# Upgrading PSU on my Dell 8300



## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

I have been running games like BF3 etc and I have not had a problem running them. But I change my monitor from a 23in to a 46in LED HD tv and now all of my games ctd when I play them. I asked for help in the gaming forum and found that I need to upgrade my PSU.
These are my specs:

PC specs:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
x64-based PC
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 3001 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 
12.0 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Genuine Dell 460W Power Supply Unit PSU For Dell XPS 8300
Model Number: D460AD-00 

I was looking at upgrading my PSU,
I was looking at buying this one on amazon
Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX600) $64.99
Or
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom $89.99


Will these fit in my dell case and which one should I get, I am a gamer, but was taking a break because my wife was upset that I was always on the computer. But now that I am ready to play again I ran into this problem.

Thanks


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

A 520W good quality PSU would be fine for the 550 ti.
SeaSonic & XFX are top quality.

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) 550W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

A good quality PSU is always a good investment but it is doubtful the PSU is the immediate issue.

Please elaborate on "now all of my games ctd when I play them"


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

I have been playing all kinds of games on my computer, but about a month ago they all stopped working. They will start and I can play for a few minutes, but then they crash. No matter what game I am playing they all crash (Tomb Raider, Crysis3 etc).

I updated all of my drivers and also tried playing the games in windowed mode and I can play Tomb Raider for about 15 minutes and then it ctd also. 
Just the game will either crash to desktop or it will minimize and a little screen will be there saying this game has stopped working do you want to wait or close and one time it said "display drivers stopped responding and has recovered".


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The display drivers stopped sounds like a GPU issue.
Try installing the latest drivers for the GPU.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

I installed the newest drivers for the graphics card and also sometimes it sounds like the graphics card shuts down, like I can hear the fan turn off or something like that. Do you think it can be the card itself?


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Is your new TV/monitor a different resolution from your first monitor? Did you start getting CTDs as soon as you switched?

Try fully uninstalling then reinstalling your GPU drivers.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Yes the other monitor I had had the same resolution. When I switched my wife was on me about being on the computer so I only watched movies on it until now.
I uninstalled all of the drivers using uninstall programs in the control panel and then reinstalled them, but I am still getting the ctd.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

I did a stress test with FurMark on my gpu and it crashed also. This was with the burn in test.

I got this message:


*OpenGL message “lost connection”*​ 
Answer ID 3007 | Published 07/14/2011 08:14 AM | Updated 02/06/2012 11:37 AM
*OpenGL message "lost connection"*
*I have seen this Event Log Message:*
_The NVIDIA OpenGL driver lost connection with the display driver due to exceeding the Windows Time-Out limit and is unable to continue._
_The application must close._​ 
*What does it mean?*
If you received this message from an application (on a pop up message or in the Event Log), the application was unable to continue rendering because the Microsoft Windows imposed time limit (TDR) was exceeded. This is normally the case when the workload sent to the Graphics Card is greater than what the graphics card can process in the normal timeout of two seconds.
You can find more information in this page:
Timeout Detection and Recovery of GPUs through WDDM
*How can this be fixed?*​
Two possible solutions to try would be:

Reduce the graphics workload if possible, such as rendering to a lower resolution or with less detail.
Increase the timeout to allow more time to complete the really tough rendering parts. Microsoft provides the information on how to modify the Windows Registry to achieve this.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Unless something unusual is making your GPU overheat, your video card is bad :frown: Only other thing I can think of is if the card's fan isn't working anymore. Open the case and run FurMark again, watching the fan. Also take note of the temperatures. If you're lucky, the fan is just bad and your card is overheating. You can buy and install a replacement fan.

The low-quality PSU could easily be responsible for its demise, if that is the case.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok, I will do the stress test again with the case open. I did a second one and it went all the way through, this is what I got:


BURN-IN SCORE: 1425 points 
13967 frames, 15 FPS, 84°C
Resolution: 1920x1080 (FS) - AA:0 samples
FPS: min:16, max:17, avg:15 - OPTIONS: DynBkg

Renderer: GeForce GTX 550 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 (10DE-1244)
Drivers: 9.18.13.1422 (3-14-2013) - GL:nvoglv64
Clocks: GPU core: 972 MHz, memory: 2052 MHz
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz
CPU Speed: 2993 MHz System Memory: 12270 MB
OS: Windows 7 64-bit build 7601 [Service Pack 1]


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok, I took the side of and the fan is running.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Yea, it's overheating, a typical symptom of a dying video card. It may also simply be a symptom of the season (warmer temperatures = warmer air in the house, warmer hardware) and a little better cooling might be all you need. Does your case have any open fan slots? It should at least have one 120mm fan slot on the rear for exhaust. A good fan or two might help immensely.

If it's gotten warm in your house, maybe just turning on the air conditioner can help :tongue:


If you improve cooling and you still have problems, go ahead and look to replace. Start with a high quality PSU like one Tyree linked above, then a replacement video card.


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## CubicleCowboy (Dec 4, 2012)

Does everything work properly if you use the 23" monitor?

Another thing to consider is malware. A friend of mine recently had an issue where he was getting constant crashes followed by display driver error messages after a hardware change. Naturally the new hardware was suspect, but it turned out to be a nasty malware infection.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok I went to the NVIDIA website and chatted with a tech and they had me change one setting it now it works.

Open the NVIDIA control panel-------->3D settings------->Manage 3D settings-------->Global setting------->power management mode.
and change it from "Adaptive" to "Prefer maximum performance"
and it started working now, all of my games.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Interesting... kind of disappointment from nVidia for that one (needing a settings change from default to prevent self-destruction), but I'm glad your GPU isn't cooked!

Still a good idea to replace that PSU at some point.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Replacing that OEM PSU would still be a very good option.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Thank you all for your help.
I will be getting the seasonic


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Good choice and please post back with any results.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok I may have made a mistake, I bought a corsair cx series cx600 ATX power supply. I am looking at the CPU plug and it is a 8 pin plug and where I need to plug it in is a 4 pin hole. I was looking at it and I can plug the top 4 pins into the hole at the top of the 8 pin plug. Is that the way you do it or do I have the wrong kind of power supply?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Not the best quality PSU but it should work.
The 8-pin plug is 4+4 pin and should split apart.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok, Thanks for the info, it did split in two and I installed it and it is up and running, very quiet more than the one that came with it.

I fired up Tomb Raider and after about 25 minutes of game play it ctd. I dont understand why they keep doing this. Could there be a conflict or anything that I am not seeing, that is causing this problem?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

CubicleCowboy said:


> Does everything work properly if you use the 23" monitor?


If "ctd" relates to crashing, please elaborate. 
Is the PC a Dell Model? If so, post the complete Model Number.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

I had not played any games for a few months, but when I was it was working on my 23in display. But again I had stopped playing games on my computer for a few months and then I added this 46in display and I had it for a few months before I started playing games again. And the first one I played was Tomb Raider and then I noticed I was having the problems. I also sold the 23in for $75 and do not have a monitor to see if it is working on the smaller monitor or not.

CTD yes the I can be playing the game for so long and then it will crash, the screen will go black for about 2 seconds and then I see the desktop and it will say Tomb Raider.exe has stopped working and to click close or wait. Well I am going to play it real quick to see all of what it says.

DELLX8300-4004NBK DESKTOP


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok, it stopped working in about 7 minutes this time. I got two messages this time.

Tomb Raider has stopped working
Windows can check online for a solution to the problem
Check online for a solution
Close the program

also got

Display driver stopped responding and has recovered
Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 314.22 stopped
responding and has successfully recovered.

oh I have to say I got the message about the display driver first and then the other message.

I uninstalled the display drivers and restarted the computer and installed them again. But that did not help.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

it splits to two 4s but as Tyree said you have got a low quality psu but should be ok.


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Ok,
I haven't had a response here in a few days and I have been also researching with google and I may have found a fix. 

1. There was one that said raise my voltage on my GSU to 1100vm and I tried that and it worked for a little longer but still crashed.

2. they were saying something about a virus called "iehighutil" I looked all through my system for this and I did not locate it so I don't think I have that.

3. Somebody said when they were having this issue they made an adjustment to the fan on their GSU and it took it away. Saying put it to 100% once the card reaches 70f, so I did this and it has been working for about 40 minutes.

Question:
Can this mess up my card because the fan is running at 100% for so long? I can hear the fan speed going up and down, it is pretty loud. But it does not sound like it is staying at 100% all the time because I hear it going fast and then slowing down and speeding up again. What do you think?

Thanks for all your help, I wouldn't have made it this far without everyone's help. Thanks


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## bud11dy (Apr 7, 2013)

Oh is there any other ways to cool the graphics card?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

no it doesn't hurt anything by running the cards fan at full speed.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Running the fan at max RPM doesn't hurt but it should be necessary.


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