I installed a new 7800GT and not only did my performance levels not improve, but I think they decreased! I was previously running a 6600GT.

My setup:
Asus P5GD2 Deluxe
P4 Prescott 3 GHz
2 gig (1x1024) PC4200
eVGA 7800GT

I believe my PS came with the case as the manufacturer is a company I cant even find in a Google search. The specs on it are single rail +12v with 28A. Would an upgrade to an Enermax or Antec PS supply enough juice to this bad boy to make a difference? Many posts have been made saying that a 7800GT takes less juice than a 6 series so I am not sure if this makes any difference...

With no OC the card runs around 41-43 degrees. With my current OC the card is around 49-51 degrees so I am not sure if heat could be an issue.

My 3dMark05 scores were pathetic to say the least

460/1100 - 4886
500/1200 - 5576

Shouldnt these scores be in the 7000 range without any OCing at all?

First off welcome to PR.

If your power supply came with your case, im guessing its not a very high rated unit. The card could be throttling down if its not getting enough juice, which could explain the bad results.

Id say install the latest nVidia drivers, see if that makes a difference, make sure you have any auxilliary power requirements met for the card (my single card SLi setup needs an extra 6 pin fed by two molexs to get enough juice), then upgrade your power supply if you see no change.

Something like a Seasonic 500W or a Antec NeoHE 500W would do

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex First off welcome to PR. If your power supply came with your case, im guessing its not a very high rated unit. The card could be throttling down if its not getting enough juice, which could explain the bad results. Id say install the latest nVidia drivers, see if that makes a difference, make sure you have any auxilliary power requirements met for the card (my single card SLi setup needs an extra 6 pin fed by two molexs to get enough juice), then upgrade your power supply if you see no change. Something like a Seasonic 500W or a Antec NeoHE 500W would do

Yeah the company is JGE? It came with the case that I bought and I've never had a problem with it. My case also has alot of LEDs in the front that blink constantly as well as 2 case fans that glow to complement the see-thru case.

The drivers are 81.85 even though the game I play, World of Warcraft, recommends 66.93 drivers for optimal performance. This card runs the game just fine as long as there isnt much going on within the game, but when there is alot going on my fps hovers around 15-25 and its very choppy. I could deal with this if I was playing at max res with full video settings but this is with every video setting as low as possible and its still choppy as hell.

Would my CPU have an effect on those scores? It used to hover around 45 degrees, but I updated my mobo BIOS yesterday and it now hovers around 60 degrees idle. I notice when I run 3dMark05 with a decent vid card overclock my CPU monitor starts to go off as the temps have passed 72 degrees. Weird....

I am not sure this card has any aux cables as I used every cable that came with it. I just installed the two power connectors to the PS and that was it. Is it possible the extra cables are "optional" and therefore werent included with the card?

First of all I would definaetly reccomend getting a new powersupply. The 7800 draw a lot of power and you definately shouldnt be seeing that bad of fps from a 7800. I would also say do not get anything under a 500W incase you decide you want to upgrade you will have the power to do it.

Second your prosessor should never hit 72. That is getting close to frying it and if mine go there my computer would automatically shut down or throttle really low to keep from overheating. So I am not sure what your specs are but you need to make sure that you cpu stays cooler than 72. 60 is really pushing the limit and I would never get above that. The heat might have something to also deal with why warcraft is running slow. If your processor gets too hot some MB like mine with throttle it down (slow down prossesing power) to keep from overheating.

Make sure that you have enough cooling in your system and you might want to look into an aftermarket heatsink / fan combo like an xp-90 or zalman.

I am not sure why updating your MB bios would ahve ur temps go up. What are u using to measure your cpu temp?? I would reccomend aida32 or something like that to measure. If you have any other questiosn feel free to ask.

The temps might not have neccesarily gone up, the updated BIOS could have had an effect on the thermal probe, making it give readings that arnt entirely acurate.

As Swimsfast said, you may want to invest in some performance CPU cooling like a Zalman or Thermalright to keep that P4 nice and cool

My BIOS has a Power section where I can access a Hardware Monitor that checks temps, fan rpms, etc.

I had this problem when I first built the machine as well. The PC would shut off after 10 seconds because the BIOS was incorrect. There is a feature on the Asus boards called Q-Fan that measures the CPU temp and adjusts fan speeds accordingly. I guess this is a feature to reduce noise. The WinXP utility that I use to monitor temps and fan speeds is AsusPROBE. Once the temp hits the threshold of 72 the fan rpm jumps to 4500 rpm and the temp goes back to 60 or so rather fast. Then it goes back to being idle at 50 degrees or so. However just running a 3dMark05 test brings the heat up again.

At any rate my CPU used to idle around 40-45 with the CPU fan around 2300 quiet rpms. After the BIOS update the fan is around the same speed but the CPU temp is higher. So now I turned off the entire machine and left it that way overnight. When I get home tonight I am going to install a new PS and apply some thermal paste to see if that alleviates the heat issue. I hope CompUSA has the paste otherwise I am stucking using a 4 year old tube of silicone heat compound

Even if you cannot google the power supply, there usually are stickers on there that will tell you how many watts it outputs. The 6000 series needs atleast a 300W powersupply. And as stated earlier, PSUs that come with cases arent that great.

Secondly.. CPU at 72 degrees? Thats pushing it... I am pretty sure P4s throttle down to save themselves from burning up (http://www12.tomshardware.com/images...pu_cooling.zip - this is a video of a P3).

Your problem could either stem from the CPU or the PSU.

I have almost the same setup as you except I run a 6800GT and I get 40-60 FPS with full settings and fraps while in the middle of a raid at stock settings... :-x

Well I know its a 500W PS and I know the specs, but I am just saying its possible that since this is a crappy company its possible that those specs are only possible in a Utopian world and will never come close to that in a real world situation.

I think I can summarize it for you... most "unbranded" PSU's are a genuine risk..... and their "wattage"
rating is often way off... besides that, there is MUCH more to a stable PSU than the "rated power"...

A quality PSU is very well engineered (pcb, components), has ample cooling (fan/heatsinks), is efficient (which means less power wasted as heat), has stable power rails even under full load for a prolonged
time, allows you to draw enough amps from the various power rails (without failing), has active pfc, meets
the latest ATX/BTX standards.... well, I could go on & on..:-)

Point is, you've got some nice hardware! Don't risk it by trying to feed it with a "generic" PSU...

Brands like Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, etc... should be a better choice... certainly a less risky one!

TDR

I'm about to get a new PS, CPU fan, and thermal paste on my lunch break ..

If my video card still does not perform I am not sure what other avenues to take.

Thanks for the info so far guys!

We're glad to help, Jonboy!

TDR

I bought the Antec TruePower Blue 480W and picked up some AS5 as well.

I thought about getting this CPU fan as well but for 60 bucks I can hold off and use the AS5 with my stock and it should keep it cool enough for now

To find the true wattage of your psu you would take the MAX watts that the psu says it puts outs and times " x " it by .707 witch would give you the REAL true wattage of your psu you will be very dissapointed lol... So say you got a 500W max psu in your case ... do the math 500 x .707 = 353.5 watts thats hardly even enough to power a new 7800GT card LOL




Matt



P.S : So when upgrading your psu just make sure you get something that says PURE or TRUE power!

Ok so I installed the Antec 480W PS and applied some AS5 to the CPU. At first I was getting an overclock error even though I am not overclocked so I took everything out of the board and reset the BIOS and installed everything piece by piece checking each for errors.

When I first got up and running my BIOS show my CPU at 56 degrees, but now its back to 68 degrees whenever I check it. As I am typing this one of my monitors shows a steady 60. Do I need to worry about this temp?

I ran another 3dMark05 test with 470/1100 and my score jumped 2000 to 6800 so I am pleased with that.

The one thing that bothers me is that my CPU fan is now much faster and louder than it used to be. It was always a steady a 2300rpm, but when I ran that benchmark test it jumped to a loud 4600rpm. I am not used to my fan going crazy like that, but maybe thats what should have been happening all along.

The only concern now is the heat ... its still 70+ at load if I dont have a huge fan blowing into my opeb case. Maybe I need to enable Asus Q-fan feature again.

Perhaps my next step is to remove this stock fan and get a nice one?

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonboy433 Perhaps my next step is to remove this stock fan and get a nice one?

Id give the AS5 a few days to settle in first, then if you see no improve, by all means invest in an aftermarket cooler.

I just might do that. The only problem with that is that alot of people say that the AS5 helps cool it a few degrees. Don't I want my temp under load to drop about 20 degrees down to 50?

It helps... but it cannot work wonders... Buy a huge heatpipe cooler & fit a slow spinning
120mm fan. Should take care of both your heat & noise problems...

TDR

for a precott, while hot, its not that hot, and you shouldnt need to be worrying about frying at those temps, although those sorts of temps might be causing some instability. however, i would more likely attribute your high temps to faulty sensors or the like. many times have i updated bioses and come out with high CPU temps, its just something that happens. according to my mobo my P4, (northy 2.4c@3.4) runs somewhere in the mid/low 50s on idle and throttles up to 60 on a load with my zalman 7000cnps. there its solid as a rock, so i would suspect the actual temps to be slightly lower, (and they used to be) but 70's are a bit dicey, even with mobo uncertainty, and i can imagine that the noise can get a bit bothersome. may i suggest a 7700 if you can fit it, they can get pretty quiet and cool quite nicely, otherwise i dunno, i've been out of the loop for awhile...

glad to hear you've moved onto real power, i've fried a few motherboards on generic power in my day and i'll never make that mistake again.

(i like that 7800, just put one in a machine i built and its running like a dream)

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonboy433 I just might do that. The only problem with that is that alot of people say that the AS5 helps cool it a few degrees. Don't I want my temp under load to drop about 20 degrees down to 50?

You might have it on too thick, it needs be be about as thin as a sheet of paper or less.

I use just enough to cover the cpu and no more. I also put a small amount on the HSF and spread it out so there is just a "Haze" to fill in the micro gaps.

Even if applied perfectly, there will probably only be a 2-3c degreee drop in temps over the stock type paste, not the 20c you are looking for.

You might try and improve the case cooling until you step up to a new HSF.

when looking at aftermarket coolers my XP-90 runs prob around 45 right now when u get a fan with it. 45 is a lot cheaper than a 200 processor so u might want to give that a look

I also have a P4 but my core is a Northwood and those tend to run cooler but the XP-90 with a panaflo fan keeps its pretty cool even when playing Battlefield 2