My firend Nvidia card

[Volum]

Hello, once again i turn to you for help.

My friends comp has a Nvidia Graphics card (Cant say i remember what kind)
Anyways, just suddenly some days ago it started, whenever he started a program, a message would in maybe 1 min pop up and tell him that his Nvidia Graphics card wasnt getting enough power, and that its preformance was reduced a safe level, but he gets hundreds of these at a time, makeing his computer totally freze. Any ideas`?

Il try to get his specs later today.

 

[Turner]

Something like that sounds like an issue for Nvidia Customer Service.

 

[Duantalus]

There is more information that is needed in order to solve your friends problem, amongst that useful information would be what video card (if you can find out) what processor, how much memory, what MB what power supply, when did he get the computer, is anything overclocked and did any specific events precede the problem.

 

[Jeratain]

^Like he said, we need more info. But...

If it's a newer card, like a 6800 or something, he may have a weak power supply that is being drained from both the graphics card and the processor along with any other components he may have running. However that's usually an issue when you build your own computer or add a graphics card to a pre-built system.

If he bought the system and did no additions or tweaking to it, he will want to take the issue up with either Nvidia, or the company who built his computer.

If, however, he built the computer himself or added the card - he may just need to invest in a more powerful PSU.

 

[stormbind]

Really need to know the motherboard, and graphics card specifications, before a judgement can be made. There may be an odd combination of old & new, because the standards change. When AGP first appeared, 3.3V was acceptable, but Intel forced the voltage down, which prevents some older cards from working on new boards (and caused problems for manufacturers - remember 3dfx?).

 

[DreadCthulhu]

First of all, many newer high end cards have a secondary power connector - you plug the same type of molex connector that you plug into a hard drive into a plug on the video card. Make sure this connector didn't work itself loose or something.

The newer high end cards, from both Nvidia and ATI, draw a lot of power. Now, many computers from large OEMs(Dell, Gateway, HP, ect) use pretty much the bare minimum power supply to power the computer as is. When you add a new card to it, problems will happen quite often. If your friend built his own computer, well he simply didn't choose an adequate power supply.

Now, upgrading a power supply is pretty easy, assuming you don't have weird non-standard parts that large OEMs sometimes put in their computers. Make sure to get a good brand power supply with at least a 400 watt rating. Note that brand quality is quite important for power supplies - a 350 Watt Antec, Thermaltake, or Enermax is better than a 500 watt generic power supply.

Here is a pretty good 420 Watt Power Supply made by Thermaltake for $39. One of these should fix your friend's problems.