Power supply enough?

[geoffn04]

I have a 330 watt power supply running a p4 3.0 ghz and a pixelpro 6800 gt. I keep getting a bad crash when playing day of defeat source, it either gives me hl2.exe error or just restarts or shuts down entirely. Ive tried everything... is my power supply enough or could it be low enough making my computer unstable?

 

[turtile]

You should get one that has at least 22 amps on the 12v.

 

[geoffn04]

how do i know how many amps are on the 12V?

 

[thebleakness]

Look on the sid of the power supply. There should be chart with the voltage and then below it it will tell you how many amps that rail will carry.

 

[Martin]

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL

This is just a rough, ideal calculation - your system probably won't use close to whatever the end result comes out to. If you want to do anything serious with that system, I suggest getting a quality power supply, preferrably with a carriage of at least 25A on the +12V rail and 30A on the +5V rail.

P.S. NVIDIA initially recommended 480 watts for the GeForce 6800 Ultra line (though the GT consumes significantly less)..... you still want to look no less than 430-450 to be on the safe side.

 

[geoffn04]

the estimate came out to 305 watts, i have a 330 so i guess my problem must have to do with something else.. why would you suggest no less than 430-450? i overclock the video card but i still get crashes even when ive tuned it back to factory settings.

 

[Martin]

Like what was mentioned before, output power is only part of the equation; you should check the amount of current flowing through each rail (which as mentioned above can be done by looking at the PSU label)....... many people fail to look at this issue when buying cheap power supplies.

Also, it is preferrable to monitor your CPU temperatures (and if at all possible, your graphics card temperatures) to make sure that they are operating within the specified thresholds........ if your motherboard manufacturer doesn't have such a tool available, you can use Motherboard Monitor.

 

[geoffn04]

alright i found it, i have 16 amps on the +12V rail and 35 on the +5 rail

i also noticed in the bios my cpu temp is really high, 77-80C at idle but the ambient was around 35C which should be fine

 

[Martin]

77-80C idle is NOT good, since the max. operating specifications for P4s are usually between 66-78C. Personally I would invest in a better cooling solution ASAP (either you need to clean out your heatsink/fan or there's an airflow problem your case).

 

[geoffn04]

alright ill do something about the heat, the fan doesnt seem to sound very loud though when i play games, i thought itd start making a lot of noise going at a high rpm to cool it down

what about the amps on the 12v rail, is 16 causing me problems?