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Do I Need a Bigger Power Supply?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Kheldar, 2005/03/18.

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  1. 2005/03/18
    Kheldar

    Kheldar Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ever since I installed the 300GB hard drive (connected via the SIIG PCI card), the system seizes up at random times. When this occurs, there is a loud continuous beep noise coming from the internal "PC speaker" (not through the sound card) until I unplug the tower and reboot. The noise is not coming from the ThermalTake temperature sensing system either, which reads the internal temperatures to be around 48.5 degrees celsius.

    When I remove the hard drive Molex connector and unplug the IDE cable from the motherboard, the problem does not reoccur. (Leaving the SIIG card installed)

    If I plug the hard drive into one of the onboard IDE connectors (by unplugging one of my DVD drives), the problem does not occur. (So the hard drive itself cannot be at fault)

    With all this hardware, do I need a larger power supply than the 420W power supply I currently have? Or does anyone have any suggestions on what else to try?
     
    Last edited: 2005/03/18
    Kheldar,
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  2. 2005/03/18
    Chuck_W

    Chuck_W Inactive

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    Is there an updated for your pci card? It sounds like that may be the culprit however the power supply seems adequate although if you add up the requirements of each component it will give an indication of the power supply needed.
     
    Chuck_W,
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  4. 2005/03/18
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    PeteC,
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  5. 2005/03/18
    Kheldar

    Kheldar Inactive Thread Starter

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    That calculator recommended I have at least 398 Watts.
    Is that too close to the max 420W, or do I have plenty of wiggle room?
     
    Kheldar,
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  6. 2005/03/19
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The calculator assumes that everything is working at the same time which is unlikely - so, yes, you have some wiggle room!

    Check in your mobo manual for BIOS beep codes and see what the cause of a continuous beep is.

    Have you tried running the 300Gb as secondary and the 80Gb as tertiary? My guess is, as Chuck_W suggested, a problem with the PCI card.

    I assume you are running XP - have you looked in Event Viewer for any error messages timed when the PC locks up?
     
    PeteC,
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  7. 2005/03/19
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Hi,

    Have you tried running any other USB devices on the card?

    If it does relate to power, you might want to consider getting a self-powered USB hub.

    Is there any particular reason why you need to run the drive from the card and not the motherboard USB ports?

    There is a BIOS upgrade for your motherboard that relates to USB, although it says USB camera. It might add support for that card. If you upgrade the BIOS follow the instructions carefully and I would recommend using the floppy disk method. http://tw.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/BIOS/BIOS_GA-7N400-L.htm

    Matt
     
    mattman,
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  8. 2005/03/19
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    mattman - the way I read is that the WD 300Gb is an internal EIDE drive plugged into the EIDE of the SIIG Model US2285 Add-in Card with USB2.0, FireWire, 2 IDE Connectors?

    Kheldar - would you confirm as above please. Have you checked for updated drivers for the card - assuming that a specific driver is needed?

    Try uninstalling through Device Manager and rebooted to let Windows find it again.

    Try the card in another PCI slot - shared slots may be causing the problem.
     
    PeteC,
    #7
  9. 2005/03/19
    Kheldar

    Kheldar Inactive Thread Starter

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    Yes, the drive is connected to one of the EIDE connectors on the SIIG card.

    I have already tried your other suggestions.

    Thanks for the input.
     
    Kheldar,
    #8
  10. 2005/03/22
    Kheldar

    Kheldar Inactive Thread Starter

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    Oops! Now I Feel Stupid

    I found my problem.

    The Molex (power) connector that i had my hard drive connected to was split off of a Molex connector that came from my ThermalTake case's HardCano (temperature sensing, fan adjusting) unit.

    When the computer heats up a little bit, the HardCano pumps a little more voltage to the fans to speed them up and help cool down the case. This was causing the drive to go crazy due to the extra voltage.

    Once I moved the drive to a different Molex connector, the problem went away.

    The power supply and the SIIG card weren't at fault. I just had the drive connected to the wrong Molex connector.

    OOPS!
     
    Kheldar,
    #9
  11. 2005/03/23
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Glad to hear you found the source of the problem - thanks for letting us know!
     
    PeteC,
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