GPU benchmark that stresses the GPU, this should also provoke the shutdown.
This is not a "crash" or driver incompatibility as it has occurred with several driver versions.

OS: XP 32 bit SP3
CPU intel core2 duo @2.83GHz
Memory 3.25 Gb
GPU: MSI N460GTX
PSU max 19A on 12v rail

*depending on BIOS confic,such a shut-down may cause automatic restarting.

[Russkly]

Originally Posted by jetski

Hi,

I have also found an issue with the PC suddenly shutting off*. I have come to the conclusion that this is due to the graphics card over-stressing the PSU. The indicator is that the switch off is instantaneous and nothing is logged as abnormal. This is because the system is shut down before the OS can log what is going on. The next entry int the event log was the system starting again.
What is happening? - the PSU has an "overcurrent shutdown" feature which acts like a fuse and shuts off all power rails if one of the rails starts drawing too much power.
Cause - I upgraded my graphics card without paying enough attention to the rating of my PSU.
How to check? - run a GPU benchmark that stresses the GPU, this should also provoke the shutdown.
This is not a "crash" or driver incompatibility as it has occurred with several driver versions.

OS: XP 32 bit SP3
CPU intel core2 duo @2.83GHz
Memory 3.25 Gb
GPU: MSI N460GTX
PSU max 19A on 12v rail

*depending on BIOS confic,such a shut-down may cause automatic restarting.

Thx, Jetski.

Makes absolute sense and fits my suspicions.

I recently changed the PSU fan and did wonder about the amperage rating compared to the GPU spec., but left it, because it hadn't caused any problems before (largely on Rise of Flight and Arma 2 @ high settings).

Only CoD has stressed the system enough to expose the weakling PSU.

OK, time to fork out some more cash on a new PSU to be followed shortly by a new GPU.

Ho hum.

R

[Russkly]

Interestingly I can't find any PSU at the local on-line shop I use here in Spain that has PSUs with 40A on the 12V rail - max. seems to be 25A.

Anyone know any manufacturers that make PSUs to handle this kind of loading?

R

[swiss]

Please get a decent one(~$120+), not some cheap crap.

[Russkly]

Originally Posted by swiss

Please get a decent one(~$120+), not some cheap crap.

Well, the ones I was looking at were mostly Antec 850s and 1000s and were about €150-250!!!

They still only had 25A max. @ 12V.

R

[Russkly]

Originally Posted by Russkly

Well, the ones I was looking at were mostly Antec 850s and 1000s and were about €150-250!!!

They still only had 25A max. @ 12V.

R

OK, now I understand:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r220...0A-on-12V-Rail

So, my Atrix 600T @ 720W, which seems to be cheap, old and fairly crap gives this:

+3.3V +5V +12V +12V -12V +5VSB
35A 40A 15A 17A 0.5A 2.5A

(Sorry about the formatting)

...which is 32A on the 12V rail - not enough according to the GPU spec, which wants 40A.

Especially with the CPU o/c'd from 2.67 to 3.25, plus 2xSSD and 2x1Tb HDD in RAID, plus a CoolerMaster heatsink for the o/c'd CPU.

Still surprised that I've not experienced this problem with other games though.

Hope this sheds some light - check your 12V rail, boys!

R

[swiss]

Originally Posted by Russkly

Well, the ones I was looking at were mostly Antec 850s and 1000s and were about €150-250!!!

They still only had 25A max. @ 12V.

R

Superflower, Corsair, Enermax, ("Be quiet", hard to get in the US)

[baffa]

I had to rearrange some fans and increase the rpm in my case to get rid of the excessive heat. My mainboard was at 70C, never seen that before
The only thing that had ok temps was my GPU even if it was pegged at 100% most of the time.

Everything is better now though, at least within teh limits.

I can recommend Corsair TX 650W PSU, 52A on +12V, more than enough for any single GPU setup.

[Russkly]

Originally Posted by baffa

I had to rearrange some fans and increase the rpm in my case to get rid of the excessive heat. My mainboard was at 70C, never seen that before
The only thing that had ok temps was my GPU even if it was pegged at 100% most of the time.

Everything is better now though, at least within teh limits.

I can recommend Corsair TX 650W PSU, 52A on +12V, more than enough for any single GPU setup.

So increased cooling helped the reboots?

So perhaps it's not the GPU overloading the PSU but the fans or the CPU heatsink I put in recently when o/c'ing the chip?

Either way, it seems the PSU cannot cope.

I'm looking at PSUs now, but I live in Spain and tend to use one shop for components, and they have Antec's (usually 4 x 12V rails @ about 20-25A each, which should do the trick, shouldn't it?).

Would prefer single rail like you have, but it's an availability issue.

Thanks again for the advice, baffa.

R