Power supply for video card

Hello Folks

I just got a new computer built and I was advised to get a higher power supply. I have Antec 550 wat ATX. I have a few issues and need to sort them with the tech before I sign off with him. I was told to get a much higher one as I am only getting half the performance.

EVGA 8800 GTX video card,768MB PCI-E-HDTV
Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard WIFI
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13G 2MB 1066MHZ
Corsair 2x1GB PC 6400 ddr2

Many thanks

Yvonne

To quote Darth Vader..

"Impressive. Most impressive"

I see you have come to the dark side....

Actually, the 550 should do you fine (as a raw number), but I would say bump it up if you go SLI. But with an 8800, I dont see a need for that, being the fastest kid on the block as of yet. I'm a big fan of PC Power & Cooling PSUs. They are spendy, but also the best in the business. But, not all PSUs are created equal. It really depends on how the rails are set up inside. Not knowing how your's is set up, I cant give you a realistic answer, just speculation.

It certainly wouldnt hurt to bump up the PSU, it would make it a bit future proof if you decide to add anything. Then you know it would handle whatever it is.

I could be wrong, today's hardware is more demanding, even tho the CPUs are drawing less as the dies shrink, the GPUs keep getting more demanding. It also depends on how many other devices you have hooked up. HDD, DVD/CD and so forth. Put the complete package up and I can get a better Idea...

...or, play it safe and get a bigger power plant and have piece of mind.

Just make sure what you have handles anything that you may want to do in the future.

EDIT:
Here is some informative reading...

http://www.pcpower.com/technology/

Check out the Power Usage table and the Power supply terminology links

Hi Yvonne, too long no see!

I know that motherboard and CPU!

I ended up with Crucial for memory though, and a XFX Geforce 7950GT, since I could not justify the price of taking the next step up to the 8xxx at the time. Of course, it figures that as soon as I get my system, the price droped a bit.

If you have a 550W supply, like FM, I would think you should be good, but if they are wanting you to go to a 600W for say $10-20 more, I would say it might not be bad investment at this point, as it is definitely cheaper to upgrade when you buy than to upgrade through replacement. That is the reasoning I did when I got my system, and went with a 600W Antec supply, which is sufficient even with 4 hard drives and two DVD burners (I do video editing as a hobby - Pinnacle Studio rocks!). Pyrinex, a wholesaler which I deal with and supplies places like Tom's Hardware, has had no problems with these units. Given they get a pallet of these supplies in every month, that is saying something.

Two items to note about this config:

1) If you are using Linux, forget using the Gig-E ports. The Linux kernel driver for this onboard NIC locks up, even with the latest updates.

2) Watch out for an audio stuttering problem, at least on XP. I have times when the system is doing nothing more than playing music I ripped to the system, and it will stutter at random times. Sometimes, 6-8 hours will go by with no stuttering, and then it will do it several times a minute for 10-15 mins. It seems to be a problem which cropped up with a recent XP patch about a month ago. Linux is solid in this area, so long as the LAN does not hang, so I know it is something on the XP software side. And nothing so far has fixed it.

BTW FM... good link.

Thank you for the links and the replies. I put the motherboard in it and came up with 610 or 750. I asked about the power supply when he replaced it. He gave me a box that did not go with the power supply. I paid $169 for this power supply and I thought he gave me a used one as he tried to do this with the DVD burner. If it is advisable to have better power supply I want to back it. I need the language to ask for better power supply, as he will challenge me. I paid a lot of money for the computer I was soaked on the parts it has not been a pleasant purchase. He tells me prices and charges me higher prices and he did not stick to our agreement that we had. I paid an embarrassing amount on the parts. If he has given me the wrong power supply and I am not getting the total experience I need to do something about it.

The computer is built already it runs well. I just want to be safe and run the way it should. The only usage for me is for games I am not doing any fancy stuff like run a server. This computer is whisper quite my old one did not have good fans.

I have a Viewsonic 22 inch screen a VG2230.
5 fans made by Glacial Tech
Thermaltake case – this is my old case
I do not have a video card I use the one on the motherboard

What other information do you need Flake monkey? I will see if I can find it. Where can I find this information?

Btw if anyone is interested I have the parts and want to sell them it was a 64 bit with a 9800 video card

thank you Yvonne

Yvonne, a 600/650 watt should be more than enough for your setup. However, unless I've missed something here, a GOOD power supply should not cost you $169.00, but like $75.00 or so.

However, I would replace the onboard video card asap since you are not using the full power of your system with an onboard card.

Also, find another tech since it looks like you cannot trust this one.

Agreed. Too many shady people out there dealing equipment. And do get a dedicated Vid card. On board GUPs use your system ram, even tho you have plenty to spare, its best to have dedicated Vid, Nic and Sound for best results and performance. Best thing to do if get this up front, knowledge is power. Dont just settle for what's on the shelf. So if you can buy a MB without video then it would be cheaper at that end, but more so with the Vid card. Hence why they make such all-in-one MOBOs.

Now, it looks like you have quality equipment, It's what I would use when building a rig today. So no worries there.

Its a confusing and cut-throat business, the PC biz that is... Was in it for over 12 years and I have seen many dif. companies and people and how they did business. not many impressed me. I'm out of it now but I still help those who need it, or build quality rigs when they dont want junk from Best Buy.

So for you, at this moment, Your fine. But if you plan on expanding, getting the dedicated GPU, Sound, Nic, whatever, I would up it a bit.

Just bought a Thermaltake 750watt from compusa for $160 (this was with a 20% discount). The 650watt was $169 with no discount.

Just for a reference.

Hello Demon

Thank you for the replies.

Which is the onboard card? I do not understand what card you are talking about. Do I have 2 video cards?

Eventually I will get another monitor would this warrant a higher power supply?

Please let me know if I should ask for better power supply and why I should ask for it I have a problem with this guy. I need to know what computer language to use when asking.

How easy is it to change the power supply?

We had an agreement for $180 parts and $150 labor. I know he has made more than $500 on the parts. He justifies this as I got his experience and states he only made $450 well that was not the deal. I know he made much more and I am very upset. He sent me a new invoice that says it took 4.5 hours to build it and put my info back on it. Then another 3.5 hours doing extras. I did not have that much on the computer only UT files, music, word files and outlook information. He sent the new invoice to prove I got a good deal. I have told him many times that was not the deal.

He told me video card would be $800 and he billed me $849

If you want to look at the invoice I can send it to you then you can see what I got. You will need to email me.

Yvonne

What is wrong with my video card does it not go well with the mother board I am not understanding this. What is a dedicated card did he give me the wrong equipment?

onboard means just that-you have a video card, network interface card (nic), and sound card on the motherboard, not separate. If you do nothing fancy, such as email/internet shopping/word processing, this type of setup is ok since you do not stress the entire system.

Dedicated means that ALL onboard cards are turned off and you have a separate/individual card for video, for sound, and for network, all plugged into your motherboard slots. I have a problem with any separate card "not" going well with your motherboard.

The information you gave us in your initial post does tell us that you are using hi quality parts. Evga is a very good video card--I have the Evga 6800GT myself. Asus mobo's for Intel are excellent as well as the dual-core setup, and Corsair is probably the standard for memory.

My only suggestions would be a good 650/700 power supply, SB Audigy 2ZS or better sound card, and a good network card. This will enable you to have all onboard stuff turned off. Your video card is a PCI-E, thus you will need a mobo that can handle it, and the P5W is a PCI-E setup.

Your cooling is good and Thermaltake is alway a good case. Super system. Heck of a lot faster than mine by several steps.

Ok, I dont know who said that this had a built on GPU. I went to ASUS and looked up your model MOBO and mentions nothing about built on GPU, SO...
wipe the sweat off, your in the green with it.

But in the case of sound, by all means, get an Audigy 2 ZS or better sound card (I run the platinum pro, myself) Or one of the new X-Fi line.

As for switching out the PSU, it's kinda of a pain. Literally, everything inside is hooked to it. Depending on how the inside is wired and designed, could be an ordeal for the noob.

Looking over your MOBO specs now...and....I want it. >

You got a uber cool rig, dont get us wrong...and the Monitor has no drain on the PSU at all, unless you have that kind of setup, which I havnt seen in the white box world for some time now. So no worries there if you want to change it out.

I'm sorry if we are confusing you. It's not easy to diagnose even simple things in posts as this. This industry is like any other, with its own language and terminology.

But your in good hands if you need advice. Plenty of us here, even if you do just get opinions that differ. We all come from various backgrounds and experiences. But we are all willing to help those who need it.

Hello buddies

I turned on the computer and went to play online and I got a weird looking background a mish mash of texture that was black grey and white. The computer turned itself off. I got to do an error report that I have pasted below. When I turn on my computer it powers up and I get fan noise that it is louder then once it is up and running the noise decreases. it reminded I mentioned this to the tech and he said it is nothing to worry about. YIKES could this problem be the power supply.

I thank you for the help.

Yvonne

Follow these steps to solve the problem with a video device driver

You received this message because a device driver installed on your computer caused the Windows operating system to stop unexpectedly. This type of error is referred to as a "stop error." A stop error requires you to restart your computer.

Solution

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two options you can use to try to fix the problem. If the first option doesn't work, then try the second.

Option 1: Install the most current device driver for your video card

Go to the Microsoft Update website to see if there are any updated drivers for your video card. If there are any drivers listed, you should install them.
If there are no updated drivers listed at Microsoft Update, and you know the manufacturer of the video card, contact the card manufacturer's product support service for assistance.
If there are no updated drivers at Microsoft Update, you don't know the name of the manufacturer of the video card, and you need more help diagnosing and resolving this problem, contact your computer manufacturer's product support service.
Option 2: Manually decrease Hardware Acceleration for your video adapter

This procedure prevents the display device driver from programming the hardware incorrectly, but you might lose some display functionality and performance. Although you can increase the hardware acceleration settings higher than None to regain functionality and performance, these settings increase the chance that the issue will occur again. For maximum stability, leave hardware acceleration turned off.

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Display.
Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
Click the Troubleshoot tab, move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None, and then clear the Enable Write Combining check box.
Click OK, and then click OK. Note: This procedure prevents the display driver from programming the hardware incorrectly, but you may lose some display functionality and performance.

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Follow these steps to solve the problem with a video device driver

You received this message because a device driver installed on your computer caused the Windows operating system to stop unexpectedly. This type of error is referred to as a "stop error." A stop error requires you to restart your computer.

Solution

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two options you can use to try to fix the problem. If the first option doesn't work, then try the second.

Option 1: Install the most current device driver for your video card

Go to the Microsoft Update website to see if there are any updated drivers for your video card. If there are any drivers listed, you should install them.
If there are no updated drivers listed at Microsoft Update, and you know the manufacturer of the video card, contact the card manufacturer's product support service for assistance.
If there are no updated drivers at Microsoft Update, you don't know the name of the manufacturer of the video card, and you need more help diagnosing and resolving this problem, contact your computer manufacturer's product support service.
Option 2: Manually decrease Hardware Acceleration for your video adapter

This procedure prevents the display device driver from programming the hardware incorrectly, but you might lose some display functionality and performance. Although you can increase the hardware acceleration settings higher than None to regain functionality and performance, these settings increase the chance that the issue will occur again. For maximum stability, leave hardware acceleration turned off.

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Display.
Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
Click the Troubleshoot tab, move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None, and then clear the Enable Write Combining check box.
Click OK, and then click OK. Note: This procedure prevents the display driver from programming the hardware incorrectly, but you may lose some display functionality and performance

Technical Information
Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER

That's a driver problem - or, at least, that's what Windows thinks it was.

A driver is a program that tells your computer how to operate hardware. In this case, something in the software that tells Windows how to use your video card crashed.

Just to make sure, go to this page. Click on Graphics Driver in the first box, GeForce 8800 Series in the second, and your version of Windows in the third. Download the appropriate version of the software (US, I think, but I donno if you're not!) and install that.

After doing so, if this crash happens again, we can take steps to further diagnose the problem.

If you do not know your version of Windows, you can locate it by clicking Start, then Run, then typing "winver" in the box (without the quotes) and clicking OK. It says what version you're running in the colored bar at the top; you can ignore the more cryptic numbers below.

As for the fan noise, if that has changed, then it's something to check. If it's been that way all along, then it's probably safe.

In general, you can treat the noises your computer makes just like the noises your car makes - once you know the usual sounds, you're only looking for changes.

Are you using Windows Vista?

I frequent the PC board on gamefaqs and have seen multiple topics concerning people with 8800 cards running Vista and having a lack of performance due to premature nVidia drivers for Vista. As of now, there is currently no fully functioning nVidia drivers for Windows Vista. So if you are running Vista....yeah that would probably explain your problem.

PS. Long time no see Miss_Kitty.