Power Supply - help

[midnightfxgt]

Hey guys,

My HTPC is a little laggy lately. It's intermittent and I would like to resolve. A fresh Windows install didnt help, and I am wondering if the PSU is keeping up. It's probably 5yrs old - Corsair VX450w.

System:
Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 (105W)
Intel DG33FB motherboard (75W???)
3 sticks of DDR2 RAM
2 regular HDDs (30w combined??)
Sapphire hd5770 video card (108W)
dvd/cddrive (30w???)
few case fans etc (10-20w??)

just from the listed wattages (some guessed) I am looking at 350-400W, so I should be fine, right?

Thoughts?

thanks!

[omalak]

You sure its not a hd issue?

Run diagnostics on both.

As for the psu, if you have a multi meter you could check each rail to see if it is outputting the correct voltage.

If you need to buy, I'd go with a 400-450 if you can find one that fits an htpc.

[m_bisson]

i'd swap out the psu with one from another pc, if you have one. I'm guessing that's not the issue though.

3 sticks of ram? 3 gb? 6gb?

Best thing to improve performance would be a SSD. Get a 60gb drive just for windows/htpc stuff and you'll be flying. If your mobo has Sata that is :p

[midnightfxgt]

Thanks guys. Been eying up SSDs just for system files. Everything else gets stored on another drive now. Also - running 5GB RAM.

If it were a HDD Issue, I would get BSOD and other issues, no? Anytime one has gone in the past i have.

what's a good was to test the HDDs? If I buy an SSD, what's the easiest way to copy this Windows install over? Long story, but I don't want to reinstall unless I have to

John

[m_bisson]

I really don't recommend copying the windows install over.... Plus, it'll go much faster on the SSD anyways. There are also a few steps you MUST take when installing to a SSD. AHCI in the bios prior to the windows install. Then turn trim on, disable disk defragger, swap file (or move the swap file to one of your other HDDs), disable indexing.

[m_bisson]

http://forums.ncix.com/forums/?mode=showthread&forum=116&threadid=2493708&pagenumber=1&msgcount=2&subpage=1


Bookmark this.

[midnightfxgt]

Thanks for that Bisson! Any good way to test if it is a HDD issue first? I read that Media Center on Win7 performs better on one... Much better

lags more than normal when trying to stream large files from my other PC. Also in the MCE GUI

[SilentJay]

Dying hard drives don't always blue screen. Easiest thing to do first is to run a chkdsk /f /r from A
a livecd like BartPE and see what it comes up with.

[proDJtege]

If a 5 year old Corsair is failing or near failing and you have some patience, get in touch with their support channels and they may replace your failing PSU for the cost of shipping it to them. Corsair has excellent RMA service for their PSUs because they back them up 100%.

Otherwise, ppl have suggested getting an SSD..... try for a 120GB sized one because 60 is getting rough for even me with 3 other HDDs in my PC.

This is a stretch, but If it's a HTPC, consider running a Linux operating system instead of Windows. I would suggest Linux Mint or XBMC. Linux runs on nearly any hardware flawlessly and with excellent results... but you would need to learn the ins and outs first.


FYI: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine tells me your machine needs a 384 watt PSU

[m_bisson]

If you use netflix, steer clear of Linux.

[midnightfxgt]

Thanks guys!

looking for an excuse to spend money, so I bought an SSD today and rebuilt. WOW! No idea why I didn't do this sooner!

-John

[Akiba48]

3 sticks of DDR2 RAM


This needs to be fixed asap. The SSD gives you the speed boost that you're looking for, but having 3 sticks instead of 2 decreases performance (jumping from dual-channel to single-channel). I'm surprised no one offered such a suggestion.

[midnightfxgt]

This needs to be fixed asap. The SSD gives you the speed boost that you're looking for, but having 3 sticks instead of 2 decreases performance (jumping from dual-channel to single-channel). I'm surprised no one offered such a suggestion.

When I had the case open, I looked, and have 4. No idea why HWInfo was reporting 3 sticks and 5Gb. Reads 4/6Gb now

[Akiba48]

When I had the case open, I looked, and have 4. No idea why HWInfo was reporting 3 sticks and 5Gb. Reads 4/6Gb now

4 sticks 6gb means you're operating at 2 different pairs of RAM, which is still "bad" for performance.
But at this point, you're satisfied with the SSD, and you're not gonna find 8gb of DDR2 RAM for cheap, so I'm not gonna bitch about it :P.
Just remember in the future that RAM must be bought in identical pairs (they're mostly sold in pairs anyways)