Power Supply Problem?

afraser2k

afraser2k

afraser2k

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Joined
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I have an OCZ PowerStream 520W ATX power supply in my desktop, full component list as follows:

Case: Coolermaster Centurion 5
Cooling: 1x80mm intake, 1x120mm exhaust fan
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
Processor: s939 AMD64 4000+
Cooling: AMD Retail Cooler
Memory: 4x512 Mb Crucial Ballistix PC4000 DDR
Audio: Plantronics headset (USB)
Network: On-board Gigabit
Video: Gainward BLISS 7800GS+ 512 Mb (AGP/24-pipe version)
FDD: Mitsumi 7-in-1 card reader
HDD: 1x250 Gb Maxter MaxLine Plus II (IDE)
Optical: NEC ND-4550A DVD+RW (IDE)
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro (USB)
Mouse: Razer Diamondback 1600dpi (USB)
Monitor: Hyundai L70S+ 17" TFT
O/S: Windows XP Pro


Now the problem seems to be that when I connect the Mitsumi card reader WinXP recognizes the device as an "Unknown Device". When I remove the USB headset and reboot the device is picked up properly and the extra drives are listed.

I also noticed today that when trying to play Hitman: Blood Money the Nvidia driver dialogue pops-up saying there's not enough power to run the cards fan and temps are up to about 78°C. The card has two power connectors with no other devices on the lines.

So my question is does this sound like the power supply is not supplying enough power to all of the USB devices so it causes the other issue with my card? The card runs fine when I disconnect the Mitsumi drive (idles about 48°C). Nvidia drivers are 93.71.
 
That PSU should be powerful enough but it sounds like it might be struggling for some reason, have you got another PSU you could possibly test? It may be that your Mitsumi drive is overloading the system but a floppy drive uses little normally and an independent USB card reader uses negligible amounts of power so I wouldn't have thought building one into the drive would matter.

A USB keyboard, mouse and headset hardly should be overloading the system, nor including a card reader into that so it could the PSU is a bit dodgy.
 
I've played through the first couple of missions in H:BM and the system was fine, card was running about ~60°C 4x/8x @ 1280x1024. The card reader has been in my system for about two months so that's why I was thinking about the PSU. Mind you I thought maybe my system could be overheating?

I'll leave it another week or two and see if I still get the problem, as you say I thought the 520W would be enough for what I have. If I do have to replace it then I'll probably splash out on the OCZ GameXStream 700W since I'm upgrading my system "soon" anyway.
 
For whatever it is worth I'm running an A64 3400, 6800gt, 1gb Ram (1 stick), 2 hard drives although I've run 4 often enough, 1 optical drive and a couple of USB devices off a 400w PSU so my system isn't massively less demanding that yours except for possibly the graphics card so that PSU ought to be more than enough.

I'd consider the Corsair 620w over the OCZ unless you have a special affinity for OCZ, it is at least worth a look. :)
 
MeatLoaf said:
If its an internal card reader it sounds like you have the USB header plugged in the wroing way round
Click to expand...

I swapped the internal reader USB to the pins next to it and it came up no problem (same way round).

Edit: And the USB headphones went off. Will check other ports and see if the front USB there's a limit to using the two motherboard USB connectors.
 
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