Nvidia Low Power Supply Error

[thecoalman]

Ok I have one of those power sucking Nvidia 5950 cards and it has been happily running along for the last 9 months or so. All of a sudden I'm getting I'm getting a inssufficient power error and it informs me that it's going to be set at a lower performance.

I have a 520w power supply that is 1 year old, is there any software tools that will give me the output on it? Any other suggestions on troubleshooting it?

Quick note: This just starting happening last night and I would get the error on restart. I let the machine sit overnight and it worked for about 3 or 4 minutes this morning without the error.

[redwudz]

Motherboard Monitor should give you the voltages, but they are also usually listed in BIOS. I don't know of any programs that can tell you the power (Wattage) output of a PS. For power supplies, I check the output temp of the PS fan. Just put your hand behind it and see if hot air is coming out. Should be fairly cool with that size of PS.

It sounds more like a problem with the monitoring software that gave you the low power notice.

[rallynavvie]

Depends. It isn't a Mad Dog or unbranded power supply is it? A lot of those unbranded ones don't put out much for amps but they advertise the large wattage ratings on it to move them.

[thecoalman]

I had a bad fan on the chipset and <ahem> a slight dust problem. I also made sure all the connections were good and tight after I dusted it out, so far it's ok. Been running for about 5 minutes with no error..... So it was one of those three, maybe a combination of all I don't know... Thanks for the replys.

Depends. It isn't a Mad Dog or unbranded power supply is it? A lot of those unbranded ones don't put out much for amps but they advertise the large wattage ratings on it to move them.

Fortron

[Cobra]

Interestingly, my graphics card has just reported this exact same error. It has been running fine for ages, now this.

I have dropped the overclock on it, and the error seems to have disappeared. I'll start playing my game again and see what happens.

[Soopafresh]

Are you sure the power connector is plugged into it ?


http://www.hothardware.com/reviews/images/gffx5950/boardstyleangle.jpg

[Cobra]

Yes. Otherwise it would have been reporting this for months.

As I say, dropping the overclock has cured it. I know the card is clean - I had it out and used the vacuum cleaner on it a week ago when I was rebuilding with my Athlon64.

I'll inspect the hardware more closely tomorrow and let you guys know.

Thanks!

Cobra

[rallynavvie]

Fortron is pretty good so hopefully it isn't a problem with the PSU itself.

[thecoalman]

Fortron is pretty good so hopefully it isn't a problem with the PSU itself.

Still going.... Would a locked up fan cause that? Although pretty dusty the temps on my GPU were well within an acceptable range. Maybe all the dust combined.... Maybe I just had a bad connection and moving the wires around fixed it. The power connection for the vid card was butted right up against the back of one of my drives, possibly the problem? I moved the drive up one slot so it wasn't. Maybe,maybe..... I dunno but it's working now.

Maybe it will come back.....

[greymalkin]

It isn't a Mad Dog or unbranded power supply is it

"Mad Dog....I hate that name...I hate it! You hear!
Nobody calls me mad dog...'specially not some..
duded up, egg suckin gutter trash!!!"

- Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen