ATI Radeon 9800se I think is Killing my PC (powering PC Down)

[kempik]

Spec:

550W Dual Fan PSU
AMD Xp 2500+ 1.4GHZ
1 stick of 512MB
2 Hard Drives
DVD Writer
1 USb Modem Connected
PCI Soundcard
ATI Sahpphire Radeon 9800 SE 128MB

Windows XP SP2

Software relating to VGA:

Direct X 9.0C
Latest Drivers from ATI

Problem:
********

My PC will all of a Sudden Power Off (like someone has removed the power cable from the tower).

I bought the Radeon 9800de new toughly 4 weeks ago and had no problems what so ever installing the car and
getting the PC up and Running, over this period I have played Doom III and A Half Life 2 Demo, with no problems
what so ever. Thursday there I started to run into this problem. I was doing nothing different and the card has
not been over clocked.

The system powered down and I could not power it backup, I then realised my 350W PSU was goosed. I therefore obtained
the 550W PSU, which solved the problem for the duration of the night. I left the PC running overnight and the PC was still
running the next again morning.

That afternoon I tried to play game and the Computer cut out once more. I then pulled the power plug out for 5 seconds, then
re-connected the plug back into the PSU and powered the CP backup. I got as far as my Bootloader, then the PC powered down. This
power down no happened sometimes even before i get as far as the bootloader and sometimes later.

For now I ave installed a very old voodoo 3dfx PCi card and no problems what so ever and the pc has been running for over a day now.
I have also played some 3d games (shocking quality of graphics).

What Have I Tried To Resolve this?
**********************************

I change the latency of VGA controller to 128 , though this had fixed it as windows did boot up and managed to run for a little while,
however as soon as I tried to play a game the PC powered down.

Removed all components from Tower only leaving:

Motherboard
PSU
CPU + Fan
Memory
Radeon Card
Primary Hard Disk

PC did power up but only to power done within 10-15 seconds. I tried different variations of having as little components
installed as possible, at one point I removed the Radeon and the pc as far as I could tell did power up ok.

Also please note I am running the PC just now with the old PCI card with no problems.

I really need someone’s help here as I am pulling my hair out just a little. I can take the card it back to the shop however,
I would like to make sure its not something daft I am doing or missing.

 

[Ayasha]

..

I'd say your next step is to plug in a known working AGP card. I'd be surprised if your brand new card suddenly up and died, but it is possible. Your AGP slot could be the culprit in this case. Which would mean you'd need a new motherboard.

As a side note, since the ATI card draws more power than the last video card that you had in there, I assume, and it runs fine with the old PCI card. It is very possible that the socket you have the computer plugged into simply cannot power everything needed. This can happen in older houses/apartments etc. and newer ones as well that have not been properly wired. I bring this up as I had the exact same problem in sept. of last year and I had to fix the wiring in the wall to fix the problem. There wasn't anything wrong with my computer. If you try another known working AGP card that draws as much or more power than the ATI card you've got and it doesn't work I'd look to the wiring inside the wall. No joke.

-A-

 

[kempik]

The house I live in was built around 7 years ago and the pc is the only device plugged into the point (through an surge protector), I will move the pplug doa different point to see what happens. I do feel however it might welll be the AGP slot or the mainboard itself. I will you know how I get on today.

thnx

 

[kempik]

Well I think it si tyhe AGP Slot , I moved everything to a older pc with a 4x ago slot and had no problems what so ever. So now I have to look at getting a new motherboard. But which one, as I dont exactly have lots to cash spend. I will get back to you all.