I'm having problems with my lcd panel suddenly coming up with no signal when I'm running it on a dvi cable. it appears to be fine on a vga lead but whe plugged into dvi it runs ok until I put any graphics load on the system. I'm running an athlon 64 3000+ with 1gb ram (2x512), twin sata hdds, separate dvd-rw and cd-rw drives and radeon x700 pci-e graphics. although I'm running a 550w psu it's only has a 20pin m/b connector plugged into a 24 pin m/b socket. I've heard the extra 12v line on the 24pin connector helps power graphics cards so as my graphics board doesn't have a separate pci-e power connector I was wondering whether this might be a psu issue. Would it run better using new psu with a 24pin connector?

If this is the case how powerful would people suggest my psu needs to be? as I said, I'm running a 550w at the moment but feel this is slightly overkill so being a poor student would like to drop it down a bit if at all possible.

cheers,

M@

p.s. my monitor is an acer al1723 - i had the same problem with my previous monitor which was an acer al1722 which eventually got replaced under warranty when a similar problem developed on the vga cable (only much, much worse!)

Forgot to say, I'm pretty sure it's not a cooling issue - my core temperature currently idling at in the low 30c as I'm running an arctic freezer 64 pro cpu cooler, 80mm system fan, stock cooler on the gpu and a dual 8mm fan psu.

M@

I doubt it is your PSU...

You tried two different monitors with the same result which means the monitor is not to blame. I'm assuming you used different cables on those two monitors so the cables are not to blame. That really leaves only the card. Do you have another you could try?

I suppose it could the the card. But as I said, it's running fine most of the time and will take quite a high load when running the monitor off a vga lead and will run fine under normal usage (using word, powerpoint etc.).

I'm thinking of getting a new psu regardless as I'd like to get one with a 24 pin connector so I think this might be the first port of call. Therefore do you have any advice on what psu I should go for? I'm thinking of getting a 450w supply - I'm currently on a 550. Would this be sufficient? i know it's better to go higher than needed but from a power consumption point of view (and initial cost of buying the psu) I'd prefer to go slightly lower.

btw, anybody got any opinions on i-cute PSUs?

If the psu thing doesn't help I might just treat myself to a new card

thanks,

M@

550W is pretty gross overkill for your system. You could easily get by with a quality 380W or even 330W unit. I'm a big fan of Seasonic's S12 II series PSUs - very quiet, very efficient, and generally very reliable:

380W:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151032

330W:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151035

I just used a Coolmax 400w in a system slightly more power consuming than yours (4000+ Athlon 64, X800 XL) and I love the thing to death.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159047

I <3 modular.


PSUs being under powered cause more serious issues than losing a video signal. Have you tried disabling VPU recovery and checking the Windows error logs?

Don't forget to evaluate/debug any cable/display adapters you may be using as well.

Also make sure your "graphics intensive" application isn't independently manipulating display refresh and resolution to points outside the limit(s) of the monitor(s). Obtain some video test freeware and verify basic functionality. http://majorgeeks.com/downloads22.html