PSU/Vid card question

[CHOPS123]

OK I was running 2 6800 gs cards in sli mode with a 550 ethermax psu....Had no problems....Now I took those cards out and replaced it with the 8800 gts 512, I also added a new monitor 22in LCD widescreen. Ever since then Ive had some system crashes and lock ups.....Is there a way to tell if my card is getting enuff power....Could it be draining my computers power and causing these lock ups and crashes? Is there some free software out there to see what is going on with my voltage etc?

Thanks in advance

[WalkinTarget]

Chops, download and install Speedfan, then open it and on th top menu, select the 'Charts' tab, then from the Analyze dropdown list select 'Voltages'. Once you've arrived at that list, put a checkmark in the box for +12v reading.
That will then start graphing the +12v rail that is powering your video card. Expect it to fluctuate a bit, but if it drops below 11.76 for an extended amount of time, expect to have problems.

[CHOPS123]

Thanks WT

[WalkinTarget]

Here's what you are looking for:



Post what your +12 results are, and indicate if it looks like a heart rhythm chart (yanno, really bouncy and stuff .... we don't want that). Notice how mine is a freakin ' flatline. That Fortron Epsilon 600 is as solid as a rock !

[juneau]

Is this PSU Enermax or Ethermax?

[CHOPS123]

I think its a enermax Juneau. WT my voltage looks like a crap....its all over the place. I have a new PSU corsair 620...I just didnt want to stick it in my old case Im in a build process.....I should be done with it in a week.

One question should i buy corsair xms2 or OCZ gold ram...they are both pc2 6400 800mhz. The ocz is a little cheaper. Thanks in advance guys

[WalkinTarget]

OK, when you say looks like crap .. it isn't necessarily bad that its jumpy, but it IS bad if it drops well below 12.... thats the thing to monitor first and foremost.

An aged PSU is an ineffective PSU ... every component will lose its stability when it is older, but even morseso a power supply, as its sole purpose is to funnel clean electrical current into your computer from a wall outlet, so I wouldn't toss it in the trash just yet, but we want to make sure it isn't dropping below 11.7 too often.

Surprisingly, plugging in the various molex ends at different locations may even help the PSU. If you can remove some of the load from one rail, then the PSU may just clean out its ripple and spikes.

[CHOPS123]

yea i dif want be tossing it in the garbage.....Its been a great psu...I think just adding a dif vid card and all the other hard drives hooked to it are causing problems. Once i get my new system up and running i will put my old cards back in and see what kinda changes happen. As far as that ram question......What should i go with? Corsair xms2 or the OCZ gold?

[WalkinTarget]

What should i go with? Corsair xms2 or the OCZ gold?

No obvious preference when it comes down to these two as a choice. After reading up on the board, the only real concern is the issues with it running a bit hotter than other X38 boards, especially the NB (which needs more volts to achieve a good O/C).

Is this the board you went with ? - http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3149&p=12

[juneau]

RAM is RAM is RAM. The only questions you need to ask is this....

1. Which is cheapest.
2. Is it compatible with my motherboard.

[darth_nevus]

RAM is RAM is RAM. The only questions you need to ask is this....

1. Which is cheapest.
2. Is it compatible with my motherboard.

actually, no its not. there are several different chip makers. some are indeed better than other. the old Micron D9 chips were superior to anything out there.

[CHOPS123]

WT Thats the board i went with except mine is not the SE version. It had some kinda option for watercooling and there were alot of problems with it so newegg took it of there site

[WalkinTarget]

Yea, I read about that as well. It appears the water blocks were not mounted properly on he board.
Geez, if you are going to offer an ultra high end board with water cooling built into it, you damn well better do it right !!!!
I'd have sworn off buying any boards from that company if I had bought one and had to disassemble my rig to get it corrected. It pays to do your research, and offers yet another reason why even the so-called best gear available can be a crap shoot from time to time.