Radeon 4890 and power supply connector question

[Anderson617]

Hello everyone!

first of all my specs are:

amd athlon 64 X2 6000+
vista home premium 32 bit
3GB RAM
500w power supply

I just purchased a new HIS Radeon 4890 HD Turbo video card. I've noticed that it has been stuttering
and performing slowly. COD4, Crysis etc. run at 25-30 fps. When I installed the card, I noticed that there are
two different connector ports on the card. One is a 6 pin PCI-e and the other is an 8 pin PCI-e. My power supply only has two of the 6 pin connectors, and does not have an 8 pin connector. The manufacturer supplied in the box a 4 pin molex (x2) connector adapter, which then gives me the 8 pin connector. But also in the box contained a small sheet saying that the adapter can be used but is not recommended.

Could this be the reason for the stuttering? I've already flashed my BIOS, cleaned out old drivers with driver cleaner pro, reinstalled the ati drivers a few times, and I tried changing the settings in catalyst control center for performance.

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[hunter315]

What 500 watt PSU in particular? Can you open up the box and post the current rating for its 12 volt rail. It may simply not have the ability to supply enough juice.

 

[Anderson617]

dual 12 volt rails

combined max output 408 watts
+12V max load 22A
+12V min load 1.0A
-12V max load 0.8A
-12V min load 0A

is that the info you were looking for?

 

[hunter315]

264 watts of useful power on that PSU based on those specs, the combined max output unfortunately means its peak rated which is bad. The 4890 has a TDP of 190 combine that with your CPU and motherboard requirements and you are over your available power especially when aging is considered
http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
using that PSU calculator, i put in your GPU and CPU, 1 sata HDD, 1 dvd burner, no capacitor aging and it came up to 256 watts, that is wayy too close to the limit on that PSU for comfort, i would suggest swapping it out ASAP for an Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, or OCZ, a 500 or 550 watt PSU from any of those will do quite well.

 

[Anderson617]

ahh i see.

Thank you very much for your help hunter. I forgot to mention my power supply is an Antec. I think I'm gonna
pick up a 750w that has the direct PCI-e 6 and 8 pin connectors to the video card. I think that would help this card out.


thank you

 

[hunter315]

Wow, it must be a very old antec, they havent rated at peak for several years. The EA750 from antec is currently $95 on newegg and will provide you with plenty of power to crossfire in the future, however if you dont have a crossfire capable board pick up the corsair 550VX, it has enough power for any single card.