PSU Not enough Watts = BSOD?

[Fecal Face]

I built this PC a few weeks ago:
Intel Core i7 920
ASUS P6T
GeForce 9600GT
6GB Corsair DDR3
(My old HDD and CD Drives)
In a Red Lexa Blackline case

Now.. I keep getting BSOD's while playing games, usually when there's a heavy load on CPU / GPU. I'm assuming it's because I'm using my old 500W PSU. From what I've read on the manufacturer's websites, that's about 30W too low.

That's why I'm BSOD-ing... Right?

Also, as soon as the store I bought the parts from has the PSU I planned on buying- (they didn't have it in stock when i bought the other parts) -which is 860W, I'm planning on putting in a BFG Tech GTX295. Will that be enough?

Thanks for reading all that.

 

[mindless728]

ok what PSU, who makes it and what are the amps on the 12v rails

also for your next PSU i would recommend getting something of quality like Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, Antec

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The general rule of thumb is that a high quality 500 - 550 watt power supply can power any single video card made. A single NVIDIA 9600GT video graphics card does not use very much power. Typically video power usage is between 26 and 61 watts. The rest of your system doesn't use much power either. You should be okay unless you have a really crappy power supply.

We just had a thread about power requirements for a single GTX 295. The general rule of thumb still applies.

What power supply do you have? Please post the make and model.

 

[Twoboxer]

The blue screens you describe tell you to check two things quickly - temps and your psu. More often, its the psu.

When you report back on your psu make/model, you might also tell us the temps on your gpu and cpu cores when you BSOD using Realtemp and/or CPUID Hardware Monitor.

If the temps are OK, we'll prolly recommend you download the latest drivers, uninstall all nvidia video software, and install the latest before buying a new psu.

 

[Fecal Face]

Alright, sorry it took so long for me to reply, but I hope I can answer you all at once 😀

@mindless738--
My current PSU is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171018
My next PSU will be this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703013

Although I'm not buying them off newegg

@JohnnyLucky--
See above 😛

@Twoboxer--
my temps are fine (AFAIK) they're at 35-45C while running games etc, 30-35C idle. (I got these temps from the case, it has an LCD screen that displays temperatures). A bit of a noob thing to ask here, but how would I go about removing all the nvidia video software? I already know how to install drivers, but I've never had to remove them so I have no idea how 😗 .

The PSU is about 2-3 years old AFAIK.
Also, on *a few* of the BSOD's it will mention nv4_disp.dll. Maybe this is just a problem with my Nvidia Drivers.

 

[Twoboxer]

Aye, that's why we want to check temps and redo drivers before writing a check.

1) Remove drivers via Control Panel then: Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs & Features (Vista, W7). Remove NVIDIA Drivers (video only), NVIDIA nTune, NVIDIAnView, NVIDIA Physx . . . see the pattern ? Nothing fancier is required in this case.

2) Please download RealTemp and CPUID Hardware Monitor and check your temps. What we are interested in is the temp of your gpu and cpu, not the air inside the case. Although with the temps you are seeing, if accurate, there's prolly no problem.

Note: If temps and drivers are OK, replacing the psu is playing the odds. The odds normally say the vid card is OK. But ya never know.

 

[Fecal Face]

1) Remove drivers via Control Panel then: Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs & Features (Vista, W7). Remove NVIDIA Drivers (video only), NVIDIA nTune, NVIDIAnView, NVIDIA Physx . . . see the pattern ? Nothing fancier is required in this case.

That's all? Didn't know it was that easy! 😀

I'll give it a shot and see if it makes a difference.

quick edit..:
[strike]
would I have to restart after removing the drivers? Or can I remove them then immediately install the ones I just downloaded? (Version 190.62)[/strike]
Nevermind, after uninstalling they all asked me to restart. doing that now.

 

[Fecal Face]

OK, uninstalled all the nvidia stuff like you said, restarted, then installed the latest drivers from their website.

While the new drivers were installing, it said it failed to install the nvidia control panel, is that a big enough problem to worry about? 🙁

 

[Twoboxer]

Yes, simply because it should install. Repeat it.

Edit: Did you DL the latest drivers? Did you let the nVidia utility choose dirvers for you? or did you choose them yourself?

 

[Twoboxer]

BTW, its 4AM here - going to bed - catch you tomorrow - good luck,

 

[Fecal Face]

Yes, simply because it should install. Repeat it.

Edit: Did you DL the latest drivers? Did you let the nVidia utility choose dirvers for you? or did you choose them yourself?

Chose them myself, I chose the Geforce 9 Series, for Windows XP 32-bit (what i'm running).

Well, it's 3 am here, I'm probably going to bed too. Thanks for the help see you tomorrow.
Or technically, see you later today.
Whatever.
Thanks for the help.

 

[logainofhades]

I would get driver sweeper from guru3D. It will remove any traces of old Nvidia drivers from your system. A simple uninstall in windows program manager does not get everything. After you do that, I would reinstall the drivers.

 

[Fecal Face]

Odd things continue to happen to me, I came back from lunch (after being away for only about 30-40 minutes), and my computer was shut down. I didn't remember shutting it down, and it's only set to go into standby after a few minutes (15 i think) of inactivity.

So I push the power button, and it appears to turn on. Except my monitor shows nothing, like it's disconnected from the computer, and my mouse / keyboard / n52te all seem like they're not connected either (not lighting up / turning on). I sat and waited for a few more minutes and nothing happened. Restarting gave me the same result, everything just looked like it was unplugged. No, it wasn't unplugged, I'm sure I would have figured that out

I tried the only other thing I could think of: unplug the computer for a few seconds then plug it back in and turn it on.

Well I did, and it worked fine. Great. Except some of my startup items (mainly just the tray icons for my mouse and n52te) didn't start. If it helps, my mouse is a Razer Lachesis, the other device was a Belkin n52te, and my keyboard is a Logitech G15 v2.

When I went to start the mouse / n52te software, after closing one of the windows, I got a BSOD.

I have no idea what's going wrong now, maybe I did something wrong while installing the nvidia drivers (although I don't know how that would cause the mouse / keyboard etc. software to not start). Or maybe I did something wrong while installing my motherboard drivers?

My temps were as they normally are, ~30C.

Probably unrelated, but is it bad if the lights in the room dim a bit when I plug in the computer? Could that be causing the problem(s)?

Also, my Internet was being VERY slow, but that probably has nothing to do with it.. just trying to give you guys all the info I can.

Thanks

 

[silvergo]

have you tried system restore? scan for viruses? i tihnk it might be the video card, but worst case trying reinstalling

 

[Fecal Face]

have you tried system restore? scan for viruses? i tihnk it might be the video card, but worst case trying reinstalling

Yeah, I've tried both of those. 🙁

 

[Fecal Face]

OK, I installed the new PSU I was planning on buying, popped in my GTX 295, and bought an extra hard drive too. Not getting any more BSOD's (yet) so I'm thinking it could have been the graphics card.

Thanks for the help

 

[Twoboxer]

OK, I installed the new PSU I was planning on buying, popped in my GTX 295 . . . Not getting any more BSOD's (yet) so I'm thinking it could have been the graphics card.

What makes you think its not the psu?

 

[Fecal Face]

What makes you think its not the psu?

Actually, you have a good point.. I guess it could have been either one, but I haven't had a BSOD yet since the new PSU / Graphics Card.

Although I have got a few "stop error"s when playing games.

...And now that I think about it, I think it probably was the PSU. The lights in the room would dim/flicker a bit when I turned on my computer and sometimes after leaving it on for a while I would come back and it would be turned off..