Low Power Sentinel Warning on Aopen GF FX5900

Hi,

I have just installed an AOPEN Geforce FX5900 128MB card into my system.
Initially I received the low power supply warning when I first switched the
PC on, provided by the Nvidia Sentinal software. I double checked and I had
inserted the supplementary power supply lead but it spurred off from the
hard disk. After removing it from the hard disk and then inserting it
straight into the power supply socket on the graphics card the warnings
stopped. I thought I'd got it fixed.

However a few days later and I'm getting similar warnings in various games
but not all. The sentinal software kicks in, my games go to the desktop and
I'm told that the card isn't getting enough power and it's underclocking as
a safety feature.

Games that play ok so far:
"Call Of Duty" and "Star Trek:Elite Force II". Also "Armed and Dangerous"
Demo.

Games that produce the low power warning and card underclock:
"Giants: Citizen Kabuto", "Unreal Tournament 2003" and "Unreal 2".

I am using the Nvidia 53.03 drivers with coolbits enabled but I'm not
overclocking the card at all.
I have a 400w Mercury power supply unit which I thought would be ample
power.

Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.

Does anyone have any recommendations (serious please!) on how to fix this
issue? I'm loathe to buy another power supply when this one has worked okay
up to now.

Have a look at the max power from the 12V line of the power supply.

No power supply will give you 400W on a single line.. it is a combined
power total on all lines.. also there is a max power rating on each
seperate line.

It is possiable that with heavy CPU + GPU usage the 12V rail is
dropping below the min voltage level.

You can fix it my getting another PSU with a higher current rating on
the 12V line, or get another cheap PSU for the graphics card, if you
can fit it in your case that is.

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 22:31:34 -0000, "The Old Man"
wrote:

Hi,

I have just installed an AOPEN Geforce FX5900 128MB card into my system.
Initially I received the low power supply warning when I first switched the
PC on, provided by the Nvidia Sentinal software. I double checked and I had
inserted the supplementary power supply lead but it spurred off from the
hard disk. After removing it from the hard disk and then inserting it
straight into the power supply socket on the graphics card the warnings
stopped. I thought I'd got it fixed.

However a few days later and I'm getting similar warnings in various games
but not all. The sentinal software kicks in, my games go to the desktop and
I'm told that the card isn't getting enough power and it's underclocking as
a safety feature.

Games that play ok so far:
"Call Of Duty" and "Star Trek:Elite Force II". Also "Armed and Dangerous"
Demo.

Games that produce the low power warning and card underclock:
"Giants: Citizen Kabuto", "Unreal Tournament 2003" and "Unreal 2".

I am using the Nvidia 53.03 drivers with coolbits enabled but I'm not
overclocking the card at all.
I have a 400w Mercury power supply unit which I thought would be ample
power.

Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.

Does anyone have any recommendations (serious please!) on how to fix this
issue? I'm loathe to buy another power supply when this one has worked okay
up to now.

I had the same problem with my fx 5600.replaced 400watt cheapo power supply
with a 480 watt antec . no more problems
"The Old Man" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have just installed an AOPEN Geforce FX5900 128MB card into my system.
Initially I received the low power supply warning when I first switched
the
PC on, provided by the Nvidia Sentinal software. I double checked and I
had
inserted the supplementary power supply lead but it spurred off from the
hard disk. After removing it from the hard disk and then inserting it
straight into the power supply socket on the graphics card the warnings
stopped. I thought I'd got it fixed.

However a few days later and I'm getting similar warnings in various games
but not all. The sentinal software kicks in, my games go to the desktop
and
I'm told that the card isn't getting enough power and it's underclocking
as
a safety feature.

Games that play ok so far:
"Call Of Duty" and "Star Trek:Elite Force II". Also "Armed and Dangerous"
Demo.

Games that produce the low power warning and card underclock:
"Giants: Citizen Kabuto", "Unreal Tournament 2003" and "Unreal 2".

I am using the Nvidia 53.03 drivers with coolbits enabled but I'm not
overclocking the card at all.
I have a 400w Mercury power supply unit which I thought would be ample
power.

Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.

Does anyone have any recommendations (serious please!) on how to fix this
issue? I'm loathe to buy another power supply when this one has worked
okay
up to now.

"???" wrote in message
...
Have a look at the max power from the 12V line of the power supply.

No power supply will give you 400W on a single line.. it is a combined
power total on all lines.. also there is a max power rating on each
seperate line.

It is possiable that with heavy CPU + GPU usage the 12V rail is
dropping below the min voltage level.

You can fix it my getting another PSU with a higher current rating on
the 12V line, or get another cheap PSU for the graphics card, if you
can fit it in your case that is.

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 22:31:34 -0000, "The Old Man"
wrote:

Hi,

I have just installed an AOPEN Geforce FX5900 128MB card into my system.
Initially I received the low power supply warning when I first switched
the
PC on, provided by the Nvidia Sentinal software. I double checked and I
had
inserted the supplementary power supply lead but it spurred off from the
hard disk. After removing it from the hard disk and then inserting it
straight into the power supply socket on the graphics card the warnings
stopped. I thought I'd got it fixed.

However a few days later and I'm getting similar warnings in various
games
but not all. The sentinal software kicks in, my games go to the desktop
and
I'm told that the card isn't getting enough power and it's underclocking
as
a safety feature.

Games that play ok so far:
"Call Of Duty" and "Star Trek:Elite Force II". Also "Armed and Dangerous"
Demo.

Games that produce the low power warning and card underclock:
"Giants: Citizen Kabuto", "Unreal Tournament 2003" and "Unreal 2".

I am using the Nvidia 53.03 drivers with coolbits enabled but I'm not
overclocking the card at all.
I have a 400w Mercury power supply unit which I thought would be ample
power.

Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.

Does anyone have any recommendations (serious please!) on how to fix this
issue? I'm loathe to buy another power supply when this one has worked
okay
up to now.



Hi,
I have had a look at the Mercury 400w PSU (it was a fairly cheap one but I
was told it was a good one and AMD Approved). I'm not sure which 12V you are
referring to so I've taken a photo and uploaded it to:
http://www.gps-computers.co.uk/images/misc/psu.JPG

It does in fact state +5V & +3.3V combined load of 190w. It states +12V=12A
and -12V=0.8A
I don't have room for a second PSU so perhaps buying an Antec as suggested
will supply enough power.

Thanks,
Graham.

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:46:57 -0000, "The Old Man"
wrote:


"???" wrote in message
.. .
Have a look at the max power from the 12V line of the power supply.


Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.


Hi,
I have had a look at the Mercury 400w PSU (it was a fairly cheap one but I
was told it was a good one and AMD Approved). I'm not sure which 12V you are
referring to so I've taken a photo and uploaded it to:
http://www.gps-computers.co.uk/images/misc/psu.JPG

It does in fact state +5V & +3.3V combined load of 190w. It states +12V=12A

12V@ 12amps is insufficient. You need 15 amps minimum
with your Processor and video card.

Also, before getting a PS, run the Athlon back to default speed (or
below !!) and see if the errors go away. Also, do NOT overclock the
5900. An experiment to minimise the 12V current.

John Lewis


and -12V=0.8A
I don't have room for a second PSU so perhaps buying an Antec as suggested
will supply enough power.

Thanks,
Graham.

"John Lewis" wrote in message
...

Hi,
I have had a look at the Mercury 400w PSU (it was a fairly cheap one but
I
was told it was a good one and AMD Approved). I'm not sure which 12V you
are
referring to so I've taken a photo and uploaded it to:
http://www.gps-computers.co.uk/images/misc/psu.JPG

It does in fact state +5V & +3.3V combined load of 190w. It states
+12V=12A

12V@ 12amps is insufficient. You need 15 amps minimum
with your Processor and video card.

Also, before getting a PS, run the Athlon back to default speed (or
below !!) and see if the errors go away. Also, do NOT overclock the
5900. An experiment to minimise the 12V current.

John Lewis

Hi John,
Thanks for the information and for checking.
I will take the CPU back to 2500 as at the moment its running at 3000+ at
1.85V. I supplied more volts to make it stable. As for the card its not
overclocked at all.

I was just reading some info on power supplies at cclcomputers.biz which
gave some more info although not very useful it back up what you guys are
saying. Also, although my PSU is a 400w, they have a 300w which offers 15A
on the +12V line!
http://www.cclcomputers.biz/specs/psu/psu.htm
Their chart which contains specs for their power supplies doesn't confirm
Amps on the +12v line.

I'm looking also at the Antec TruePower 430W PSU
http://www.antec-inc.com/us/pro_deta...p?ProdID=20430
which www.overclockers.co.uk are selling for £64 inc VAT also the:

Enermax EG465AX-VE(G)(FMA) 460W ATX Power Supply
http://www.enermax.com.tw/eg365ax-ve-fma.htm
which www.overclockers.co.uk are selling for £66.86 inc VAT

What concerns me is:
1. Will these remedey the low power warning issue
2. Will they provide power for future upgrades (within reason)

Once again thank you for your help.

Graham.

"jon hetherington" wrote in message
u...
I had the same problem with my fx 5600.replaced 400watt cheapo power
supply
with a 480 watt antec . no more problems
"The Old Man" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have just installed an AOPEN Geforce FX5900 128MB card into my system.
Initially I received the low power supply warning when I first switched
the
PC on, provided by the Nvidia Sentinal software. I double checked and I
had
inserted the supplementary power supply lead but it spurred off from the
hard disk. After removing it from the hard disk and then inserting it
straight into the power supply socket on the graphics card the warnings
stopped. I thought I'd got it fixed.

However a few days later and I'm getting similar warnings in various
games
but not all. The sentinal software kicks in, my games go to the desktop
and
I'm told that the card isn't getting enough power and it's underclocking
as
a safety feature.

Games that play ok so far:
"Call Of Duty" and "Star Trek:Elite Force II". Also "Armed and
Dangerous"
Demo.

Games that produce the low power warning and card underclock:
"Giants: Citizen Kabuto", "Unreal Tournament 2003" and "Unreal 2".

I am using the Nvidia 53.03 drivers with coolbits enabled but I'm not
overclocking the card at all.
I have a 400w Mercury power supply unit which I thought would be ample
power.

Currently my system comprises:
AMD XP2500+ running at XP3000+ (2.1Ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 BIOS v1005 NFORCE2 Motherboard

1GB Crucial DDR400 RAM

Sound Blaster Audigy

Windows XP Pro SP1A

Western Digital Special Edition Caviar 80GB 7200rpm UDMA133

Liteon 52x CDRW Drive. 2 4" Case fans.

Does anyone have any recommendations (serious please!) on how to fix
this
issue? I'm loathe to buy another power supply when this one has worked
okay
up to now.





Just to finsih this up, I bought and installed an Antec 430w True Power PSU.
Not only is the problem of low power warnings resolved, I can return to
3000+ speed with the Barton 2500 and my PC is a lot quieter!

Thanks all for the advice.

Graham.