Graphics ATI X1900 XT Power Consumption

I have just purchased an ATI X1900 XT, however after reading some of the reviews I am left wondering will my current PSU be enough to power it, I have a Hiper Type R 480W, other components in the system include an AM2 X2 4200, 2gb Corsair DDRII XMS, 2*160gb Samsung spinpoint and 1 DVD writer. Will this PSU be enough?

Thanks
Kingdavies

 

I think a 480W is the reccomended wattage for the x1900's so it should be fine

 

Also I just noticed my PSU doesn't have a PCI Exp power connector, will I need one of these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46857&doy=2m7&C=SEO&U=strat15
or does will the grpahics card come with one

 

The card comes with an adaptor.

 

This is true but the one that comes with the cards only uses one molex connector, that means only 1 wire of 12v, while the one mentioned above holds two connectors which is needed for a high powered graphics card.

 

my x1900xt didnt come with a power adapter.
and its not just about the wattage for these cards, the psu must have 33a+ on the 12v rail.

 

I think my PSU has 34a on the 12v rail, and an adapter can quite clearly be seen in a photograph of what the package includes, heres that photo:
http://img.hexus.net/v2/graphics_cards/ati/PowerColor/X1900XT/SAPXT/BundleB.jpg

 

I have now got my graphics card and it is all setup and working in my new rig, however I have a problem sometimes when I am playing computer games the system just reboots for what seems like no reason could this be due to a lack of power being supplied by the PSU?

 

Get AtiTool , run the Artifact Scanner if the PC restarts/crashes/get arttifacts then yes its probably your powersupply. Your best bet would be to try a PCI-Express to molex adapter that uses TWO molex connectors supplying two 12v rails. 8th down on this page

 

The computer restarted after about 5mins of running the test. (When I say restart it doesnt acctually, the monitors go off and I dont get a display I then have 2 manually restart)

 

Yep, thats deffiantly sounds like a power issue, I reccomend you get the power connector i showed you in my previous post

 

Could this be caused by heat? The gfx card seems very hot when I touch it, I took the side of the case and managed to play CSS without it crashing, however I also managed 2 play for over 2hours this morning without it crashing with the side on. Im very confused this problem also occurred with my old Geforce 6600GT however it wasnt as frequent

Thanks for all the gr8 help
Kingdavies

 

Oh yeah.... I foregot about heat, make sure your case has decent air flow or run the fan on like 70% to keep it cool (though its noisey)

 

How do you change the speed of the fan? Sorry for the nooby question lol

Update: I know how to now I was using ATITool 0.24 which doesnt support my GPU, I have installed version 0.25 and I now see the option. What is a good temperature for the GPU? and will changing these settings void my warranty?

 

temps should be 50-60C idle 80-90C max load and no it will not viod your warrenty or anything.

 

This is a bloody joke, I spent about £850 on this new system and I can't even use it without it crashing. I dont think it is the temperature as even after gaming for oevr an hour the GPU's temperature was still under 85C. It might still be a power issue however it is strnage how sometimes I can get away with playing for over an hour b4 it crashes and other times it will crash while the game is still loading. On top of all this I am now getting these messages when I loading games:


I also just notice this:

Why is the core running at 500mhz on an ATI x1900 XT card that sould be 625mhz and the memory is running at 594 when it should be 725

 

Right. This deffinatly looks like a power issue, assaid in my orevious posts, buy the dual molex to PCI-express power connector from OC-UK, its only a few bob.

Secondly, your graphics card clocks are fine! The amount of times I've had to explain this is just not funny...

This should help

Finally if the dual Molex to PCI-Express fails to help then it looks like you may have to buy a better powersupply. I would reccomend something above 500W by Antec, Tagan or Seasonic etc. Do not buy a crappy "OMGawd 700W for £20!!!11!"psu!

Hope this helps

 

Ok thanks for all the help, ill order one those dual Molex to PCI-Express adaptors and if that doesn't work what do you think of the Tagan TG530-U22 530W ATX2.01 2Force with 40A on its 12v rails costing £70inc vat or possibly the Akasa Ultra Quiet 550W PowerPlus Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU with 4*12v rails and up2 55A on the 12v rails costing £81

 

Both PSU's are great, I've got a Tagan 580W is very very quite and I've used a Antec 500W which was good too, I personally like Tagan more but its totaly up to you

 

I have now got one of the power adaptors, and have been running the Artifact Scanner for almost 2hours the system has'nt crashed once, however it still crashes when I attempt to play computer games. I know think this is a RAM issue and not related to my graphics card. What do you think?