Not enough power for EN8800GT??

[gabbadude]

Hey All,

I am desperate here.

Rig config:
Power Supply: 850W Antec Quattro
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA965P-DS3P
Motherboard BIOS: F5
CPU: Intel E6400 2.13GHz
RAM: 2X 1GB Corsair Dominator
Video Card ASUS EN8800GT 512MB
Video Card BIOS Version: 62.92.12.00.00
Nvidia Driver: 169.02
Audio Card: Creative Labs XFi Fatality Gamers Edition
HDD1: 3X 75GB Wester Digital Raptors (RAID0)
HDD2: 1X 500GB SATAII (Storage)
DVDRW: LG DVDRW Lightscribe

I just purchased the EN8800GT. If I plug the previous card back in, the ATI X1950XTX, it is fine. But with the EN8800GT, I keep getting the following message:

"The nvidia system sentinel is reporting that the nvidia-powered graphics card is not receiving sufficient power"

I know for a fact that the external cable is plugged in because when it is not plugged in, it screams terribly. The PC also boots up obviously without problems

I know I have sufficient power. I have also placed the card on it's own 12V rail. Same problem!

I HAVE ALSO plugged the 4pin molex connector into the motherboard for the extra power to the PCI-E slots.

Please help! I am so disappointed that this card is not working. Could this be a hardware incompatibility problem because the board is actually XFire??

Gabbadude

[TheGlasMan]

Shouldn't matter at all that the board is ATI.
Try blowing out the pci-e slot and reseating the board, and all other connections. Does it run 3D, also monitor your voltages and see if they drop etc. If that doesn't help and voltages are 100% stable return the card or RMA.
The AMD 3870's wil be out soon, and you might try one if you are interested in crossfire.

[gabbadude]

I just found these 2 threads:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/....php?p=2558279

http://forums.hexus.net/yoyotech-car...su-8800gt.html

Seems that the problem is with the PSU! i am so pissed cause I spent a heck of alot of money on this PSU and now its possible that it is defective.

Dammit!

[orion24]

Maybe the problem is limited to the 6-pin PCI-E connector. Try using the adaptor that gets power from 2 4-pin classical molex connectors and converts them in 1 6-pin (maybe it was included in your card). Try to avoid connecting other devices in either of the 2 PSU lines you'll use for this converter

[gabbadude]

Ok, so i plug in 2 seperate lines. BOTH molex connectors. I whip out my molex to PCI-E converter. Make sure the card and the motherboard both have a dedicated power cable with NOTHING else connected to these 2 seperate lines.

EXACTLY the same!!

I read somewhere that the 8800GT requires minimum 22Amps on the 12V rail. From what I see the Antec 850W Quattro only pushes out 18Amps. Can this be true!?!?

[TheGlasMan]

Different #'s, the 22 is for the full machine.
Unless your psu is wonkey (why I suggested monitoring your voltages) the card is bad, excluding bad connections.

[gabbadude]

Well, I don't think its the card cause on the box it says:

A minimum 400W system power supply(with 12V current rating of 26A)

This seems to indicate that the Antec 850W Quattro PSU just doesn't cut it cause on the Antec PSU it says on their site here:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=27850

That the 12V rails only push it 18A. this means that this PSU doesn't support this card,....or am I wrong ?

[oralpain]

The combine +12v of the antec PSU is more than sufficent.

My 420w enermax can power my oced 8800GT just fine and it has two virtual rails of 17A each (29A actual total).

My new 500w Seasonic has plenty of power to spare and it also has two virtual +12v rails of 17A each (34A actual total).

Either the power circutry on the card is shot, or your PSU is defective. I'm leaning toward the card. Test it in another system and you will know. If it works, it's the PSU, if it doesn't the card needs to be exchanged.

[Brandito]

that psu has more than enough power on the 12v rails to run that card. my antec neopower 480 runs a gts just fine, and it uses more juice than that gt, and my psu nearly half what yours is.

it could be the psu is a bd egg, but i'd say you'd have had problems with it before this if it was. i'm gonna suggest that the card may be bad?

what card did you run on the machine before the gt?

[gabbadude]

I ran the X1950xtx before.

But I am not sure anymore. you guys are going to need to help me out here to understand how this works.

If the PSU says that each 12V rail pushes out 18Amps, then how is it that it is sufficient for a card that needs 26Amps??

Help me understand please cause I just received this from Nvidia:

Hello Brett,

The GeForce 8800 GT graphics cards require a power supply of 450 Watts PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 28A or more. However please note that, we at NVIDIA manufacture only the basic chip sets or the Graphics Process Units (GPU's). We do not manufacture or sell any of the graphics cards. Our partner companies purchase the GPU's from NVIDIA and they build the graphics cards. For this reason, the exact power requirement and the connectors required may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Please check with the graphics cards manufacturer for the exact power requirements and the connections required.

After ensuring that your computer has the required power supply and the connections are correct and firm and you still have the same issue, then I would suspect hardware issue. Please contact your card manufacturer for assistance.

Regards,
NVIDIA Customer Care

[Brandito]

simple, the card doesn't need 26amps.

it will use quite a bit less actually. if it used 26 amps it would consume ~312 watts, and from any review you see of the 8800gt you will see it actually consumes quite abit less than that, even at full load. numbers i found were around 204 watts. 204 watts divided by 12v (volts * amps = Watts) is about 17 amps. far less than the 26 nv recommends.

nv isn't being deceptive or anything, they could explain the power requirment a little better obviously but their requirments are sure to have a buffer to cover their butts as well.

the card itself does not need the 26 amps, 26 amps takes into account the rest of the computer componants in a typical gamers pc running off the 12v rail as well.

a single 18amp 12v rail you have could power the card no problem. even if it was less than 17amps on 1 12v rail you'd likely be alright because the card gets its power from both the mobo and the 6 pin molex connector.

in the end your card is using around ~200 watts leaving another ~100 watts for the rest of your 12v componants. and that's assuming your psu meets the minimum 26amp requirement. yours exceeds that requirments a good bit i'm sure.

bottom line, you have more than enough power. that's not to say the psu isn't bad, may need an rma. but i'd bet the card is the problem.

[_dangtx_]

hmm..another psu issue

clean power might not reach it?

[gabbadude]

thanks Brandito for the explanation

I really hope it isnt the card cause that means that I will have to wait for another one which will prob only come in weeks!! Cause there is going to be a shortage of these cards.

i am REALLY hoping it is the PSU cause it will be easier to swop that out.

[Poci]

It probably is the card.If your old card was working with that PSU then it means the PSU is fine most likely

[Brandito]

i'd think changing the psu would be harder, well i know it would be for me, i'm pretty picky about routing my wires though!