Intermittent black screen

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 8:53 pm

snkcube wrote:nintendo_nerd: So what exactly is your PSU's brand and model? You still haven't answered odditude's question.

Sorry for not answering sooner; I looked at the PSU with a flashlight, but I can't see what brand/model it is. All I can see is the output: 500W.

Post by **odditude** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:19 pm

it only takes four screws. you might need a new power supply, not (just?) a new video card.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:41 am

odditude wrote:it only takes four screws. you might need a new power supply, not (just?) a new video card.

Hmmm. That's weird, but eVGA tells me it only needs a 450W PSU as stated here: http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.a ... P3-1155-TR at the bottom of the page. If I do have to get one, how much wattage are we talking about? I do have a good 500W PSU.

Post by **odditude** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:12 am

odditude wrote:@op - exactly what psu do you have, make and model? giving just the wattage doesn't mean a damn thing, since a 500W piece of crap is no better (and often worse) than a 350W quality unit.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:42 am

yep, we need to know the amps on each rail as well. cheap PSUs tend to provide hopeless amps on each rail which iw why they are so cheap.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:08 am

It might be 14V, but I'm gonna to have to look closer at the PSU. I'll let you know shortly.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:15 am

there should be a sticker on it, either take a photo of it (and upload it), write it all down or tell us the name/brand/model of the PSU.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:38 am

nintendo_nerd wrote:It might be 14V, but I'm gonna to have to look closer at the PSU. I'll let you know shortly.

Volts are NOT amps. Voltage is the pressure needed to make the current (amps) flow.

Post by **odditude** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:41 pm

adventure_of_link wrote:
nintendo_nerd wrote:It might be 14V, but I'm gonna to have to look closer at the PSU. I'll let you know shortly.

Volts are NOT amps. Voltage is the pressure needed to make the current (amps) flow.

if it WERE 14V, that'd be an even bigger problem, lol

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:09 pm

odditude wrote:
adventure_of_link wrote:
nintendo_nerd wrote:It might be 14V, but I'm gonna to have to look closer at the PSU. I'll let you know shortly.

Volts are NOT amps. Voltage is the pressure needed to make the current (amps) flow.
if it WERE 14V, that'd be an even bigger problem, lol

POWER OVERWHELMING

It helps a lot if the Amps of each line are listed (3V, 5V, 12V, and others...?) PSUs that don't list this literally cannot be trusted.

Post by **odditude** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:12 pm

He-Man wrote:I HAVE TEH POWAHHH!!!

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:45 pm

Uh-oh, Franpa alert.... okay, but I did get the card (GTS 250), and I haven't gotten any PSU issues. Games run sliky smooth. But I'll now understand the difference between amps/volts and what have you.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:46 pm

I've done the Memtest86+ runs (spent 2 hours for 3 runs) and all is well. I don't plan on running the test for longer periods though...

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:50 pm

It actually keeps the temperature regulated this time! I played 3D intensive games (it's old, but realistic; chaos theory). It didn't surpass 52 C, and cools down quickly.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:36 am

You should still post specs about your PSU as if it is not powerful enough for your computer then your PSU may eventually "give up"/deteriorate quickly and take some/eveything connected to it with it when it dies.

Post by **odditude** » Sun May 24, 2009 2:06 pm

franpa wrote:You should still post specs about your PSU as if it is not powerful enough for your computer then your PSU may eventually "give up"/deteriorate quickly and take some/eveything connected to it with it when it dies.

the 13th sign of the apocalypse is upon us... franpa is making relevant and insightful posts in a hardware thread.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Sun May 24, 2009 3:17 pm

Hmmm...it's been two days since the video card change and so far no signs of deterioration yet...but I'll keep on the lookout; if it flakes out on me, I'll have to buy a new PSU. I just hope it doesn't come to that.

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:59 pm

if it flakes out, it could take your whole system with it.

Take the PC apart, remove the PSU and see who made it.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Mon May 25, 2009 1:46 am

yes, and by "the whole system" we mean "Motherboard, Soundcard, Network card, all hard drives, all optical drives like CD/DVD, all your memory sticks and your video card" may die and probably can't get any of it replaced under warranty due to not powering anything correctly when it failed.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:27 am

That is, of course, an EXTREME worst-case scenario, along the lines of power supply explosion and fire failure.

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:18 am

Gil_Hamilton wrote:That is, of course, an EXTREME worst-case scenario, along the lines of power supply explosion and fire failure.

I've had it happen to me three times.

Three.

Take it from my personal experience: do not fuck around with power supplies ever.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:03 am

I.S.T. wrote:
Gil_Hamilton wrote:That is, of course, an EXTREME worst-case scenario, along the lines of power supply explosion and fire failure.
I've had it happen to me three times.

Three.

Take it from my personal experience: do not fuck around with power supplies ever.

Jesus fucking Buddha in a picnic basket.

How the hell do you get that many complete hardware failures without accidentally setting the voltage switch(OLDSKOOL!1111) to 110 in a 220V region?
Seriously.

For the record, I DO recommend getting a decent power supply.

I've got a 500-watt Corsair in my system.
Corsair gets theirs from Seasonic, so it's a highly-respected power supply manufacturer. And it's as quiet as a really really quiet thing, which was a major goal of this build.

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:05 am

Gil_Hamilton wrote:
I.S.T. wrote:
Gil_Hamilton wrote:That is, of course, an EXTREME worst-case scenario, along the lines of power supply explosion and fire failure.
I've had it happen to me three times.

Three.

Take it from my personal experience: do not fuck around with power supplies ever.
Jesus fucking Buddha in a picnic basket.

How the hell do you get that many complete hardware failures without accidentally setting the voltage switch(OLDSKOOL!1111) to 110 in a 220V region?
Seriously.

For the record, I DO recommend getting a decent power supply.

I've got a 500-watt Corsair in my system.
Corsair gets theirs from Seasonic, so it's a highly-respected power supply manufacturer. And it's as quiet as a really really quiet thing, which was a major goal of this build.

Three pre-built systems.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Mon May 25, 2009 11:02 am

I.S.T. wrote:
Gil_Hamilton wrote:
I.S.T. wrote:
Gil_Hamilton wrote:That is, of course, an EXTREME worst-case scenario, along the lines of power supply explosion and fire failure.
I've had it happen to me three times.

Three.

Take it from my personal experience: do not fuck around with power supplies ever.
Jesus fucking Buddha in a picnic basket.

How the hell do you get that many complete hardware failures without accidentally setting the voltage switch(OLDSKOOL!1111) to 110 in a 220V region?
Seriously.

For the record, I DO recommend getting a decent power supply.

I've got a 500-watt Corsair in my system.
Corsair gets theirs from Seasonic, so it's a highly-respected power supply manufacturer. And it's as quiet as a really really quiet thing, which was a major goal of this build.
Three pre-built systems.

EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNCLEAN!!!!!!!!!!

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Tue May 26, 2009 12:20 am

I tried to talk my dad into letting me build the third one, but he said nooooooooo.

Oh, well, I got a Core 2 duo based system out of it soooo....