Determining power needs...

[Jason1971]

My question is how does one determine power needs? The reason I ask is that a few days ago I got a new video card (Geforce 5600FX Ultra) which required its own power source. As I was connecting the power source I started wondering if I had enough power to run everything. Then I started to have problems booting up.

Here is what I got running on a 300W PSU:

1600 XP
DVD-ROM
CDRW
2 hard drives
1 gig of DDR Ram
and now the new video card.

The problem that I am having is that I am having trouble when I boot-up my system. Problems like hang-ups, black screen, about 5 seconds after hitting the power button. Now if I can boot-up without any problems I have no problems..

All of this started after I got my new video card.


Thanks,
Jason

[Abbadon]

a good starting point for determining your power needs is here (http://www.firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/page2.asp) , however I'm not so sure your problem is just power related (although 300W might be a bit light for what you're running on it).

We need some extra info here:

- What brand is your psu? The quality difference between different brands is enormous.

- Clarify you problem. I'm not clear on wether you are actually capable of a succesfull boot.

- Do you here any beeps during the booting and if so: how many/what patern?

- What vidcard did you have before this one? Did you install all the latest drivers & such?

- An fx5600 with external power needs? I have one too but it does not require extra power, it just runs from the agp slot. Does yours have an extra fan or something like that?

[Whyzman]

Was your new card's predecessor also AGP? If it was PCI you'd need to enter the BIOS and change the setting...

Have you removed the old drivers?? You would want to do so in SAFEMODE...reboot and reinstall the new drivers...

With the AGP being used is there anything in PCI slot 1??

[Art2M]

Your card may not need external power other than the one being supplied by the AGP slot. Usually, a card with that optional power connector can accomodate an upgrade module for the card itself, but it won't be needing any additional power supply unless you attach this graphic module. So it is safe to use the card without attaching any power connector to it. Read the manual, it will greatly help you.

Another factor maybe, if your board's AGP slot is 2X or 4X certified and the new controller you had just installed is 8X, you can really expect problems. Use compatible cards by checking your mainboard's manual to see if it utilizes 2X, 4X or the new 8X standard, match this with the graphic controller card you will use. :)

[Jason1971]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.. The GeForce 5600 Ultra does have addition power requirements. My MB does accept 8X AGP. I removed old drivers (in safemode) My last video card was a GeForce 4 Ti4400 that died and I sent it back to PNY and they sent me back this 5600 Ultra.

I've solved one of my problem..the boot-up problems. It seems that I have to have my monitor turned on before I fire up the computer.. The colors are all out of whack or the monitor can not decide what resolution to run at.. Any idea why that is??

Now I am having a new problem. When I am playing games like BF 1942 or MS Flight Sim the graphics are getting drawn wrong or the color was off, I mean like something that is brown is now bright green. I've updated all of the drivers, chip set, video card, Direct X 9.0(card does support) and even flashed the BIOS. I've checked my BIOS settings. And I am running out of ideas.. So I was wondering if a weak power supply could cause instability?

Thnaks,
Jason
PS. I wish I had my old card back :(

[Jason1971]

Thanks for everyones help.. It's not a power related problem I am having. It's with my video card.


Jason

[mjc]

Thanks for everyones help.. It's not a power related problem I am having. It's with my video card.

It could still be power related......

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/maxpc/index_cases.htm