Problems overclocking my x1900xt

Ok so my rig is listed in my sig. Dual core (currently at 2700mHz 1.39V) and an x1900xt on a Bluestorm. I think the x1900 is really pushing this power supply hard along with the overclocked dually. The reason I am thinking this is I pushed the core to 675/800 stable with 1.475 vGPU. When I tried pushing 1.5 vGPU at 685, I ended up getting a lower 3D mark score than at 675. It won't get stable any higher than this, even up to 1.525V.

I also just started folding again using 2 instances of F@H. Before I did this I was fully stable gaming at 675/800, but now it has crashed on me a couple times with folding in the background. Without folding (while gaming) CPU usage is around 50%, with folding it's at 100% (obviously). Seems the extra power needed is causing problems.

I think I beginning to think this power supply can't handle the stress anymore, especially with 2 HDD's as well. IDE smartguardian reads the 12V line as low as 11.65 when I have the 3D view open in ATI tool. I haven't read it using the multimeter yet. Anyone else think a beefier power supply would help me reach higher, more stable clocks on my x1900?

That's a pretty loaded rig......a new psu cetainly wouldn't hurt

Your logic sounds pretty much like what I have been thinking about my own rig and how my own psu is being pushed to its limits as well. I have tried increasing the voltage to my card, and it either artifacts or crashes, I have concluded from not enough juice. Runs fine with absolutely no issues at stock voltages though.

I got a lower 3dmark05 score when I overclocked to 674\797(CCC auto-overclock) and I have one cpu core and one hard drive, also with 500 watts. I think after a certain point the card can't take it and starts tripping over it's own feet.

According to this power calculator you should be ok unless your psu is old. I came up with 463 watts for your pc.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I also have 6x80mm fans and a 120mm fan...The Bluestorm is actually a 460W unit (500W peak). I did some tests running 3Dmark05 while testing the voltage via a molex connector. The rails dropped slightly (.01V) every time I increased the voltage to the card. The lowest I hit was around 11.87 at 1.525 VGPU. I think I might be able to reach slightly higher speeds with a stronger power supply, but I doubt it would be worth the money. Gonna stick with the Fortron for now.

EDIT: just used that calculator and included my 6 80mm fans, the 120mm fan, fan controller, counted the video card as an x1900xtx (its actually overclocked beyond xtx), PCI wireless card, and my dual cold cathode and it came up with 483W. Granted I'm not using all the components at the same time, but it seems like power might be a problem with full CPU and Video card load. It takes even more power if I try pushing the CPU even more (~[email protected])

Stronger PSU for sure!

A slightly less expensive option may be going with a secondary or video card power supply like the Thermaltake Purepower Express 250W which is all 12v rail.

Big Bruin gave it a Highly Recommended rating which is pretty good. Here is the review - http://www.bigbruin.com/2006/powerexpress_1

That Fortron is a solid power supply but the 12v rail simply isnt up to par for a PCI-E high end card which can pull up to around 20 amps with todays cards. I think that Fortron is limited somewhere around 15 amps while the TT 250w can actually peak out up to 25 watts which puts you in the 'sweet spot' for providing power to an upper level vid card. On the flip side I think that Fortron can handle everything else in your system hands down. So...give it some help on the 12v 'video' rail

Basic idea being that you can pull alot of the 12v rail load off your primary PSU and cut the need of repeatedly upgrading power supplies.

I have one for my X1900XT and so far its been very stable.

They run around $50 + shipping from quite a few different places. ZZF is currently sold out however. I think Crazypc.com may have some onhand however.

Well if I sold my Fortron and bought another PSU it would probably cost me an extra $60 or so depending on how nice a supply I get. It would amount to about the same. I can't really fit another PSU into my case either, and I like to keep it self contained.

I'm 100% the power supply can't keep up at this point. Last night I had Folding running and I played HL2. My computer shutdown after about 5 or 6 minutes. When I rebooted I played again without folding running and it went nice and smooth for well over an hour.

Does anyone know how much bigger a PCP&C 510W Express/SLI supply is over a standard one? I have about 2 inches of extra room to fit it in.