Hey there guys & gals...

I have the following setup

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe with ATI xpress 3200 chipset
2 Gb RAM Kingston (i think these are the core problem creator)
Thermaltake Pure Power TWV 500Watt PSU
AMD Athlon 64X2 dual core
4 inlet case fans and 4 outlet case fans
HDD Western Digital 250 Gb
Ati X1900XTX Graphic Card Crossfire edition
Ati Crossfire X1900 Graphic card

All connection are exact, so plz don't tell me i have connection issues ;-)

The issue is when i start my enginge (PC hehe) the graphic cards' fans runs at high speed. Then after the Windows XP start to load, the graphic cards' fans reduce its speed.

When I run a game (especially Quake 4 or Half-Life or any other 3d game) in Crossfire mode... my system restarts suddenly. don't know why.. but my motherboard finally stopped working (no power, burned, wrecked, capot). so i replaced it with Abit ATb 32x mobo, which still does the same problem but fortunately the mobo hasn't been wrecked.....yet.

When i check the air coming out of the back of my pc case from the graphic cards, it's very hot, and the temprature rises beyond 70 degrees C.
I though of removing the factory made fans on the graphic cards and add water cooling instead.

guys any idea?.. some people said to me change your RAM to OCZ which is crossfire certified.. i'm going crazy.. so help me come over my crossfire, or else it will CROSS my brain..

Cheers

The fan-ramping at boot-up is normal. Just about every X1800 and X1900 series card I've used always ramps up to 100% fan speed until it boots into windows as part of it's normal initialization process.

Is it Crossfire mode that locks up your system only? Can you run in single-card mode without any issues?

70C is cool as a cucumber for those cards. If that's actual GPU temp, you're on the low, low end of the spectrum. Mid 80's peak temps is pretty commonplace on the newer GPU's.

I'd be really suspect of power. How many amps total is that PSU rated at and how do you have it configured? Are you using any molex-to-pci power adapters? Or do you have three dedicated 12v lines (one for cpu, 2 for each board) connected? From what you've described, it sounds just like you're overloading the 12v when you fire-up Crossfire mode.. which could be a bad/flakey PSU or in need of special configuration/wiring layout.

Hey there Sharkfood... nice nick
thanks for the reply..
to answer "Is it Crossfire mode that locks up your system only? Can you run in single-card mode without any issues?" Yes i have the same issue when irun on cross mode or single mode.. the system restarts.

my PSU box says 12v 36A.. !! it is ThermalTake pure power TWV 500W here' the product link " http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/PurePower/w0057-01/w0057-01.asp " .And i have three dedicated 12v (one from PSU to CPU, and two each from PSU to the card)... actually each power plug on my mobo has one deicated cable from PSU to it.. except for the SATA hard disk and CD where they share one cable..

That is your main problem. Your PSU is very inadequate for your system. Try getting a 700W PSU and it should be fine. I use an OCZ GameXStream 700W PSU with the same 2 cards and it's awesome. It's available on Newegg.com for only $120 with rebates. It's rock solid and I highly recommend it.

Rage_3K_Moiz, thanks for the reply,

The fags at the retail shop said to me "Sir it iz more dan enof 4 u".. damn those wookies.. i'm gonna screw them hehe
i'll go with your recommendation and replace the current 500w on my old PC ... but if the problem presists, you'll buy back the 700w back from me at double price hehe...
BTW, do you recommend OCZ RAM for my pc?

see ya guys...
Cheers

Well, seeing that one X1900 needs a 450W minimum PSU, a 500W PSU just wouldn't cut it, especially seeing the dual-core CPU and the large HDD u have. And yes, if the OCZ RAM is faster or has a lower latency than ur current RAM, then it is definitely recommended.

The RAM isnt unstable, get the PSU, crossfire certified is just a hype to increase sales.

Keep such stupid thoughts to yourself in the future. ATi is one of the best makers of graphics chips next to NVIDIA, so I don't see buying anything coming out of their factories as "screwing up". And FYI, the X1900XTX was the most powerful single card available in the market until the 8800GTX arrived.

Am I missing something about the above post?

Anyway, I'll second everyone who said you need a new PSU. 500W isn't nearly enough for a dual GPU setup. Try getting a 700W+ one from Antec, Fortron, PCP&C, Enermax, Corsair, OCZ, etc (please don't get mad people if I forgot any good ones).

Seeing how I USED TO BE the END USER of several of their products, I believe I am HIGHLY QUALIFIED to give my opinion of them. As far as I am concerned, they are no better than american made cars.

However screwed up their support may be, they still produce quality products IMO. Just look at the Radeon 9 series and tell me how many people you know still have them.