I have just installed a Zoltag GeForce 8800GT AMP PCI-E card to my
machine and the box stated I needed a 400w PSU minimum.
My machine has a 350w PSU - the card seems to run ok - I have some
'problems' playing Crysis no matter what settings I use in the game -
is the voltage really an issue?
Mick wrote:
> Folks
>
> I have just installed a Zoltag GeForce 8800GT AMP PCI-E card to my
> machine and the box stated I needed a 400w PSU minimum.
>
> My machine has a 350w PSU - the card seems to run ok - I have some
> 'problems' playing Crysis no matter what settings I use in the game -
> is the voltage really an issue?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Mick
Doubtful your issues have to do with your PSU if only Crysis is wonky.
As Crysis is wonky. Run 3DMark2006 for a few loops. If that is stable,
your PSU is fine for now.
PSU wattage is like a speedometer on a car, you can in theory go as fast
as the speedo says you can, but something will likely break and you
don't need to go the maximum speed to get to where you want to go
quickly, if you get my drift.
Amperage is the real rating you want, its the auto equivalent of
horsepower and that's written on the PSU label somewhere and if it was
too low for your usage, you would crash to desktop often in rendered
scenes, also spontaneous reboots.
That depends on the exact nature of the 'problems' you have in Crysis. Is
the performance simply slow, or are you getting lockups, crashes, artifacts
on textures...?
Keep in mind a card's power draw scales with workload. Peak power draw
occurs during the most intense games, such as Crysis.
--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."
"Mick" <mick.richardson535@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:_ZW1k.35858$cL6.19331@newsfe27.ams2...
> Folks
>
> I have just installed a Zoltag GeForce 8800GT AMP PCI-E card to my
> machine and the box stated I needed a 400w PSU minimum.
>
> My machine has a 350w PSU - the card seems to run ok - I have some
> 'problems' playing Crysis no matter what settings I use in the game -
> is the voltage really an issue?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Mick
> --
>
> That depends on the exact nature of the 'problems' you have in
> Crysis. Is the performance simply slow, or are you getting lockups,
> crashes, artifacts on textures...?
>
> Keep in mind a card's power draw scales with workload. Peak power
> draw occurs during the most intense games, such as Crysis.
Firstly - sorry for the inadvertent double post.
Secondly, despite an upgrade of video card to the 8800GT AMP 512Mb
card, Crysis is jerky when things get busy - and if I use 'auto
detect', it sets itself up as low spec.
When I first installed Crysis (after the video card upgrade), the auto
detect set itself to medium ...
My old card was low spec in Crysis ..... and I had expected this to be
at least medium.
After installing the new card, the Windows Experience Index was
unavailable. This could be linked to the Service Pack? The 'refresh'
button is missing.
Either way, I forced a re calculation following instructions of the
Microsoft site -and having done so, the experience index came back
lower than it was before - 4.7 as opposed to 4.8 ... odd.
I have a feeling I ought to upgrade the power to a minimum 400w -
possible more to be safe?
"Michael" <kj@nvb.com> wrote in message
news:59_1k.36606$Bz2.821@newsfe28.ams2
[...]
> I have a feeling I ought to upgrade the power to a minimum 400w -
> possible more to be safe?
Stop thinking in terms of nominal total wattage. That is so last century.
What matters is your real 12v capacity. Google this group in the past year
or two and you'll find this issue discussed at great length.
'Michael' wrote, in part:
> Secondly, despite an upgrade of video card to the 8800GT AMP 512Mb
> card, Crysis is jerky when things get busy - and if I use 'auto
> detect', it sets itself up as low spec.
>
> When I first installed Crysis (after the video card upgrade), the auto
> detect set itself to medium ...
>
> My old card was low spec in Crysis ..... and I had expected this to be
> at least medium.
>
> After installing the new card, the Windows Experience Index was
> unavailable. This could be linked to the Service Pack? The 'refresh'
> button is missing.
>
> Either way, I forced a re calculation following instructions of the
> Microsoft site -and having done so, the experience index came back
> lower than it was before - 4.7 as opposed to 4.8 ... odd.
_____
Well, it could be your CPU isn't enough for Crysis. Or that you don't have
enough DDR2 installed on your motherboard. Or that your DDR2 memory is not
clocked fast enough. Or that your FSB isn't clocked fast enough. None of
which details you've shared with us, and any or all of which are much more
likely to be causing the problem as you stated it than an inadequate power
supply. An inadequate power supply is either going to give you no
performance at all or full performance.
The Vista performance index is close to useless. Almost any Intel Core 2
Duo, 2 GBytes of memory, and a $150 video card will get you a score of 4.8.
Also keep in mind that the reported final score is the LOWEST of the sub
scores. And the score ALWAYS disappears when you make a hardware change;
the old score is likely to be incorrect.
Before you buy a new power supply, share all your system details. And most
certainly do not replace a 350 watt supply with a 400 watt supply.
Phil Weldon
"Michael" <kj@nvb.com> wrote in message
news:59_1k.36606$Bz2.821@newsfe28.ams2...
> First of One wrote:
>
>> That depends on the exact nature of the 'problems' you have in
>> Crysis. Is the performance simply slow, or are you getting lockups,
>> crashes, artifacts on textures...?
>>
>> Keep in mind a card's power draw scales with workload. Peak power
>> draw occurs during the most intense games, such as Crysis.
>
> Firstly - sorry for the inadvertent double post.
>
> Secondly, despite an upgrade of video card to the 8800GT AMP 512Mb
> card, Crysis is jerky when things get busy - and if I use 'auto
> detect', it sets itself up as low spec.
>
> When I first installed Crysis (after the video card upgrade), the auto
> detect set itself to medium ...
>
> My old card was low spec in Crysis ..... and I had expected this to be
> at least medium.
>
> After installing the new card, the Windows Experience Index was
> unavailable. This could be linked to the Service Pack? The 'refresh'
> button is missing.
>
> Either way, I forced a re calculation following instructions of the
> Microsoft site -and having done so, the experience index came back
> lower than it was before - 4.7 as opposed to 4.8 ... odd.
>
>
> I have a feeling I ought to upgrade the power to a minimum 400w -
> possible more to be safe?
>
> Mick
> --
>
DRS wrote:
> "Michael" <kj@nvb.com> wrote in message
> news:59_1k.36606$Bz2.821@newsfe28.ams2
>
> [...]
>
>> I have a feeling I ought to upgrade the power to a minimum 400w -
>> possible more to be safe?
>
> Stop thinking in terms of nominal total wattage. That is so last century.
> What matters is your real 12v capacity. Google this group in the past year
> or two and you'll find this issue discussed at great length.
>
>
In case you don't' want to do that, here's the short answer: You need
around 26A (amps) on your 12v line (total of all rails, 12v1, 12v2, etc)
to safely and efficiently power an 8800 level card or greater. The
sticker on the side of your PSU should give a amperage rating per line
(12v, 5v, 3v, etc). The 26A rating comes from figuring out the average
power draw of an entire system across a wide range of CPU's and
configurations.
"Phil Weldon" <not.disclosed@example.com> wrote in message
news:RJKdnVIG37hSNdXVnZ2dnUVZ_o_inZ2d@earthlink.co m
[...]
> The Vista performance index is close to useless. Almost any Intel
> Core 2 Duo, 2 GBytes of memory, and a $150 video card will get you a
> score of 4.8.
This is not a power supply issue, but rather general driver/Vista
quirkiness.
--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."
"Michael" <kj@nvb.com> wrote in message
news:59_1k.36606$Bz2.821@newsfe28.ams2...
> First of One wrote:
>
>> That depends on the exact nature of the 'problems' you have in
>> Crysis. Is the performance simply slow, or are you getting lockups,
>> crashes, artifacts on textures...?
>>
>> Keep in mind a card's power draw scales with workload. Peak power
>> draw occurs during the most intense games, such as Crysis.
>
> Firstly - sorry for the inadvertent double post.
>
> Secondly, despite an upgrade of video card to the 8800GT AMP 512Mb
> card, Crysis is jerky when things get busy - and if I use 'auto
> detect', it sets itself up as low spec.
>
> When I first installed Crysis (after the video card upgrade), the auto
> detect set itself to medium ...
>
> My old card was low spec in Crysis ..... and I had expected this to be
> at least medium.
>
> After installing the new card, the Windows Experience Index was
> unavailable. This could be linked to the Service Pack? The 'refresh'
> button is missing.
>
> Either way, I forced a re calculation following instructions of the
> Microsoft site -and having done so, the experience index came back
> lower than it was before - 4.7 as opposed to 4.8 ... odd.
>
>
> I have a feeling I ought to upgrade the power to a minimum 400w -
> possible more to be safe?
>
> Mick
> --
>
"First of One" <root@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:ifWdnXc7pZzFC9fVnZ2dnUVZ_tDinZ2d@giganews.com ...
> This is not a power supply issue, but rather general driver/Vista
> quirkiness.
>
It very well could be. I just spent over a week with Vista after deciding I
would just bite the bullet and install it. Everything worked, but many
things did not work as I wanted them to and a lot of my programs had issues
too. After banging my head against the wall for almost two weeks I
reinstalled XP Pro and in less than a day had everything working perfectly
and all my software and files restored. Maybe I am just not as smart as the
next guy........or maybe Vista just sucks........:-)
Voltage to card 
Linear Mode
