Totally confused with ATI 9800 pro

[Taymar]

Right ATI 9800 pro on a gigabyte board with an AMD 2000 cpu, so far it's blown three PSU's but system temp has never gone over 40 degrees !

Before u start having a go because of the lack of detail here, it's not my system but it is the PC of a Game subscriber, that can't post here for obvious reasons.

My 1st thought was the Graphics card because it's the only thing thats changed since his probelms started but it's been bench tested and passed without a problem, my 2nd thought was the mobo, it worked for around an hour on the new mobo before blowing another 350 watt PSU.

I'm out of ideas, short of changing the whole system, any ideas ?

 

[Tom]

You have checked the PSU internally, for a simple fuse replacement? If its blowing PSUs with regularity, it might be something as simple as a bad power socket on the mobo, or one of the molar plugs being shorted by a dodgy device.

 

[Krazeh]

Originally posted by Taymar
it is the PC of a Game subscriber, that can't post here for obvious reasons.

What are these obvious reasons?

 

[wyrd_fish]

prhaps his comps broke???

 

[Krazeh]

Well why can't he use his m8's pc to post?

 

[Ch3tan]

Krazeh, does it really matter? Is it in any way relevent to answering his problem? Take it back to the general forum.

Taymar, what do you mean behnch tested? You've tested it another PC? Those details you lack really are needed. What about power cables, using another power socket.

 

[Taymar]

Yes Chet

The card works in another PC as does the Mobo.

I've suggested that he changes the power cables both internally and externally, I have asked about simple things like fuses and sockets even to the point of purchasing an anti-spike multi socket.

After many hours of investigation I can't see that there are any deformed pins on any of the devices, the power socket on the Mobo is fine, no shorting out there same goes for the AGP slot, no shorts or cracks.

Having tried another PSU with the system, it booted and ran ok for about half an hour before shutting down, I've checked the Bios just incase it had a temerature cut out, it does but that has been disabled.

I've suggested that this guy phone the tech support line of the company he brought the Graphics card from and ask for either advice or a replacement card, its the only thing I can put his troubles down to.

 

[Krazeh]

If the card works in another pc then obviously it's not the cause of the problems, he won't get a replacement as the card clearly works.

What else does he have in the system? And what's the highest wattage psu u've tried?

 

[Taymar]

Ok the highest wattage PSU was a 350w, that was the last one, he also has -

Audigy 2
DVD rom
CD R/W
2 x 80 gig HDD's
2 x Floppy drives
USB M$ mouse
USB M$ Joystick
USB ADSL Modem

Nothing else should be drawing any wattage and most of the toys listed above aren't in use during game play, the problem really started, I now find out when he tried running Desert Combat with the A/A and Antistropic filtering on full but the card will still quite happilly run Halo at default setting for the half an hour.

Thanks for reading this and giving yer thoughts guys.

 

[Tom]

Its worth noting that with heat, comes expansion, and also dry joints. If it is a dry joint, then giving the computer case a whack on the side after 5-10 mins will determine this.

 

[Krazeh]

i'd try it with a 400+ wattage psu, sounds like he's pullin a lot outa the psu

 

[Insane]

Originally posted by Krazeh
i'd try it with a 400+ wattage psu, sounds like he's pullin a lot outa the psu

couple of things.
(1) if its on a surge protector, take it off it.. i've seen many PSUs blown because of something in the surge protector. most PSUs these days are designed to work better on "dirty" lines than surge protectors.

(2) what brand is the 350w PSU? and were they all the same manufacturer? if he's spending £20 on one it'll have problems in the long run.. if he had invested in the likes of a £100 enermax its cost would have been worth it considering. go for a well known brand instead of "brand X 350w PSU"

im not a fond user of Gigabyte kit, I would stab a guess that the board isnt supplying enough voltage to the AGP slot to run the 9800 pro properly, it might be worthwhile to check its volting right on the board
(does anybody remember what the AGP voltage should be?)

if all else fails, send the motherboard back and buy a new one, the Nforce2 board is very tasty indeed for upgraders these days, especially the 400fsb model with soundstorm chipset, and not rediculously priced at all.

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by Taymar

USB M$ mouse
USB M$ Joystick
USB ADSL Modem

are these three devices on an external USB hub with it's own powersource?

 

[Taymar]

Cheers guys, right where to start.

Testin, no I apologise for my error, there is also an internal USB hub.
Insane, they were all £50 thermal take jobbies, we've removed the anti surge sockets and it looks like u were right about about the AGP slot not feeding enough wattage to it.
Krazeh, we've moved on to a 450 PSU just to see how it runs.
Tom, I've whacked the case, no dry joint probs by the looks no effect whilst the PC is running.

Thanks guys, u've solved the problem for me, by the looks of things.

I owe ya 1

 

[Tom]

Its worth noting that a properly regulated and isolated PSU should never damage the devices it is supplying power to. In the event of a surge, the PSU should be the only thing that gets damaged.

Surge protectors are not passive devices, they consume power, the result being that your PSU has to work even harder to supply your computer, as it has a lower voltage with which to work.

I would also imagine that should the computer suddenly require more power from the PSU, a surge protector would limit the PSU's ability to supply that in the short term.