Can insufficient power cause monitor flicker?

[drop_d]

hi all
i have recently bought an Acer L100 small form factor PC. unfortunately i am getting monitor flicker. it is an issue with the PC as i have tried two different monitors (17 & 19" TFT) which are otherwise fine.

the flicker is barely noticeable when idling but gets much worse with CPU and particularly HDD activity.

the unit comes with a 90W external PSU, for the following spec:
AMD 64 X2 3800+, 1GB, 160GB HDD. integrated nV 6150 graphics.

only thing i can think of is that perhaps the power draw is too high with HDD seek / CPU activity - could this cause the flicker?

its a very compact unit so i thought there may be internal interference but have eliminated that. I've also eliminated external issues eg nearby speakers.

thanks for any help you can give...

 

[saltynay]

is this a laptop or a small form pc??? as surely the monitor comes with its own power source??? the refresh rate is probably too low if the monitor flickers

Matt

 

[turtile]

It could be a sign of overheating.

 

[drop_d]

thanks for getting back.

its an SFF PC so yes the monitor has its on PSU. though i assume the integrated graphics requires some wattage to produe the picture.

i agree overheating could be a possibility, system cooling is poor and the heatsink in there which is not the northbridge or CPU heatsink is really hot (ie too hot to leave your fingers on for more than a few secs).

however the flickering happens with CPU / HDD activity even if i use them as soon as its booted up, and is definitely related to CPU / HDD use - can't imagine the change in heat would occur so instantaneously.

 

[saltynay]

use speed fan to find out the temps the power supply shouldn't be the trouble

 

[drop_d]

speed fan says that one of the sensors is @ 60c. the HDD is also @ 60c and is positioned right above the integrated graphics.

so i think temp could be an issue, however can this explain why the flicker gets noticeably worse with CPU and HDD activity in particular, even when just turned on? - can it overheat this quickly / overheat in response to activity like this?