Austin_N_Austin

I built a desktop a year ago and I’ve recently started looking at GPU performance tests and noticing that something isn’t working right. I haven’t been able to play any games at or near full specs, not even the company of heroes game that came with the video cards. Last night I installed and played Need for Speed Shift and was getting only 15-20 FPS at medium graphics settings and 1280x1024 resolution. I’ve seen reviews showing similar systems running Crysis at full specs, higher resolutions, and 40-50 fps. Using a PSU calculator it looks like my power supply may be underpowered but I think the system would crash or something if that was the case.

My system:
P5K3 Deluxe motherboard with 2GB of DDR3 1333 (motherboard “overclocks” itself for this memory)

Intel core 2 duo 3.0 GHz processor @ 3.12

Asus EAH3870 x2 Crossfire

2 SATA HDDs
1 IDE HDD

500W Power Supply

I’m running Windows XP SP3 with all updated drivers and the catalyst control center. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...3870x2/13.html

Phædrus2401

You're underpowered, two 3870s should have an 850W PSU. Insufficient power can cause decreased performance sometimes when balanced between "enough" and "completely insufficient". Get a quality unit like the Corsair TX850W in there, and I'd be willing to bet you'd see those framerates shoot up a bit.

Austin_N_Austin

I just did a test using "sensors view" and my 12V voltage dropped to 11.46 and Need for Speed crashed. I have had great luck with corsair so far and I'll order that power supply today. Thanks for the help! I'll post the news after installing the new PSU.

Phædrus2401

Yikes, looks like you dropped right off the ATX voltage spec chart. Be glad that PSU hasn't gone boom yet. Don't do any gaming until you get the new PSU in there, and in fact it may be wise to remove the second 3870 for the time being as well.

Hope you see the performance you should be getting once that new PSU is in there.

Austin_N_Austin

Your technical terminology has me somewhat concerned. By "boom" do you mean it could potentially explode in a way that could be harmful to anyone standing around my computer or just that it will fizzle and pop and maybe let out a plume of smoke?

Phædrus2401

Heh, boom is just a euphemism for a PSU dying. It *can* explode, but it's more like a very miniaturized transformer explosion (a pop and a small shower of sparks and a some smoke) than a Hollywood-style ball of flame. Usually only the very lowest-end PSUs will actually explode when they die, though; most mid-range and better ones are designed such that another component will fail before it reaches the stage of exploding. However, those mid-range and low end units can still destroy your computer by sending a burst of "dirty power" (randomized voltage, excessive current, etc.) through the system, which will destroy the motherboard, CPU, and most other major components, depending on exactly which voltage rail died.


What's the brand and model of that unit? I can tell you if it's likely to explode. As for the new one, I've never heard of a Corsair PSU exploding, and failures seem to be few and far between. And when they do fail it's almost unheard of for them to take other components with them.


Here's a video of a POS PSU exploding:
YouTube - Huntkey Green Star 450 W Review

Austin_N_Austin

Thanks for the video that's pretty neat.

I don't remember the exact model number but it was something similar to Apevia win 500-sxs. I heard something about PSUs loosing wattage over time and this unit is 3-4 years old and has been turned on most of the time for those years. I took out one of the video cards and was only able to play NFS at something like 800x600 without a crash. Is it possible that over time this unit has degraded to the point of not being able to support a single EAH3870?

emosun

Considering 500w isn't enough for a single 3870 in the first place , yes that thing is toast.

Austin_N_Austin

OK, I replaced the power supply with the corsair but now I have a new problem: heat.

One of the fans on my video cards makes noise like its unbalanced every now and then (compressed air didn't help). While playing games Catalyst Control Center showed my cards at around 74 degrees Celsius which seems rather high to me. The performance is still under par for these cards at around 24 FPS full screen with medium graphics.

My case is set up so that the heat sinks are below the graphics cards which doesn't make sense to me so I tried turning it on its side and I have manually set the fan speeds higher to try to help with cooling. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe the heat sinks have loosened or need new thermal compound?

wrench97

If the fan is noisy and it's clean no dust hitting it then most likely the fan is failing.
Do both cards show the same temps or is the other one running cooler?

Austin_N_Austin

I noticed that when its making the noise the fan is spinning extremely slow. I stuck my finger in there to where it would just barely touch the ends of the blades and they would only hit my finger like 3 times a second. CCC was only showing me one temp. Just realized I can switch to the other card to show its temp. Right now at idle its showing 48 degrees on one and 43 degrees on the other. I'll start crysis and see what kind of difference there is between the two.

Austin_N_Austin

After a few minutes of Crysis one card was at 75 while the other was around 65.

wrench97

Sounds like the fan is failing is there any warranty left on the card?