Question About Graphics Card and PSU

[Uncle_FuXX0r]

Okay, so I've been having problems with my computer for the past few months. My system has been unstable, and I've seen random crashes in Explorer.exe, IM applications, Firefox, and just about everything else. I thought I might have a virus or spyware of some sort. I ran several scans, and all scans found no problems whatsoever. My AV stays updated as I'm on broadband, and my computer is on a lot.

Here are my system specs.:

Windows XP Pro SP2
250W PSU
160GB HDD
Pentium 4 2.6GHz
1GB RAM (2x512MB)
nVidia GeForce 8400GS

I had originally upgraded from the FX 5200 to the 8400 GS because I wanted better graphics capabilities. The 8400 GS started causing system slowdowns, artifacts when playing games (no matter how light they are on the gfx card), and so on. So I put my FX 5200 back in. It was causing problems as well, including my entire system freezing randomly (mostly when playing games such as Soldat), so I took my case apart. I blew it out with a can of compressed air. I checked the FX 5200, and it had actually blown a capacitor, so I removed it. Cleaning the dust out seemed to speed my system up, but it's still quite unstable. I thought it was a heat issue, but after several tests I found out it's not a heat issue.

I placed the 8400 GS back in my system yesterday, thinking that the dust was the problem before. Well, it worked fine for a few minutes, then suddenly I was having the same problem as before.

Now my question is: The GeForce 8400 GS requires a 300W PSU, but my PSU is only 250W. I wasn't aware of this until yesterday, as I had been told differently in the past. Would this cause system instability, artifacts, freezes, random crashes, etc.?

I have a lot of components plugged in. I have a USB keyboard, a USB mouse, my MIDI keyboard which is hooked up and powered by USB, a printer, the GeForce 8400 GS, and my sound card (M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI), along with my HDD, CPU, etc.

I've attached two screenshots to show the graphics problems. A "before" and "after".

If it is the PSU I can easily get my hands on another one. I just don't want to buy one if this is less likely to be the real problem.

[Toumaz]

Yes, too little power for your GPU is a very bad thing; consider upgrading your PSU as soon as possible.
And just to be sure, check if your RAM is still okay (http://memtest.org/).

[Uncle_FuXX0r]

Thanks, Toumaz. I am in the process of finding a power supply (no less than 480W), and I've found some prospective items. But I've already run tests. I've checked memory, CPU, video and video RAM, motherboard, HDD, etc. I think the power supply will fix the issue. I'll post an update once I upgrade my PSU.

[Mangled*]

I don't like to be the bearer of bad news... the GeForce 8400 GS isn't really a good card at all, I hope you didn't spend much on it. It's not exactly a huge leap of an upgrade. I expect it would be fine with Soldat, but from what I understand it can't handle 3D games and applications very well at all, despite having 256mb memory.

Unfortunately nVidea continue to attach arbitrary numbers to their graphics cards that are completely unrelated to the quality or capability of the product.

[Uncle_FuXX0r]

I know it's not a "great" card. And I knew it wasn't a great leap from what I had before. But I don't play any games other than Soldat. I only play games (PC or console or whatever) when I have nothing better to do. Right now that's quite often. =D Aside from that I work in Photoshop quite a bit, and I play with 3DS Max 9 and Autodesk Inventor 2009 Pro. I don't have any issues running 3DS Max or Inventor whatsoever. No slowdowns, no freezes, or anything like that.

So I upgraded my PSU today. I upgraded to a Coolmax 500W. I started my computer, and it seemed to be running a little more smoothly than before. So I loaded Soldat, began to play, and not even 10 minutes into it, it froze again. I just exited Soldat and left my computer alone. This problem is quite ignorant, and it makes no sense. I've tested my RAM, CPU, Video + Video RAM, HDD Read/Write, and so on. And still found no problems.

But I ran one of my tools today, and it's showing 3.07V for my +12V, which is really low. That's after installing the new PSU. All the temperatures are actually quite lower than they were with the old PSU, too.

[Uncle_FuXX0r]

Okay, so I believe I fixed the freezing. I ran Soldat in Compability Mode for Windows 98/Me, and it didn't freeze. But after some time the screen still looks like the picture I've attached. If I minimize Soldat by ALT-TAB, then go back to it, it looks fine for a while, then does it again. What could it be?