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View Full Version : Could a power supply be the cause of my crashes?

INKMAN002
11-18-2009, 04:53 PM
hey guys i just bought a brand new Compaq Presario with a 300 w power supply already installed. everything is fine when i use the onboard graphics card. before purchasing this computer however, i bought an ati radeon 4650 hd 1gb graphics card and a 500 w power supply for use in my old computer. the graphics card worked great with no problems in the old computer and ati reccomended at least 480 w power for this card. the new computer has new technology (sata connections for hd and dvd) so i couldnt switch the power supply over too. I dont know why but my suspiscions are leading me to believe the power supply or lack of is the main cause of the crashes. is this true? can a power supply cause the graphics card to fail?


overview
1) installed old graphics card into new computer and it crashes
2) uninstalled graphics card from machine and used onboard graphics and it works fine.
3) no issues with graphics card on old machine
4) difference between old and new machine

old- emachines t6212
500w power supply.
Windows xp home sp3
2.5 gb ram
2ghz amd athlon 64

new-compaq presarrio cq511of
300w power supply.
Windows vista home premium
3 gb ram
2.5ghz amd athlon 64 dual core
olson
11-18-2009, 05:09 PM
If the power supply is unable to supply sufficient current for the system, then yeah, it'll crash or worse it'll cause the power supply to fail from overheating. There are adapters to use SATA disks on older power supplies if that's the only reason why you're not using the larger power supply. Cheers!
imashination
11-18-2009, 05:53 PM
i just bought a brand new Compaq Presario with a 300 w power supply

ati reccomended at least 480 w power

I think I saw this episode on Scooby Doo once. It was either caused by the insufficient power supply or old man Jacobs dressed as a ghost at the abandoned funfair.
INKMAN002
11-18-2009, 06:22 PM
LMAO @ imashination.... thanks guys. i forgot to mention the new computer will run with the graphics card installed its just every now and then it'll crash. but yeah i guess this is pretty straightforward and if it fails after that then its back to the drawing board. thanks again!
InfernalDarkness
11-20-2009, 08:16 PM
300 watts is far too small for anything GPU-related. Especially your particular ATI card!

An 800w supply is less than $100 nowadays. Perhaps that should be your next upgrade?
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11-20-2009, 08:16 PM
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