PSU issue or what?

blix9

I recently built my first PC.
Here is my spec.

-AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF
-Abit NV7-133RK
-512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided)
-ATI radeon 8500LE (bulk) (Omega Plutonium XK 1. 0. 71b)
-Maxtor 60gig ATA133
-Pioneer DVD S106(slot loadong)
-Win XP pro
-counter-strike (Mod version)
-nothing overclocked
-Antec 1035B case (with Antec350W PSU)
-2 slow fans in the rear, 1 panaflo(H model) in front.

In-game text such as letters on the menu buttons look really ugly. I mean its' not illegible but it sure is noticeabley fuzzy and out of allignment or something. This applies to Freespace2, Giant: Citizen Kabuto(Demo), Flanker 2.5.
Does this looks like power related problem? A couple of guy said that I should ditch the Antec350W PSU and get a bigger one(450W, 430W...).
Or, does it more sounds like a graphics driver issue?
Or even, OS related?

Also, I can't run Homeworld in any OpenGL mode and keep getting an error(I can't join another server) when I rus CS in Direct3D mode. It stutters in 'Sacrifice', too.

Somebody cast me some wise words plz.
Thanks

AshG

Hey! Congrats on the sweet new rig!

I'm a fellow NV7-133R owner myself and am enjoying it, except for the heat issues. If you haven't updated to the 84 BIOS, do it quickly; otherwise, don't blame me when you crap your pants looking at MotherBoard Monitor!

As for the power supply, I do HIGHLY recommend getting rid of your old Antec 350W PSU. I had one of those; while it was handy for a lower-end system, it tanked quickly once I hooked it up to a Palomino. And that was on a KT133A chipset! If I could offer you a recommendation, take a good hard look at the Antec TruePower series of power supplies. I've had the pleasure of reviewing and owning one, and it is easily the best PSU I've ever had. It has all the features that competitor Enermax has (second fan, gold plating, thermal fan control) but adds some very consciencious extras in the mix as well (special 4-pin molex for turning case fans into thermal fans, separate voltage regulation and monitoring for 3.3v, 5.0v, and 12v lines, hardware voltage monitoring that extends to the ATX connector on the motherboard). You can check out my review of this fine power supply here.

As for the blurriness of lettering, I have noticed that SmoothVision causes some blurriness in the lettering of older games (Unreal Tournament). It might be a driver issue, or maybe you should check out your resolution and refresh rate. or, who knows, it might be a power issue after all. The best way to see would be to bump your driver settings back to normal and not overclock your system. if it disappears, overclock your system again; if it gets fuzzy, it's definately a power issue. If not, try the drivers.

Best of luck, and don't hesitate to ask for any help especially about the NV7.

JavaFox

Indeed, congrats on making your first PC -- it looks pretty sweet!

At any rate, I highly doubt a powersupply could be causing the problems you are experiencing. Insufficient powersupplies generally cause instability or hardlocks -- not fuzzy text. At any rate, I think your 350W is sufficient *

It is likely, in my opinion, to be a driver / configuration issue. I'm not really familar with recent ATi cards, so I don't know if those are the most recent drivers. If they aren't, get them. If they are, then use different ones. In the NVDA world, apparently, people had sharply contrasting experiences with 23.11 -- some thought they were fantastic, and some had very poor luck. You may be experiencing the same thing. The fact that you're having trouble running OpenGL games makes me even more suspicious of drivers.

Also, a whack-ass refresh rate could make the screen unpretty. I think it's unlikely that this is causing your problem, but is something to look into.


-----


* The reason I believe this is because I use a 350W AOpen p/s myself.If my system is fine with a 350W, I'm relatively sure your's will be, too. My system is as follows:

AMD Thunderbird 1.4GHz @ 1.53GHz
EPoX 8KHA+
512 meg Transcend PC2100
GeForce3 Ti200 @ 220/500
Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB
Pioneer 10X DVD-ROM
Generic 16X CD-RW
Philips Acoustic Edge
One case fan

blix9

Thanks, guys. Thanks for all the support and info.
Nice review, AshG. TruePower 480 will be my shot if I decided to replace my PSU. I beleive it the same as the 430, only larger in capacity.

I already have latest BIOS for my MB.
My graphic driver is the latest and the setting is at normal, nothing overclocked in my system.
PSU or graphics driver or monitor refresh rate?
I changed it from 75Hz to 70Hz. No difference.
Arrrgggh!! Should I go spend about $80 for new PSU?

UberLord

FreeSpace 1 has fuzzy text on all cards - the game font is slightly anti-aliased and doesn't look too good at its fixed low resolution. I assume that FreeSpace 2 suffers from the same problem.

Giants basically uses its own crappy font. Looks slightly better on my 8500 than my Kyro, but not so much as you would notice.

blix9

That's strange.
I played Freespace 1 & 2 on my old piece of junk(Celeron 433Mhz with Intel Onboard graphics) and never had fuzzy text. It was slow and stuttered playing Freespace2 but the text never looked funny. I know the text looks wacky and different now because I have seen the right one. Same goes with Flanker 2.5

blix9

Will using PSU of over(or close to) 500Watt cause fire hazard from a normal household power outlet?
I am looking at Antec TruePower 480W.

AshG

You should be fine blix, power supply ratings tell you the maximum that they draw during heavy load; you should have no worries!

Doomtrooper

When buying a powersupply ensure you get a quality Powersupply that offers clean power to the 5V rail...90% of the issues with Powersupplies are 5V rail oriented.
Total Wattage means nothing unless you are running 4 Cdroms, 6 Hardrives and 5 Case Fans...350 Watt is fine for almost anything....400 + is for Dual Processor Servers but with price of Powersupplies dropping its nice to have the 'braggin rights'.

A good link to read...

http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/m...blvpsu/2.shtml

I personally use this Powersupply and must say I have never came across a better built PSU than Enermax..

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/79/

If your are not BSOD'n and getting good 5V Rail voltage then I doubt its your powersupply.

Necrosis

I had this same power supply in my system and never had an issue with it. The only reason I do not have it now is because I got a deal on my 420. My friend was upgrading and he swamped supplies with me because I helped him do it.

blix9

The power outlet under my desk in my home will be connceted to a power strip. Then a monitor, PC speaker, a DSL modem, a ink-jet printer, and a PSU(480Watt) from my PC will be conncetd to that one power strip.
Does this sound still not dagerous? No fire hazard really?

I'll be adding some more in here.
-AMD XP 1800 with Arkua 7228 HSF
-Abit NV7-133R(latest 84 BIOS)
-512 meg, 2 x 256 Xtreme DDR(single-sided)
-ATI radeon 8500LE (bulk) (Omega Plutonium XK 1. 0. 71b)
-Maxtor 60gig ATA133
-Pioneer DVD 16x S106(slot loadong)
-Win XP pro
-counter-strike (Mod version)
-nothing overclocked(Maybe later)

Necrosis

No, it'll be fine.

blix9

I live in a fairly old apartment like over 20 years old.
Should be fine, still?

I am sorry to keep bugging but I must be very careful about this I think.

Ryoko

the apartment i live in is 30 years old. i had to get ground adapters to plug in our computers. my brother has a 650w power supply and we haven't had a fire yet

blix9

Thank you guys for reassuring.
Now I'm off to get TruePower 480!