Help with PSU's... N00B Q !!! lol

[Darren]

hi there, well my P4 2.80Ghz is currently oc'ed to 3.4Ghz, runs ok, however sometimes it seems to "freeze", like one minute im browsing away in firefox... next im waiting for the egg timer to disappear and for firefox to start "responding"... thats just a example though, seems to happen with big apps or video editing apps aswell etc etc....

Thinking it may be the fact that my PSU is a standard and "cheap" (Eagle PSU 400W)... what do you think? ... could replacing this PSU do me any favours or am i wasting my money? (any way to stress my psu like prime for errors?)

my specs:
P4 Northwood 2.80gHz
Asus P4P800 SE
Kingston PC3200 512MB x2 (1028MB)
Ati Radeon 9600 Sapphire
Evo Heatsink & 1 Case Fan
Eagle 400W PSU (came with the case)
160GB Maxtor HDD
MSI DVD-RW 8X Writer
Floppy Drive

cheers & merry xmas to you!
:santa:

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

run it at stock and see if it still freezes and such

[ckj]

IIRC Eagle is poor quality, regardless of if the Psu is at fault or not, you'd be better served by a better powersupply. A 400w fortron would do a fine job of powering your system if money was an issue, but a 500w fortron bluestorm would handle your system without a hitch.

[Darren]

ok thanks, yeh it runs worse on stock speed. (laggy)
would a faulty PSU show these sort of symptons?
maybe its something else... the CPU, memory...

I may buy a new CPU... Can anyone recommend a Sck478 P4 CPU?
the best possible one or one thats good value for money

appreciate the comments !

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

it might be windows related, i doubt it's the cpu - they don't go bad so easy especially intels, use memtest86 to test your memory, i agree with ckj, i know i'd feel a lot better about my computer's stability and reliability with a good quality power supply even if it doesn't cost a lot

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

another thought, you can test your harddrive using hitachi's drive fitness test

[trigger_sad]

I'll agree with everyone else on a better PSU, but i don't think its your PSU. From personal experience bad PSUs will cause big problems (restarts, full hang-ups, etc.) THere might be something else going on. Run memtest86, some sort of Hard drive checking utility (personally i use microscope 2000), etc. And get that hardware outta the way so u know if that is its fault or not. Run some benchmarks like superpi32mb and Prime95 small FFT torture to see if your OC is truly stable.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Thinking it may be the fact that my PSU is a standard and "cheap" (Eagle PSU 400W)... what do you think?

I don't think the PSU is at fault (I'm thinking maybe drivers or a spyware infestation), but it's an OEM Deer unit which is not doing you any favours - it should be replaced ASAP before it does real damage. A Fortron AX450-PN (or the Sparkle ATX400-PA/PN) would do it at low cost.

[stool]

Although on the surface it appears to be power, you can't disregard your RAM, or heat as the cause.

[Darren]

Appreciate the advice guys! thanks alot.

ok im gonna run some tests, But come to think of it, i did a fresh install of WinXP SP2 a few weeks ago & then it was quite slow.

Il definately run some benchmark tests... maybe it is a software malfunction, well hopefully ;)

Thanks for all the help & meery xmas to you all. :)

dar

[3DFlyer]

ummmm, isn't that a Deer unit? Get rid of it. Even if it's not the cause of your woes right now, it will be. That thing is not just dangerous to your hardware, it is dangerous to your whole house. It may very well burn it down for you while you're away...DO beware...you have been warned.

Edited to Add: Do not sell that unit. Dispose of it. It is dangerous, and if it becomes 2nd owned, you may be liable instead of Deer for letting diarrhea slide out like that. It is just THAT...pure $#!^ !

[Darren]

ummmm, isn't that a Deer unit? Get rid of it. Even if it's not the cause of your woes right now, it will be. That thing is not just dangerous to your hardware, it is dangerous to your whole house. It may very well burn it down for you while you're away...DO beware...you have been warned.

Edited to Add: Do not sell that unit. Dispose of it. It is dangerous, and if it becomes 2nd owned, you may be liable instead of Deer for letting diarrhea slide out like that. It is just THAT...pure $#!^ !

I dont have a clue about this, all i know is that it says "Eagle 400W ATX switching power supply".

On fire? ? ?
i've used this psu since i bought my case, (it came with it), its been running 24/7 for about 1 year, no fire or smoke or any odd smells.... its just a standard PSU.

Anyways i thought about this & i rembered that all these problems have started since I used Arctic Silver 5, could that be the cause of my problems?

Also can anyone suggest a good psu? or should i stick with brand names like "Antec True Blue 400w"?

Or something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antec-True-Power-480W-PSU-BNIB_W0QQitemZ6830415992QQcategoryZ42021QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers :)

[Know Nuttin]

reseat the heatsink again, and make sure you aren't using too much paste. You may be experiencing "clock throttling", P4 style.

what are the temps being reported as for your setup?

[Darren]

thanks for that nuttin, i think i did apply to much of it, oops :(

it idles @ 34+
full load @ 39+

thats with the heatsink fan on low, if i switch it to high (loud) it will drop the temps about 3-5C.

thanks for the advice

[DeepScience]

ummmm, isn't that a Deer unit? Get rid of it. Even if it's not the cause of your woes right now, it will be. That thing is not just dangerous to your hardware, it is dangerous to your whole house. It may very well burn it down for you while you're away...DO beware...you have been warned.
!

Don't forget the mudslides, earthquakes, and rips in the fabric of space-time.