nVidia System Sentinel...

[Cobra]

Hi guys,

I've been having an interesting problem for the past few months, and it's beginning to annoy me since I want to play some games now!

Whenever I play a 3D game such as Unreal or Need For Speed, the framerate suddenly takes a nosedive (after as little as a few minutes of play). I exit to Windows to find the nVidia System Sentinel telling me that the graphics card is not recieving enough power from the PSU to function, and has been limited in performance to prevent damage.

I was running a 500W supply, but I have swapped that for a new Antec TruePower supply rated at 550W and I am running the graphics card off a dedicated power rail. It still gives the same problem.

I am running the latest drivers, and there are no firmware updates available for my card. It is an Asus V9950GE - an FX5900. It is an AGP card.

Has anyone else seen this problem and if so, have you found a solution?

Any advice would be gladly recieved,

Cobra

[rallynavvie]

I know the 5900 series were power hogs, even by the standards of the current crop of cards, but not enough even to sap the power of a 350W supply I don't think.

However if you're using the True550 there is only one 12v rail so you are sharing it with your board and any other peripherals running on 12v power. The seperate power rails are for each voltage: 12v, 5v, and 3.3v. The EPS12V version of that PSU has an extra +12v rail for SSI motherboards. The new TruePower 2 Antecs have two 12v rails, one for the board and one for the peripherals.

I'd check the power connectors first and see if they're not making good contact. If you can bring the PSU into someplace to make sure it isn't malfunctioning, specifically on that cable. I've never seen anything about nVidia System Sentinel though. I'd maybe even contact Asus regarding this issue.

Maybe now is a good time to upgrade vid cards though. I can't recall how long ago it was that you picked this one up but I just bought a 6600GT AGP for my SMP HTPC. Unfortunately it doesn't work with the AMD 762MP chipset so now it's in my good workstation and I "downgraded" the Quadro into the HTPC. The FX1100 I had runs the same core as the 5900s and the performance difference between the two was very noticeable. The 6600 was pretty cheap too.

[Cobra]

Thanks for the reply, Rally. I meant that I am running it on a power line by itself, so no other components on that wire. Just had a moment of stupidity and called it a rail.

I can't afford a new card, but Overclockers UK have agreed to take it back. I've had to buy myself an MX4000 so I can still use my PC until they replace it, though. Could be a while - they don't stock it any more and so they'll have to get a new one from Asus. They said that it sounds like the card has had it.

[rallynavvie]

I dunno, I picked up my 6600GT for $150 USD used from someone who upgraded to PCI-E in only a couple months. You could probably give plasma to afford that. Just poke around some of the online tech selling forums.

Too bad you aren't in the US, I've got a used 5600 Ultra and 4400 just sitting around doing nothing. Shipping overseas is just too much hassle though. Is the MX4000 based on the 5500 or 5700 chipset? I know the MX400 series was a GF4.

[Cobra]

I'm not sure what the MX4000 is based on. It's a DX8 card (pretty sure of that) and it's relatively fast. However, it is £20 and will do until I get my replacement card. There has to be something wrong with the FX5900. I hope it gives a repeat performance for Overclockers UK!