Parhelia bluescreens - please help...

[thop]

i never heard of HighPower PSUs before, doesnt sound too trustworthy if you ask me. instability for no apparent reason is 99% the PSU or the memory.

run your memory with 100mhz and the slowest timings and see if it still crashes.

[UberLord]

Originally posted by thop
i never heard of HighPower PSUs before, doesnt sound too trustworthy

We got em in all our machines @ work. They're PII300's which tells you how old they are. I've had to change 2 PSU's since they were bought and that was due to excessive fan noise.

[Chucky Cheese]

Memory option for starting an NT based OS

raschi,

try this...

modify the properties on your boot.ini and take off the read-only attribute > open up your boot.ini file with note pad > copy the line that starts NT normally..the one that has /fastdetect , paste it below the first line and change the text in between the quotation marks to what ever > change the switch on the new line to /maxmem=xxx, where xxx= the memory size you want to start NT with.

this is a great tool for trouble shooting memory related problems!!!

good luck

cc

[raschi]

I´ve run both the memory tests posted earlier with no problems, and I´m beginning to believe that I really need a new PSU. I´ve been reading some interesting things on Paul's Unofficial ABIT KG7-RAID FAQ where it says that I should have at least a 350W PSU to avoid instabilities.

So if I´m getting a new PSU, which one should I go for and how much power do I need? (I forgot to mention that I also have 4 system fans installed) I´ve read that Antec is very good, but I´m having trouble finding one in Norway...

As for the drivers I´m using:
Matrox Parhelia 128:
1.1.0.80

Abit KG7-RAID:
Latest BIOS 9M modded to include the latest official Highpoint-Tech BIOS release 2.32 and Highpoint-Tech RAID controller drivers 2.32 to match.
AMD AGP miniport driver 5.33 for the AMD Northbridge.
VIA_4in1_443v and VIA USB Filter Patch version 1.10 for the VIA Southbridge (didn´t install the VIA AGP driver).

SoundBlaster Live!:
Sound Blaster Live! DriverPack released 17/07/2002

Logitech iFeel Mouseman:
MouseWare 9.73

Hyundai ImageQuest P910+:
Default drivers



I´m using winxp at the moment with no SP1 installed, and I installed dot NET with dot NET SP1 before installing the Parhelia drivers.
I´m not using gigacolor, but I have enabled glyph anitaliasing and dvdmax.

[DGhost]

Antecs are manufactured by Channel Well, and i personally don't consider either one to be that great of a quality power supply. i'm acctually running a 350W Antec in my main box atm, and its alright, just not the greatest...

Sparkle power supplies are some of the best on the market, there are a couple others that are good or better, but they are usually industrial units. PC Power and Cooling is another of the major brands.

most computers do not require a 350W PSU to operate in a stable fashion. usually most people who are having a problem with system stability and switching from a 300W to 350W fixes, its usually because they go from a crap 300W to a decent quality 350W. or the same from 350W to 400W.

i have seen 350W PSU's that a 2 year old fairly high quality 235W PSU can provide better amperage everywhere except the 12V rail.

acctually, most sparkle 300W's provide better all around amperage than most cheap/clone 350W psu's.

considering whats in your system, a decent 350W might be wise to invest in, the cost difference is usually only $10 (USD), dunno what it would be like overseas...

[raschi]

DGhost:
Have you heard of Lepont or Enermax? Are these any good?

[DGhost]

not familiar with Lepont.

I've acctually owned an Enermax, it crapped out on me after a year, year and a half. they have been known for having some problems with their +5 and +12v rails.

[Tony Ostinato]

Raidmax 400w, its aluminum, but even better, its BLUE!

[DGhost]

the Raidmax 350W PSU i had died in under 24 hours of use. in addition to that its the one i compared a 235W PSU with and it acctually worked better. go figure.

Raidmax PSU's are poorly designed, cheap power supplies. period.

[Cobos]

I've actually always heard Enermax PSU's are good and would consider one of those.. www.microplex.no and www.3dfxcool.no are both webshops that specialises in this kind of stuff...
Cobos

[mutz]

I have a Blacknoise 480W PSU. It is actually a CWT PSU that has been modded by Blacknoise for noise plus testing, etc. CWT have made over 50 million PSUs, and have a very good reputation. It can be that your LePonts and other name brands are modded CWTs. Check it out.

And get a big one, over 400w. It's like insurance.

[raschi]

Thanks for all help and tips so far. I´m going away this weekend, but if anyone has more tips about PSU´s, please post.

Bye for now...

[Wombat]

"Sparkle" power supplies seem to be a LOT better than average for only a little more money. I have one in my system, and the current ratings are quite good, even among 350W supplies.

[Captain Marvel]

" if anyone has more tips about PSU´s, please post."

I read once, as a general rule of thumb mind you.. - the heavier the better (the quality)

[Captain Marvel]

hey I got a sig ..and I didnt even know it! musta been drink'n.