Computer restarts

[Higlac]

I just got a new graphics card and it works great except for one little problem. Every once in a while it decides to restart at random. I can be playing a game for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes and it will restart the computer.

GPU: Radeon HD 2600 pro
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1 gig of ram
Thermaltake TR2-430W power supply

 

[Stigmata]

Upon talking with Higlac, I'm almost entirely convinced that his power supply isn't powerful enough. Anyone care to back me up on that with a second opinion? Asus's opinion is preferable

 

[Higlac]

The box for my new card says that 300 is reccomended.

 

[The Brick]

Use this to get a raw estimate of what you need.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Haven't checked it, but if your psu can really deliver 430W, then I doubt it's the problem.

 

[Asus]

It has a lot of power on the +3.3V and +5V but pretty mediocre for the +12V. Not a good balance. You'll want a PSU with more +12V power for the GPU+HDD+other parts that use that power.

 

[Stigmata]

Alright.

I can't seem to find the power requirements of the HD2600 card online, but I know your PSU only outputs 9 amps or so on the 12V rail, so if your card needs more amperage than that then you're in trouble. That's probably what the problem is.

[edit] Oh, 18 amps. Still, the HD cards are recent, so...

 

[Asus]

The card doesn't use all the amps on the 12v. Although PC components + the card could.

 

[Stigmata]

Precisely.

 

[Link]

Altough the likley cause, don't rule out a faulty card. An overheating issue could casue the problem, so check the fan. If the retailer will let you exchange at no cost, try that, otherwise, the PSU is the cheapest thing to replace to test (Gamble though, could be one, the other, or something totally differnt thats died by coincidence)

 

[Ridge]

The box for my new card says that 300 is reccomended.

Thats for the video card...even the basic PCs dont come with less than 350 now...I have a 650 and Im happy...

 

[Higlac]

Well, I have been working on it and it only crashes on max levels for AA. Think it could be my processor or ram? It only crashed with AA HDR and multiple npcs. it worked fine before the npcs spawned.

 

[Ridge]

What level AA you playing at?

 

[Higlac]

max aa in EP:1 when squad members come, it crashes. when i start it without AA it works, when i enable it, it crashes

 

[Stigmata]

Wipe your drivers. Shut down, remove the card, start Windows, uninstall whatever driver you had before, shut down, put the card back in, start Windows, install your new driver, restart.

 

[Higlac]

Well, this is interesting. It seems to have disabled my onboard graphics when I installed the card.

EDIT: even more interesting is the fact that the CD for my card seems to have installed a newer driver than has been released on the ATI website.

 

[99.vikram]

If Catalyst doesn't work try the Omega drivers.

 

[Higlac]

Well, it's not the driver. I tried it without AA for a while, then it started rebooting again. It seems to work fine for about 30 minutes and then it reboots and refuses to play for more than 5 minutes at a time. If I keep doing it then it won't even load a map.