7970 power consuption

[tgrasshopper]

I have upgraded my video card from a 6850 to a 7970.
did a french install of window.
When I start a game the PC reboot and I can hear the power supply do 2 quick bip.
The Manuel say ti's a power issue.

My 7970 box specify: required 150W+75W

My power supply is a Enermax Infinity 650W
other hardware:
2600K processor
4HDD

someone told me that my problem is a 12V rail issue.
Can this be true?
Is my power supply good enough for a 7970 card?

 

[Tibbs01]

Are you using the pci-e cable or a molex to pci-e adapter to get power to the card?

Edit: I ask about your cord configuration as it appears to be a modular power supply with 3, +12 volt rails so if you are pulling power off the rails incorrectly that could be your problem.

 

[tgrasshopper]

I'v try with the 6+2pin from the none modular cable + 6 pin plug into the PCI master (top red) modular plug.

I have also try to connect my other 6+2 pin cable into the top right 2 connector(black) and use only the 6 pin connector with the none modular 6+2 pin.

hard to explain....

The power supply can be seen at:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/enermax_infiniti_650w_psu_review,2.html

Something I could do is try and error combination, but before doing so, I was trying to find out if the power supply is supposed to be able to handle a 7970 video card.

 

[photonboy]

Your PSU is almost definitely incapable of the load.
Once you enter a game the POWER LOAD increases and your PSU just can't handle it.

 

[tgrasshopper]

by reading web AMD say that this power supply is compatible with 7970:
http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_2&lv0=1&lv1=58&no=187

It as 3X12Volt rail, I think my problem is because my Power supply is 6 years old and lost power or because I plug the 6+2pin and the 6pin on the same rail.

 

[Tibbs01]

^agreed with above, and one last thing you could try is to actually use the molex to pci-e adapter that came with your card but make sure each molex is plug into a different rail.

 

[ko888]

For a system using a single Radeon HD 7970 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

The Enermax Infiniti 650W ( EIN650AWT ), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 52 Amps and with two 6-pin and one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is way more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 7970 graphics card.

You should be using the hardwired (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector and one of the modular 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector cables from the PSU to the graphics card.

 

[goldsauce]

Your power supply should be able to easily handle a single 7970.

 

[revro]

i am thinking about this 7970 on my slightly oc q9550@3.4GHz as its requirement is 500w psu
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1481&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
i saw on 660ftw power usage from wall to spike to 239Watt so i guess even if 7970 has tdp 60watt more it should be able to handle it unless i try to oc the card itself

best
revro

 

[tgrasshopper]

For a system using a single Radeon HD 7970 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

The Enermax Infiniti 650W ( EIN650AWT ), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 52 Amps and with two 6-pin and one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is way more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 7970 graphics card.

You should be using the hardwired (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector and one of the modular 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector cables from the PSU to the graphics card.

Thanks this answer my questions, it's what I thought but I wanted to confirm. I had originally try this combination: (hardwired (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector and one of the modular 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector cables) It was not working. I changed my power supply, and it's now working.
my power supply was probably not able to supply the 38 AMP anymore...

 

[ko888]

Thanks this answer my questions, it's what I thought but I wanted to confirm. I had originally try this combination: (hardwired (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector and one of the modular 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector cables) It was not working. I changed my power supply, and it's now working.
my power supply was probably not able to supply the 38 AMP anymore...

When the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply age due to heat they will gradually lose their ability to filter out electrical noise and ripple and you will then experience the type of problem you have encountered.

Happy to hear you've resolved it.

 

[tgrasshopper]

One week later my problem is back, except now my screen goes black every time I enter a game. the video card fan start to go full speed an can still hear the game playing in the speaker, I can still speak to people in ventrilo. only way to fix this is the kill switch on the power supply.

In windows I have no issue, only when I start a game. this is very annoying as my video card and power supply are new....

I have a fresh install of window, mother board driver are up to date.

I know my issue is eider the video card or the Power supply.

the new power supply I bought is a cooler master GX 750w, the guys at the shop told me that there are supposed to be good.

The video card was plug on the same cable with a 6+2Pin an a 6pin for one week before it started to make these black screen. I tried to use the second cable from the power supply to see if that would a made a difference and some how it lasted about 5 minute inside the game before I got the black screen. When plug on the same cable the screen turn black as soon as I move the mouse.

Can that new power supply only lasted one week or it's the video card?

I'm thinking that the problem is a video card, i'm mad as it was bought online at NCIX and i'm not sure on how they work with warranty.

 

[ko888]

There are two models of the Cooler Master GX-750W. The RS-750-ACAA-E3 model, made by Seventeam, is a piece of junk. Its replacement model, the RS-750-ACAA-D3, made by Enhance Electronics is suppose to have fixed the problems.

Make sure you have the model made by Enhance Electronics.

 

[tgrasshopper]

It is a RS-750-ACAA-D3. Not sure if i'v mention before the video card is a XFX7970GHZ. Can a faulty video card only crash inside game?
evry time I had issue with a video card in the past it was plain an simple it would simply not give a video images at all. In my case this time it's almost like the video card ask for more power and shut down an turn all the fan at max to prevent damage to the processor.

I run a infinity eye setup with 3X24" monitor, I tried to run the game with only one monitor at low setting and I get the same problem.

 

[ko888]

It is a RS-750-ACAA-D3. Not sure if i'v mention before the video card is a XFX7970GHZ. Can a faulty video card only crash inside game?
evry time I had issue with a video card in the past it was plain an simple it would simply not give a video images at all. In my case this time it's almost like the video card ask for more power and shut down an turn all the fan at max to prevent damage to the processor.

I run a infinity eye setup with 3X24" monitor, I tried to run the game with only one monitor at low setting and I get the same problem.

Yes it could. I've seen some graphics cards begin to fail in that fashion.

I've also seen driver problems cause that symptom too and sometimes only with certain games or applications. If the graphics card driver is unable to recover from an error you can lose the display but the remainder of the system is still running in the background.

 

[tgrasshopper]

I dont think this is a driver issue, as this problem started 1 week.after a new power supply. I also did a frech install, fresh driver and i still get the problem. Kind of my nightmare lately im tired of doing fresh install. Ill try to put my old video card inside de pc it's a 6850 ati, i know it's not the best test, I'd be bether puting my 7970 inside another pc but i dont have this luxury at the moment......

 

[tgrasshopper]

NCIX are sending me a new video card.

 

[tgrasshopper]

Best answer selected by tgrasshopper.