New graphics card => reboots when stressing.

[Frye]

Today I bought a Point of View GeForce GTX 480 1536MB cheap.

System boots fine and everything looks perfect. Temps are ok, drivers installed well, card seems fine.

But whenever I start ANY game I get a reboot. This seems to occur at the point it has to start drawing at full speed , so most games load fine but I get a reset as soon as the fun starts. Identical behavior in linux but 3d desktop effects in linux work and so does a simple opengl demo. (glxgears) leading me to believe the card is probably good.

The most likely culprit is my power supply which I always hated. I forgot the brand, some no-name. Crappy thin plastic plugs that break, short cables etc. 1000 W though, which should have been plenty i would have thought. It always worked fine with my old cards 9800gtx and lately a 9800GT.

It would really ease my mind if you guys think this is consistent behavior for having a too heavy card with a crappy power supply before I replace my PSU. Or is 1000W simply good enough for a single 480gtx and should I return the card?

Asus p6tSE
i7 920 @ stock speed
6 GB Kingston DDR3
1000W no-name PSU
2 drives, 1 tv card, 1 dvd rom, all other slots / cables unused and monitor draws its own power.

 

[cmndr_andi]

1000W no-name PSU

This worries me. The GTX 480 is an incredibly power hungry card and require a huge amount of current from the 12V rail. Even if it say "1000W" it may not be able to provide clean power to the graphics card under heavy load and elevated temperatures.

Would you be able to post up a photo of the rating sticker on the side of the PSU?

Also, can I just confirm that both the 6 and 8 pin PCIE power connections (between the PSU and graphics card) are fully inserted?

 

[Frye]

Thanks for the reply.

I don't have a camera and the sticker is probably facing the case because I can't see it, plus it's in a bit of a hard-to-reach spot.

I double-checked the connections. I used the 6+2 pins connector straight from the power supply for the 8-pin connection, but there was no second 6-pin cable so i had to use the adapter that came with the card for that one with a power connection that would normally go on an ide drive. Only then would it boot.

I figured not having both an 8-pin AND a 6-pin connector was a bad sign anyway.

 

[spleenharvester]

Yup, replace PSU.

 

[cmndr_andi]

I figured not having both an 8-pin AND a 6-pin connector was a bad sign anyway.

Aye, you are quite right. A 1000W PSU with only one PCIE power connection sounds like bad news.

I would recommend getting a new PSU ASAP. At the bare minimum I would go for this, though this is great if you can afford it.

 

[Frye]

I will do just that. Much appreciated.

 

[Frye]

Just letting you know getting the Antec PSU fixed everything. Thanks again you rock!