[UPDATE] I need some help!

[Peahats]

Hello my fellow Villuns,

Recently my graphics card (a Nvidia GTS 450) has been having some issues. at random points (most commonly while watching videos) the card would shut itself off and I would lose all audio and video. The CPU and all other parts were still running but the only way to get video back was to restart the computer manually. Eventually I found that the Nvidia HD Audio drivers could be the blame and disabled them, this seemed to fix the problem for a while but it has arisen again recently.

Somtimes the computer would black screen immediately after the login screen. I've tried cleaning my computer, checking the power connections, and reinstalling the Nvidia drivers. Today I watched the GPU and found that the fan sputters when it's suppose to turn on and then promptly shuts off. This leads me to believe that the black screens are now being caused by the GPU overheating. I've made no hardware updates recently. I can only function in safe mode for now, so gaming is gonna be impossible. I'm pretty sure my card needs replacing and I was planning on upgrading next month. Though I need some help just in case it's somthing else (I went though that whole trial and error diagnostic method while building the damn thing, never again.)

I'm gonna try and uninstall the HD Audio Drivers and see if that makes a diffirence, but I'm gonna hold off on anything major until I get some advice.

Specs:

Windows 7 64-bit
Nvidia GTS 450
AMD Anthalon II 635 (Not overclocked)
Antec EA-380D PSU
Kingston 2GB DDR3 RAM (x2)
GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-D3 AM3 Motherboard

[The Domer]

This is the card I have. It's not the top product, but it's pretty good. If you decide you have to get a new one (which it sounds like you do), you might consider this one.

[Clay Pigeon]

Try to RMA it if it is still under warranty if the fan is failing.

[Peahats]

From watching the fan i can see that its struggling to spin. Im almost positive it's broken, but is it possible that it could be anything else?

[gator]

Possibly a bad PCIe slot on the motherboard, but more likely your card just going bad.

Your motherboard appears to have onboard video, so you may want to try enabling that/removing your video card and seeing if you still encounter stability issues.

[Peahats]

Possibly a bad PCIe slot on the motherboard, but more likely your card just going bad.

Unfortunately my mobo only has one pcie slot so i can not test this

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Antec EA-380D PSU

This is your problem.

[Peahats]

Antec EA-380D PSU

This is your problem.

I've had this PSU/GPU combo for quite a while now and it's never had any problems. All of these black screens are occurring during non-GPU intensive functions.

Although I have an idea of what maybe went wrong. I re-did all the wires in my computer when my GPU first started crashing. I had 2 power cables which I got mixed-up. both devices they were for required 10A 250V, yet one cord was 10A 250V and the other 10A 125V. The devices were the PSU and the monitor. I plugged in the 250V one into the PSU since I figured it needed the power more. Could this be the issue?

[Peahats]

Your motherboard appears to have onboard video, so you may want to try enabling that/removing your video card and seeing if you still encounter stability issues.

I'm doing that right now, and no major problems so far. I doubt I can run any games this way though.

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Antec EA-380D PSU

This is your problem.

I've had this PSU/GPU combo for quite a while now and it's never had any problems. All of these black screens are occurring during non-GPU intensive functions.

Although I have an idea of what maybe went wrong. I re-did all the wires in my computer when my GPU first started crashing. I had 2 power cables which I got mixed-up. both devices they were for required 10A 250V, yet one cord was 10A 250V and the other 10A 125V. The devices were the PSU and the monitor. I plugged in the 250V one into the PSU since I figured it needed the power more. Could this be the issue?

You can burn out a leg and still have the rest of the PS work. Most PS have isolated legs coming off it.

The PS is too small. There's a bunch of reasons it might not be working like the day you bought it but one thing is for sure, if you don't test with a better PS you are wasting your time and possibly money. Find a friend and borrow a 550w or something higher. I've used a 750w for six years. My incidents of PC shenanigans is very low since. Plus it gives you the confidence to rule out a huge number of issues where the power supply is always a lingering suspicion.

If you build or upgrade your own computer, from over 30 years of computer building experience, I can tell you the two most important things to have that are the best long term bang for your buck is a quality 750w modular cabling PS and a quality (Intel) SSD.

[Peahats]

Somthing like this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139010

[Clay Pigeon]

Don't waste your dosh on a 750W psu for a gts450 and a micro atx mobo...

[The Domer]

750w PSU is more than likely overkill, and especially at that price point. I've got a 650w PSU, and I went with that much to leave a safe margin.

I'd recommend using a PSU calculator to determine how much you actually need, and then go over by whatever you feel is a comfortable margin.

[Peahats]

So if my PSU is the problem does this still mean I'll need a new GPU? I was planning on getting a better one next month anyways. I took that Wattage tests and got a recommended value of 316w, that dosnt leave me with much buffer so I'm planning on getting this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371035

[Boss Llama]

One of the more important things when matching a PSU and GPU isn't just the wattage - it's also the amperage. A GPU needs a certain amperage on the rail it's hooked in to, or it can overdraw the system with various not-working-very-well consequences. I'm not sure what the recommendation on a GTS 450 is (it'll be on the box), but on a GTS 250 I've got here, it asks for 24 amps on the 12 volt rail. The Antec 380 PSU you're currently using only offers 15A on one rail, and 17A on the other, so it's likely not able to provide the current needed - especially if other things are on the same rail.

The 500W Antec you linked offers 22A on each rail, which is probably sufficient - I'd avoid plugging other things in on the same rail though, if possible. One thing I like about Corsair PSUs (including this 600 watt model which is less expensive than the Antec 500 you're looking at) is that they use a single rail system. All the power is on one rail, so you don't need to worry about tracking what's plugged in to what cable quite so much. You can use a lower power PSU overall generally speaking, because all the power is going where it's needed.