Do I need to upgrade again?

[Morbeas]

I just got a Diamond Viper ATI X1950 Pro, 512 MB AGP video card and slapped it on my system and all I'm having are problems. The system just isn't stable. It freezes, locks up on reboot etc. I'm wondering if it's my PSU. The odd thing is I just put in a new PSU in anticipation of this card. It's an Antec TP3-650. It's 650W and has 3 12V rails rated at 19A on each rail. There's an insert in the box stating that the card needs a minimum 450W PSU with 30A current on the 12V rail. So the question is do I have enough juice to run this card or do I need to replace the PSU?

Full system specs:

Windows XP Pro SP2
ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo
2 GB RAM
150 GB HD (SATA)
X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro sound card

PS. I have the latest drivers and BIOS versions for everything as well as all the MS patches installed.

[jonnyGURU]

The PSU should be more than enough. Could be just a bad card.

What kind of card was in there before?

And FWIW, the Antec really isn't three +12V rails. It's really just one big one.

[Morbeas]

The card before was an ATI X850XT. When I put it back, everything runs fine. Does it matter how I distribute the connectors from the PSU to the various components in the case?

[Morbeas]

Heck, I was looking around ATI's website and saw that my PSU is certified for a X1950 Crossfire setup, so it certainly is more than enough for just one. Maybe it is just a bad card afterall. Siiigh.

[jonnyGURU]

Like I said.... there's only one rail. So it doesn't matter what PCI-e connector you use.

It's probably a bad card.

Try updating the BIOS on the motherboard and D/L the newest drivers, of course.

[Morbeas]

Are you sure? It states it has 3 rails:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=23650

[Morbeas]

Oh and the card is AGP so I'm not using a PCI-E connector.

[mp666]

Did you use proper installation procedure ? Always uninstall the old drivers, reboot and use standard vga drivers (windows will offer these). Download the latest ATI drivers if you didn't do this till now. Shut down the system, put the new card in, restart, install the new drivers. If that's what you have done before I think it could be a bad card.

[Morbeas]

Actually, I just installed XP from scratch. I'm almost certain it's a bad card at this point.

PS. I just noticed you were in Istanbul. Merhaba!

[mp666]

Merhaba

Sen ?