Video artefacts (photos inside)

[mikemcc]

Is that *10 Amps* on the 12v rail or is that a typo?

[sQuid]

Hi Gui:

 

This is where I was going with all my obtuse questions about the PSU. I don't like to just jump in there and say "crap psu" until I get all the facts...BUT ...1) the psu seem to be having trouble regulating (12.8v) as noted earlier, and 2) the 12v volt rails are also very, very, weak. This is a bad combination. IMHO the first probability for your probs is... unfortunately...a crap psu. Bite the bullet and get a good one after reading the guide. If no damage has been done, I bet your probs go away with a good psu. Get minimum 28A 12v rail, more is better. Luck! And let us know how it goes.

EDIT: Its good to get as many facts as possible, because I think telling someone to go out and spend more than $100 on a piece of equipment that may, or may not, be the problem, is a tough call. There should be at least some evidence to back up what is essentially, an educated guess. You can put a really good PSU in there and there is still the possibility that the weak psu caused some damage or it wasn't the problem to begin with. That being said, if you read up here at DFI-Street, a quality PSU is necessary w DFI boards and you really should replace the psu with a qualilty unit no matter what. Once the PSU is sorted, folks can then take a shot at other most likely possibilities if the problem continues.

[Aynjell]

Hi Gui:

 

This is where I was going with all my obtuse questions about the PSU. I don't like to just jump in there and say "crap psu" until I get all the facts...BUT ...1) the psu seem to be having trouble regulating (12.8v) as noted earlier, and 2) the 12v volt rails are also very, very, weak. This is a bad combination. IMHO the first probability for your probs is... unfortunately...a crap psu. Bite the bullet and get a good one after reading the guide. If no damage has been done, I bet your probs go away with a good psu. Get minimum 28A 12v rail, more is better. Luck! And let us know how it goes.

 

More is better until you exceed the standard. I beleive there is a certain amperage where it's _TOO_ much. I've heard the 850ssi required some holding back to prevent such amperages.

[DublinGunner]

No props for me either ?? :sad:

 

lol j/k

 

PSU will sort it out I'm 99% sure. That was the first thing that I would have said caused the problem when I saw the screenie, and also 'generic' in your sig.

 

Please post back with your results whenever you get a new PSU , or at least one to test.

 

 

Good Luck!!

[sQuid]

28A-34A (12v) aint gonna hurt nothin' in his rig. It can only help. Period.

[Aynjell]

28A-34A (12v) aint gonna hurt nothin' in his rig. It can only help. Period.

 

 

Well I beleive you, I was making an OTW inquiry.

[sQuid]

@ Aynjell: Cool! I just didn't want to confuse the guy by going down another rabbit trail is all.

[GuiGui]

Well, well, well,

 

I tested the GFX card with an "Asrock 939 Dual SATA II" motherboard equiped with the exact same case & PSU as mine (me and friend bought those together).

With all the reboot/reset/power off-on (case button and psu switch), the system only artifacted once !

 

Back at home, I replugged the card just for it to run flawlessly ...

 

Anyway, following sQuid's (and others' ) advice, I gonna buy a new PSU as my nf4-Ultra surely require more power (as stated everywhere). I used several calculators, read guides and came up with this relatively cheap PSU yet powerful and very stable (I won't add another GFX card.)

 

HIPER HPU-4S480 (it's a belgian site written in french but the numbers are arabic)

 

+12 volts rail 1 : 18 ampères

+12 volts rail 2 : 16 ampères

+ 3.3 volts : 28 ampères

+ 5 volts : 32 ampères

-12 volts : 0.8 ampère

+5Vsb : 2.5 ampères

+3.3 & +5 & +12 volts : 460 watts maximum

 

What do you think ? (I might be slightly Off Topic, sorry )

[sQuid]

Gui:

With all the reboot/reset/power off-on (case button and psu switch), the system only artifacted once !

 

The critical observation is that it artifacted at all. Statistically that means its either the card or the PSU, the only two things that are in common with your rig (excluding some weird case influence which I am discounting for now).

 

Back at home, I replugged the card just for it to run flawlessly ...

 

Not sure whats going on here, but as others have suggested there is the possibility of the card grounding out, loose connector, poor thermal paste contact etc. If it continues to run flawlessly, , who knows ... But remember, it artifacted on your friends rig so its one of two things. Get the new PSU and if it artifacts again you will be reasonably sure its the card. If the new PSU doesn't cure it, then RMA the card. You need the PSU anyway, so nothing lost.

 

I "read" the PSU review, and while I can't say I understood everything, I got the point that it tested well with decent rails and good stability, and was good value at about 80 euro. Not the best, but surely much better than what you have now! And we all have to buy what we can afford. Personally, I would get the best PSU I could afford, but if that is your financial limit, go for it. I couldn't tell much about the connectors it has, so make sure it meets your needs. BTW, its one sexy looking box!

 

davidhammock seems to think the HIPER R are good value too, and he knows a bit more than most. See here for more comment:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread...light=HIPER+PSU

 

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[GuiGui]

Gui:

The critical observation is that it artifacted at all. Statistically that means its either the card or the PSU, the only two things that are in common with your rig (excluding some weird case influence which I am discounting for now).

 

Not sure whats going on here, but as others have suggested there is the possibility of the card grounding out, loose connector, poor thermal paste contact etc. If it continues to run flawlessly, , who knows ... But remember, it artifacted on your friends rig so its one of two things. Get the new PSU and if it artifacts again you will be reasonably sure its the card. If the new PSU doesn't cure it, then RMA the card. You need the PSU anyway, so nothing lost.

I bought an Hiper 480W type R PSU yesterday. After ripping everything from the case, I reinstalled the rig on a 100% cotton towel with the new PSU. Guess what ? It artiffacted as it did before.

Now, I need RMA the gfx card hoping the DFI card is ok (people at gigabyte told me the MB could be an issue ... of course.)

[Aynjell]

First off, you are still below minimum powr requirements. I thought it was 500 watts minimum? Either way, you are on a good start. Do see if your GS is junk... I myself got a broke video card that needs RMAing (DOA).

[GuiGui]

Ok, they tested the board at my local store, It crashed right away, they gave me a new one, it works, no problem. I am kind of releaved (for now ).

 

davidhammock seems to think the HIPER R are good value too, and he knows a bit more than most. See here for more comment: (...)

Ok, just found out he did that test on tomshardware. Great read.

 

First off, you are still below minimum powr requirements. I thought it was 500 watts minimum? Either way, you are on a good start. Do see if your GS is junk... I myself got a broke video card that needs RMAing (DOA).

Am I really below what's necessary ? I used this calculator from extreme.outervision and added as much as I can ... I overclocked my 3700+ @ 3000Mhz, I added HD I don't own and much more but couldn't get over 400W.

My 480W is rated 460W max (sum of all rails) and 530W at peak. Do the DFI Lanparty boards drain so much power I'd need to get a more powerful PSU ?

 

Thank you very much.