NVIDIA 9600GT and Games

[Kano]

You don't need to buy em extra, my Leadtek 8800 GTS had it inside the package.

[JackDanielz]

You don't need to buy em extra, my Leadtek 8800 GTS had it inside the package.

Yes, thanks Kano I found the 2 Molex to Pci-E connector in the box =).... Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem, I even tried unplugging all the CD-Roms to make sure that the two molex's I plugged into the connector had no other devices in the same line.

I'm back to square one... there are two possibilities, either its the driver or its the hardware

[JackDanielz]

Yes, thanks Kano I found the 2 Molex to Pci-E connector in the box =).... Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem, I even tried unplugging all the CD-Roms to make sure that the two molex's I plugged into the connector had no other devices in the same line.

I'm back to square one... there are two possibilities, either its the driver or its the hardware

Oops lol I'm retarded, even with both my 12v lines I only have about 25A and I just read somewhere that this card can draw upto 180W all by itself.... I'm going to go get a beefy powersupply now. Will this be enough?

Antec - TruePower Trio 650-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8013295&type=product&id=1156203858419

Theres also a 430 Watt version which costs about $60 less and has 32A when you add the two 12V lines together can I get away with that?

[keltren]

Tried to post before but for some reasons it didn't go through...ah well trying again...

The original point me (and some others) were trying to make is that 350w should be enough - if it isn't (and for some reason that seems to be the case in your setup) this indicates that:

a) it's not supplying enough power on the 6pin connector to your graphics card, which it technically should - here the the connector solution might help, but given that your powersupply does have a pci-e connector is odd...
b) your power supply is faulty, which given that it's fairly new would be a warranty case.
c) it's getting way too hot (efficiency of psu's drops the hotter they get). Which would indicate that maybe you need to look at better ventilation in your system.

Also of note - the card definetly won't draw 26A at 12V...that'd be 312W! - yet even the 8800gt only draws 105W max, the 9600gt draws 95W max, which would be around 8A at 12V. 26A must be at some lower or converted voltage, def not at 12V though ;-)

Edit:
Looking at some of the spec list the 26A is a recommendation from nvidia for the psu - it's not the actual power draw of the card. So nivdia recommends a 400W psu with a 12v rating of 26A for the 8800gt - note that nvidia is very cautious with this - this is basically under the assumption taht you're using a system crammed with a quadcore and several hd's and even then their recommendation is probably on the safe side ;-)

The only cards from nvidia that draw around 180W are the 8800gtx/ultra or the 9800gx2.

[JackDanielz]

Tried to post before but for some reasons it didn't go through...ah well trying again...

The original point me (and some others) were trying to make is that 350w should be enough - if it isn't (and for some reason that seems to be the case in your setup) this indicates that:

a) it's not supplying enough power on the 6pin connector to your graphics card, which it technically should - here the the connector solution might help, but given that your powersupply does have a pci-e connector is odd...
b) your power supply is faulty, which given that it's fairly new would be a warranty case.
c) it's getting way too hot (efficiency of psu's drops the hotter they get). Which would indicate that maybe you need to look at better ventilation in your system.

Also of note - the card definetly won't draw 26A at 12V...that'd be 312W! - yet even the 8800gt only draws 105W max, the 9600gt draws 95W max, which would be around 8A at 12V. 26A must be at some lower or converted voltage, def not at 12V though ;-)

Edit:
Looking at some of the spec list the 26A is a recommendation from nvidia for the psu - it's not the actual power draw of the card. So nivdia recommends a 400W psu with a 12v rating of 26A for the 8800gt - note that nvidia is very cautious with this - this is basically under the assumption taht you're using a system crammed with a quadcore and several hd's and even then their recommendation is probably on the safe side ;-)

The only cards from nvidia that draw around 180W are the 8800gtx/ultra or the 9800gx2.

Thanks for the input, my PSU does have the PCI-e 6 pin, i tried the 2 molex to pci-e as well because I figured it would provide more Amperage than the PCI-E cable alone, neither setup worked. I should be more specific about the age of my PSU, its about 9 months old. I don't have many components inside the tower, just the 2 CD-Roms and 1 Sata HDD , a E8400 core2duo and 2 gigs of ddr2-800 ram... I'm starting to doubt our PSU theory.

I'm going to goto the store tomorow and buy the biggest most beefy PSU I can find, if it solves the problem I can be sure its a Power issue. IF not then I can always return the PSU and just RMA my video card.


Thanks for the input.

[JackDanielz]

Something I forgot to mention which I probably should have in the begining... I can run glxgears indefinately... I'm not sure if glxgears would cause the card to draw its max power or if glxgears is even technically a 3d app? Does this make any difference?

[deanjo]

GLXGears won't stress the card nearly enough to make it reach maximum current draw.

[StringCheesian]

I'm going to goto the store tomorow and buy the biggest most beefy PSU I can find

Careful. A lot of power supplies are overrated - some only deliver their advertised wattage at laboratory temperature, not at room temperature.

Make sure you define "beefy" in terms of amps at 12 volt, not overall wattage.

I would research the decision at sites that test power supplies like www.silentpcreview.com or www.xbitlabs.com

[JackDanielz]

Careful. A lot of power supplies are overrated - some only deliver their advertised wattage at laboratory temperature, not at room temperature.

Make sure you define "beefy" in terms of amps at 12 volt, not overall wattage.

I would research the decision at sites that test power supplies like www.silentpcreview.com or www.xbitlabs.com

Thanks for the advice though a bit too late... no matter though, I bought an Antec EarthWatts 550 Watt power supply it has 3x12V lines at 22A each... I just installed it and viola!!! It works.


Thanks guys for all the help you saved me alot of headaches with RMAs etc. so I'm glad you could help.

[StringCheesian]

Thanks for the advice though a bit too late... no matter though, I bought an Antec EarthWatts 550 Watt power supply it has 3x12V lines at 22A each... I just installed it and viola!!! It works.

Well, you bought a good one anyway . Antec EarthWatts are fairly well recommended.