Hey Everyone I recently upgraded my computer from an AMD 64 3500, 1gb 2x512mb kingston valueram and a Asus A8V VM mobo. to a Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 4mb cache, 1gb stick of ddr 4200 kingston valueram. I have a basic 500w switching p4 psu. Since the upgrade my system feels alot slower. I did a fresh install of windows, and i noticed that when i changed my resolution to 1280 i had 3 attempts before the resoltuion changed, the screen went blank, games are very choppy stopping and starting at random intervals, the hard drive feels like its loading a lot more than it used to. I was installing the gfx drivers (7900gt) and the mouse kept freezing and then starting and so on and so on. When i first installed the upgrade my cpu temp was 25c idle, now its about 35 idle and last night got up to 41. After the fresh install i tried to test my computer with FEAR, the game went sorta nuts on me certain parts of it were skipped it wrong places and everything just feels really wierd now. I have no idea whats causing this but i thought it may have been the power supply playing up, others have suggested the memory. Thanks in advance!
Your system seems to be very unstable, Can you give more info on What Windows you installed?? Too me,It sounds like a Video card problem,But there can be more than one problem here... Is the power supply New ?
i found the problem. its either my video card or power supply. if the powersupply is plugged into my gfx card the computer wont even power on. if the psu isnt connected to the gfx it boots and the system runs fine, but obviously not using a powersupply will not help my gfx in the slightest. most people are saying its my power supply, its only a cheap 500w and its about a year old. cheers
Wattage doesn't mean a whole lot. There's three different voltage lines (rails): +3.3V, +5V, and +12V. Depending on the amperage on the rails, you get a different total wattage. Add the wattage up, yeah, you'll get 500W, but if it's not on the rail that it needs to be, then it's not going to do much. Video cards, specifically PCIe-based ones run off the +12V rail. Additionally, be it AGP or PCIe, additional power fed to the card is off the +12V rail. If your power supply was built with the Pentium 4 design in mind, it does have some +12V wattage, but it's probably not enough to deal with newer requirements. Assuming you're in the UK here, this Fortron Blue Storm 500W would be one relatively inexpensive unit that would do a good job. Another reasonably priced choice would be the OCZ 600W StealthXStreme. You can go cheaper, but you'll be hard pressed to find something of at least the performance and quality. You don't want to skimp on the power supply, as that really looks to be where the problem is right now.
Thanks for that people, im convinced its the power supply so i should be purchasing a new psu next week, either the ones you suggested or ill have a look at the antec ones that other peeps have told me about. Thanks Again :]
Go with the TruePower line if you get an Antec. The SmartPower line is mediocre and not the same quality as the TruePower.
As you all know I got a Thermaltake toughpower 600Watts, and it more than meets my needs, and it was reasonably priced, maybe a fifth more expensive than the above. It is SLi and Crossfire certified and has 6 SATA and 7 peripheral and 2 floppy connectors. It also has 4 12V rails totalling to 48A if that helps you at all.
