New Upgrade Questions!

[Dannywooly]

Hi All

Just recently upgraded my system and have a few question, (Haven't upgraded one in ages)

Spec:
P4 3.2Ghz Prescott 1Mb (Stock cooler)
Asustek P4V800-X Mobo
2 x 512Mb PC2700
Gigabyte X800Pro 256Mb (Stock Cooler)
1 x Seagate Barracuda SATA 80Gb
1 x WD 8Mb 80Gb IDE
1 x DVD-ROM
1x CD-Writer
Case is a Sonata cool case with 380W fanless PSU (Has 120mm Exhaust Fan)

Windows XP SP2
Graphics Drivers : 6.14.10.6483

Right now you know what im running here are the questions:

1) I took a look at ATI Tool Ver 22 to see about clock speeds on my GC, Core = 472.5 and Mem 445.50, are these right? It running a temp of 43c, tried upping the ratings to 490/490 and it just hung in 3D Mark 2003. (Just while i was typing this it has just crashed telling me the drivers are not responding and i need to restart! Gonna finish this thread in 640x480 lol)

2)Is the power supply i have meaty enough for this setup?

3)With the stock values above i got a 3D Mark 2003 of 9568 is that normal?

4)CPU and MB are running tempertures of 40c and 28c Retrospectivily, are these normal? to high?

5)I would like to get some more output from my system, is overclocking viable with this hardware without making my PC sound like a jet liner! I heard about a BIOS update for my GC that would make it an XT is this right?

Sorry for all the question but i thought i would ask them all in the same thread instead of loads of little ones.

Cheer guys hopefully get this sorted and tuned and NOT bladdy crashing!

Danny

[davidhammock200]

Is the power supply i have meaty enough for this setup?

Probably not. unless you have at least 18A on the +12V rail.

Try measuring your rails with a voltmeter & check my power supply guide.

[nStyle]

Well only you can know your own limits...but yeah your temps are fine...your 3d mark score sounds right too...

the pro can easily be flashed to XT...theres a guide somewhere.

If u still got the psu that came with ur case u need to upgrade

[Vicious-Peanut]

nstyle, only the ViVo can be flashed to XT. I think your PSU is good enough, aslo your temps are fine.

[Dannywooly]

Hi

Cheers for the replies guys, so what do you think is causes my PC to crash out? Not very often only four times since build last night, but all are VPU related!

Do you think maybe a dogdy Graphics card!

Cheers

Danny

[Vicious-Peanut]

Hmm, try going back to SP1, becuase SP2 has caused nothing but problems for numerous people. Can you tell me the number of amps on the 12+ volt line? (on the sticker) So 3dmark wasn't crashing at the stock speed?

About the XT flash, I'm sorry to say that only the ViVo versions can do that. There is a hardmod you can do, but I really don't recommend it.

Good Luck,
Peanut

[nStyle]

You built it last night and it has crashed 4 times already?? Thats often if you ask me..

I would definetly look for a new psu, it sounds like yours just isnt suffecient...

I ask again do you have the 1 that came with your case...if so theres your prob right there.

[Vicious-Peanut]

yes, the antec sonata comes with 380 watt antec psu. This should be fine for a x800 though since they use less juice than a 9800 pro does.. However if you try the above mentioned things and they dont help then maybe borrow a psu from a friend.

[nStyle]

Oh sorry didnt realise the sonata was antec made...Yes it sounds like it should be fine but you never know and if the pc isnt stable its because something isnt gettin enough juice...

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by Vicious-Peanut

yes, the antec sonata comes with 380 watt antec psu. This should be fine for a x800 though since they use less juice than a 9800 pro does.. However if you try the above mentioned things and they dont help then maybe borrow a psu from a friend.

Here is the PS in question:

Antec 380W Power Supply, Model "TRUE380" -RETAIL
Model# TRUE380 Item # N82E16817103907
Specifications: Type: ATX
Maximum Power: 380W
PFC: No
Power Good Signal: 100-500ms
Hold-up Time: >= 17ms at Full Load
Efficiency: >= 68%
Over Voltage Protection: +5V trip point<+6.5V; +3.3V trip point<+4.1V; +12V trip point<+14.4V
Overload Protection: Latching Protection+5V @<47A;+3.3V @ <48A+12V @ <18A
Input Voltage: 115/230 VAC
Input Frequency Range: 47-63 Hz
Input Current: 8A/ 5A
Output: +3.3V@28A, +5V@35A, -5V@0.5A, +12V@18A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2A
MTBF: 80,000 hrs. @ 25ºC
Approvals: UL, TUV, CB, VDE, FCC CLASS B, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO, FIMCO

As you can see it has the 18A min. on the +12V rail & given that it is an Antec, one of the best,

unless the PS is defective , I doubt that the PS is causing his problems.

To be sure the rails need to be measured with a volt meter.

[silentbob]

turn off vpu recover?

[Vicious-Peanut]

right, the antec psu should not be causing the crashing, does it still crash at the stock speeds? You mentioned it crashing at the overclocked speeds, so maybe you should look into a ATI silencer if you really want to overclock it

[Dannywooly]

Hi All

Thanks so much for your investigating, i noticed something a little odd when on the ATI driver site, with the 4.10 driver you have to have .NET framework installed so last night i install my Visual Studio .NET 2003 and since then i haven't had a crash! Not used the PC much but it still hasn't hung since.

So will keep my fingers crossed and see what happens.

Is it really best to uninstall SP2??

The Graphics Card is running at stock, when it crashed at 489/489 it was running with the 4.10 drivers and no .NET framework!

Hopefully that was it. The Antec Case is top quality so i presume the PSU is the same, i used the PSU guide and adding all the max's up it came to 368W required. So i think i am pushing it a little. (If everything powers up at the same time)

Just on another note, what is a bad temp for the GPU? (Farcry clocks it up to 71c) and the CPU upto 54c, this ok?

Cheers so much for all the help excellent forum

Danny

[Vicious-Peanut]

Yes, your temps should be ok, but you may want to look into an ATI silencer if you want to overclock it and have it be stable. Your psu is top notch so it should be good. I think the problem you were having was that you were trying to overclock the video card too high and it was overheating, so you may want to look into an ATI silencer