Power supply too weak

Hi,

I just bought some new hardware for my gaming/software dev machine, and it seems to be pretty cool. However When i am playing some games it crashes back into windows with errors reading memory locations or sometimes it bluescreens and bombs out all together. I think i need to get a new PSU, i went to newegg.com and used their calculator and it recommends about a 720w. My current PSU is only 620w.

My setup is as follows:
Intel Core i7 2600 @ 4.2Ghz under boost.
idles at about 1.65 Ghz. And averages just over 3.4 Ghz under minor load.

Motherboard:
Asus P8P67 LE

Ram
4GB G-Skill 1600 Mhz

Video Card:
ATI Radeon 5830 1GB

PCI
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy

HDD's
1x OCZ Vertex 2 80GB SSD
2x seagate baracuda 160gb in Raid 0.
1x 750gb Samsung Spinpoint.
1x 750gb Seagate baracuda
1x 2TB WD

And its also running a DVD RW.

I know this is quite a lot of HDD's but i need a fix.
I may be able to pull some of the hard disks out to take the load off.

Also I was thinking of getting maybe an 850w or a 1000w PSU. Was looking at the corsair ones, could anyone make any recommendations and do you think it will fix my crashing problem? I seem to think the graphics card uses the most power.

A good brand 600~650W PSU can easily handle your current hardware setup. Check my sig I'm running SLI in a 650TX. I'm not saying it's recommended(by math experts) but in reality it's holding up.

If you're not planning of an upgrade to crossfire then it should be OK or else get a 750 for future expansion.

That crashing might not be the PSU. Check the event codes if available.

What's your current PSU brand?

Its a vantec ION2 620W. So its not a top of the line one.

I might take the 2x 160gb drives out and see if its still happening.

Also, my cpu temp idles at around 41 degress C, on the std intel cooler. Maybe I should spend the money on a watercooling kit or a better heatsink/fan?

dazmeister said:

Its a vantec ION2 620W. So its not a top of the line one.

I might take the 2x 160gb drives out and see if its still happening.

Click to expand...

Good idea here. Process of elimination first then if it still crashes then check your voltage settings. Btw, that PSU is considered above average.

run mem test look in event viewer and see what it shows for problems . also make sure you have the right video drivers.

Ok so i think i found my problem. Its probably because the system is getting too hot under load. I do have the graphics up as high as i can when i am playing so it must be getting hot inside my case. And having 6 hard drives generate heat probably doesn't help.

I have clocked the cpu back down to standard. For some reason the ram is slightly higher than its stock 100Mhz, running at 103, but it shouldn't matter its pretty good ram with heatsinks on it.

I am sure this is getting too hot and this is probably what is causing my errors. (this is running at standard).

See screen shot:



The idle is between 41c and 45c. On the stock intel heatsink. But after running hyper-pi at 100% for about 4-5 minutes it gets far too hot, my games only run a few cores at about 40-50% usage but it still brings the temp up close to 80degrees. So maybe the money would be better spent on a new heatsink or watercooling kit. If i go for a kit, i would probably go for a all in one type, because i have never done watercooling before, and I want to keep the system as quiet as possible. (hence why i haven't upgraded the stock fan/heatsink already).

As you can see below there is so much going on, ill take a couple of hdd's out and cut down the cables, it should get a bit more airflow going.
Can you make any suggestions to help me fix this crashing problem?

What's your current CPU cooler? Honestly, I consider watercooling a hobby. I suggest just get a high end air cooler. Megahalems, NH-D14 and Venomous are considered three kings air coolers.

Those temps are way hot for a stock load temps. I ran every benchmark/stress test on my 2600k and the highest temp I've seen is 72c on load @ 4.6ghz

its a stock cooler, and its quite cr@p.

I was looking at the Corsair H70 Water kit, it looks pretty neat. And taking out 2 hdd's should help with circulation in the case.

Antec PSU Calculator - if you decide a PSU is it. However, have you tried turning your OC off? Maybe your bios isn't tweaked just right for an OC, or maybe your Bios could use an update.

Yeh i turned off my overclock. And i took out 2 of the hard disks i wasnt really using.

I also Tidied up my cables, and cleaned out a lot of dust and filters in my case to improve the airflow.

It hasnt crashed again in starcraft2. Which was crashing regularly.

But the temps are still quite high idling between 38c -> 44c. It seems core 2 and 3 are a few degrees hotter. It could be poor application of thermal paste on my part.

I have just ordered a corsair H70 and there is some arctic silver at work in the PC workshop, so i will probably take it in later in the week to install it.

That antec calculator was saying i needed 430w minimum (with 6 drives). So i am assuming that the PSU is ok for now, it seems the 2 extra fans on the H70 will use about 10w extra power, so it should be fine. And i am only running 4 drives now. I do want to clock the CPU back to 4Ghz +, so we will see what the temps are like. What is the safe range?

I was reading some reviews and they reckon idle around 30 degrees, and under load about 58-64 degrees?

at the moment under load from prime 95 it gets up to like 90 degrees, im sure its probably gonna do it dmg if its that high for too long.

I used Intel Burn Test, and went for low 70's on temps at full load. Which in reality, I don't think any game will stress the cpu near full load as compared to IBT, which means I will never actually get those high of temps playing games.

yeh thanks. I am well below these temps now that my cooler turned up.