new video card, power loss

ok, so i got a "new" video card today from a friend i say new cuz it's new to me but used. i know he is careful with his stuff and wouldn't give me a dead card. well after installing it and doing a few troubleshooting issues to get it working i was thrilled. i went to launch a game and it worked, but after about 1-2 minutes of the game being launched my entire PC shut down without warning, BSOD, sound looping or anything. the computer turns right back on when i press the button without issues, but anytime i try to play a game this happens.

asus m3n72-d mother board
bfg 8800gt oce 512mb video card
2gigs of ram
windows XP pro
amd athlon dual core 2.8ghz
650watt psu

i know the psu is powerful enough for the card so i'm lost as to what is happening.

It could be overheating. To troubleshoot this Go to this site and download SpeedFan--> http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php and then post a screen shot of the speedfan window.

Edited by computerxpds, 28 April 2010 - 04:53 PM.

overheating or PSU would be my guess. You say its powerful enough-but are you looking at both the wattage and the amperage? how much amperage is along your +12v rail?

ok guys, ty.

along my +12v rail is 28A, and as far as gpu fan speed i have a controller downloaded allready and i have it jacked to the max so i don't think it's overheating due to that. i'll try and get a SS of the fan speed for ya.

Edited by hitmanrj45, 28 April 2010 - 06:05 PM.

On my desktop I upgraded my graphics card to a bfg 9800 GT OC. It was factory overclocked, and exact same problems as you are mentioning. Come to find out bfg had the factory overclock set a bit too high. I turned it down some, and not a problem since. If you use RivaTuner to adjust speeds make sure you save a profile and apply it so it starts with the slightly turned down settings at windows start-up. This will keep you from having to constantly under clock (I know, sounds weird me even saying under clock) your card every time you play a graphic intensive 3D game.

I would look real hard at that PSU. 28 amps (336 watts) from the 12V in a 650 watt unit means this is likely an older and/or cheapie design. Use a meter to monitor your 12v (yellow wire on a spare molex) when gaming. What is the actual brand/model of the PSU?

ok, i tried turning down my overclocking a litlle to the standard (not factory OC) frequencies, on first attempt of playing a game, the shaders blew out and then the machine shutdown as i described before.

the brand or model i'm not sure of, but i know it's not a major brand, i did get this relatively cheap as i was on a budget at the time and just needed a working PSU.

I believe Belarc Advisor will list the mfg and model of your PSU. Download it and it will give you more information than you probably would want to know about your PC. PSU being one of them.

Belarc Advisor is indeed a very valuable tool, and I also recommend it if you haven't tried it yet.

I don't think it will display any info about your power supply unit, though - at least the Belarc Advisor version 8.1k I'm currently using does not.

However, you can easily obtain info about your PSU by opening your computer case and reading the manufacturer and power rating info off the side of the PSU unit.

ok, here is everything that belarc told me. sorry this is big.


Operating System System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States) No details available
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
2.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M3N72-D 1.XX
Serial Number: MS1C92B61700851
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS M3N72-D ACPI BIOS Revision 1402 12/04/2009
Drives Memory Modules c,d
250.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
90.49 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

DVDRW 18X18X12X [CD-ROM drive]
LITE-ON CD N LH52N1P [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Hitachi HDT725025VLA380 [Hard drive] (250.06 GB) -- drive 0, SMART Status: Healthy 2048 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_A1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM_B1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM_A2' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_B2' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes


c: (NTFS on drive 0) 250.05 GB 90.49 GB free
Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
Aunt Lynda 3/26/2010 2:59:34 PM (admin)
Guest 2/3/2010 9:10:20 PM
Hitman 4/28/2010 9:14:20 PM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator never (admin)
HelpAssistant never

DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account

Brother MFC-3360C USB Printer on USB001
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (2x) NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT [Display adapter]
DELL 1503FP [Monitor] (14.6"vis, s/n 32DVX25ABVTA, May 2002)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller (2x)
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (2x) NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Virus Protection [Back to Top] new Group Policies
Norton AntiVirus Version 15.50
Virus Definitions Version 1/22/2008 Rev Not Up To Date
Realtime File Scanning On
None discovered
Communications Other Devices

1394 Net Adapter #2
NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.1.3 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.1.1
Physical Address: 00:24:8C:4F:98:F4

Networking Dns Servers: 4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
HID-compliant consumer control device (2x)
HID-compliant device
USB Human Interface Device (2x)
HID Keyboard Device (2x)
HID-compliant mouse (3x)
NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator
Razer Gaming Device
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (4x)

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IP Device Type Device Details Device Roles
192.168.1.1 Router Netgear / WNDR3300 DHCP Server, Gateway, Web Server
192.168.1.3 Windows XP Workstation Ryan-d856c9a1c8 (in HOME), Asustek Print Server, Browse Master

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Activision - Call of Duty 4 UUDLLW4EGELTGUP25853
Activision - Call of Duty WAW 1W1MDHT75T7C2XEE5C4B
Adobe Systems - Adobe Photoshop 5.5 PWW550R2001191-482
Belarc - Advisor 7f9ac1a8
Electronic Arts - Battlefield 2 x939201000000d08c9ddf0115d1118c7a00c04fc297eb01000↵
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400650073006300720069007000740069006f006e002000730↵
07400720069006e0067002e00000003660000a800000010000↵
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Electronic Arts - Battlefield 2 Special Forces x939201000000d08c9ddf0115d1118c7a00c04fc297eb01000↵
0004927478f2ae3dd43ba480af90f26e272000000004000000↵
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400650073006300720069007000740069006f006e002000730↵
07400720069006e0067002e00000003660000a800000010000↵
0005c11daa0bcc44837aee82a0e5b424df7000000000480000↵
0a00000001000000068558cd1c98d95cbc103155ccb8eea621↵
8000000771cbe344cbd8108dca529bdae512b7ffefd6afc099↵
3305f14000000c3869c03a67097658ab653719db54c1618197↵
db3
Electronic Arts - Battlefield Bad Company 2 23QYUUMQN43TVT9PQZW9
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also before i get the dumb suggestions i do have the latest drivers, and i have reseated the card and i updated my BIOS too.

hmmmm 28 amps should be able to handle a basic 8800 and all other components, but an overclocked card may draw more power, typically you want at least 35 amps on the 12v rails to be safe, though again, 28 amps should in theory run it. Do you have another system to try this card in or a lower powered card to try in it? if not, have you tried downclocking it to stock settings using a application like rivatuner? bwest may be on to something here.

yes, i down clocked it to the standard 600/1500 mhz and still the same thing, then i down clocked slightly further and still the same thing. and i looked up my specific card and even with the factory overclock, the PSU requirements is 28A minimum. so i'm thinking as i have a cheapo power supply having the minimum amperage is the issue.

what brand is it and whats the efficiency?