3.3V power problem

[yoonohoo]

After all the trouble trying to get this game to hang in there (Omega drivers, 3 diferent ATI drivers 4.12/5.10/5.11, ATI fix, ini tweak and patch 1.09) I've decided to install it in a clean xp setup with the minimum config to make it run, ie: no sound drivers. So let's see my pc config:
P4E 3.2 (Zalman fan)
Asus P4C800-E DLX (Bios 1023)
1Gb ram
PowerColor 9600XT 256Mb RV360 (ATI v5.11)
PSU BeQuiet 520W
XP sp2 (DX 9.0c)

Asus probe installed to check temps in cpu and system. Now comes the wierd thing : after a while playing the game the 3.3v supply goes down from 3.26 (oscilates between 3.25 and 3.28) to as low as 2.70 and the probe alarm sounds. If I go back to the desktop the power goes back to normal (see pic). No need to say if I carry on playing the pc will, sooner or later, crash or have texture corruption where I cannot see anything apart from a colourfull screen of garbage.
Has anyone else notice the graphic card supply (3.3v) being sucked by Civ4?
Many thanks

 

[yoonohoo]

Forgot the pics

 

[fp78]

Try a graphics intensive benchmark (like 3d mark) or game (like a FPS) and look if u have the same voltage problem. I think it may be a PSU problem...

 

[fp78]

wow... i read these forum from 2001 and this is my first post.... quite a lurker!

 

[fp78]

wow... i read these forum from 2001 and this is my first post.... quite a lurker!

 

[Rince]

Trying to catch up with double posts? ;-)

Rince

 

[yoonohoo]

SisoftSandra any good?

 

[fp78]

SisoftSandra any good?

I didn't remember if it has a stressing 3d test, but dont think so... try 3d mark or acquamark. Or just a game like Doom3, Medal of honor, far cry or something similar... a beautiful, hardware stressing, 3d game

 

[angelickitty]

where do you get that program from??

im sort of curious what is going on with a video card of mine.. i think its something along these lines.. the card runs fine with anything else, but as soon as i run civ the entire computer shuts off.. i noticed yesterday the fan on it is dead.. but i have no idea if it died before.. or after i started playing civ.. honestly though, i dont think i ever stressed the card before civ so the fan could have died anytime before now.. or never worked to begin with! it was in a different computer that i never used for anything but text messaging/email because i wanted a second monitor for it at the time, but when i got civ decided to use it for what it was supposed to be used for

 

[panzooka]

how many hard drives u got, hard drives eats up eletric power really much, but u got.... 520w power....

 

[gunnergoz]

Any application that pushes your CPU and video card to full-cycles over prolonged periods is bound to also increase heat load, not to mention the constant HD access. Some power supplies are probably better equipped to handle this load than are others. I keep 3 fans running in my machine (in addition to the ones on the CPU, power supply and video card) and a big external fan constantly blows cool air over the case. If I don't do this, I get serious BSOD crashes in the summer in particular.

 

[Rodatam]

You got a bad PSU
check if the 520w are real and RMA it

 

[Olie]

Hehe, I thought you wrote "Anus probe".

However, I can't help with your problem. Sorry.

 

[Arizona_Steve]

PSU BeQuiet 520W

I have never heard of this PSU manufacturer, which to me is a bad sign. Yes, there are 520 watt power supplies and there are 520 watt power supplies. From the symptoms that you describe, I would definitely point the finger at the power supply.

What is the rated current for the 12 volt and 5 volt rails?

Anyway, take a look at power supplies by Antec, Enermax, and (the best, but you'll have to pay for them) PC Power & Cooling.

 

[squirel1975]

No need to say if I carry on playing the pc will, sooner or later, crash or have texture corruption where I cannot see anything apart from a colourfull screen of garbage.
Has anyone else notice the graphic card supply (3.3v) being sucked by Civ4?
Many thanks

Yup, this happened to my mate I think (he had loads of problems and I didn't - possibly because I've set up my PC correctly...).

He had no monitoring program but the 'have texture corruption where I cannot see anything apart from a colourfull screen of garbage.' is very familiar. In the end the power supply went pop. He was running a AMD XP 2400, ATI 9600PRO, 2 x HDD, Floppy, DVD, CD Writer, and an inverter to power the nice green lights in the case with a 330W PSU, so it probably should have been expected....

I've fitted a nice new 500W PSU now and everything runs fine.

 

[Salisa]

Asus probe installed to check temps in cpu and system. Now comes the wierd thing : after a while playing the game the 3.3v supply goes down from 3.26 (oscilates between 3.25 and 3.28) to as low as 2.70 and the probe alarm sounds. If I go back to the desktop the power goes back to normal (see pic). No need to say if I carry on playing the pc will, sooner or later, crash or have texture corruption where I cannot see anything apart from a colourfull screen of garbage.
Has anyone else notice the graphic card supply (3.3v) being sucked by Civ4?
Many thanks

Most PS ratings are done at unrealisticly low temps and when they are taxed can't keep there ouput ratings. The same also happens as even great PS's age just the general over all heat in the PS itself will kill the PS over time.. Now maybe Civ4 is putting a higher work load on your video card which inturn is over heating your PS and its failing , this isn't uncommon.. Which if not replaced will kill your computer componets..

example last year I lost an antec 380 PS when I upgraded a video card from a geoforce 3 ti to a bg 6800 gt oc in a month the PS was unstable and I replaced it that stoped the crashes that started to happen and the corrupted video the card was outputing ... I'd replace your PS with enermax or Antec, although I'm not such an Antec fan anymore as I recently had 2 fail at little more the a year of use..

 

[ainwood]

Moderator Action: Moved to computer talk, where someone was asking about testing power supplies here just a few days ago .


Edit: This might be more helpful:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=31105&seqNum=12&rl=1