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I have a rather old computer rig and the fan on my trusty old Zotac GeForce 8800GT broke down. I hacked a 120mm fan onto the GPU heatsink and it is actually cooling enough, but I know that it is not future proof.

My friend had a Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 laying around unused, which I have bought from him. But when I install the 7950 with dual 6-pin PCI-e extra power, as soon as I turn on the power the PSU emits a high pitch noise. The computer POST's and I can go to the BIOS menu and even boot to Windows 10, but the noise is headache-inducing and I'm pretty sure the PSU is not liking it very much.

I'm pretty sure the PSU is good enough powered, but hey why don't I ask the trusty people at SuperUser. I don't have an extra +500W PSU laying around to test with, which would be the correct way, and as the whole rig is so old, I don't think I'm gonna buy a new PSU for it. I guess I just want your expertise on how bad the noise problem is for the PSU and if there is any setting or anything that I can do to remove the noise problem and make sure everything is stable.

Update 1 It's pretty unstable and sometimes just turns off. When it does this, I cannot start it from the power button. I have to turn off the power supply, wait some seconds and then turn it on again. Something's not right ... If I try to change BIOS settings and then save, it immediately turns off!

Update 2 Okay... Put in the old GeForce again, and it's also being killed. This time round Windows boot time. FFS, I need a new PSU! Any suggestions on what would be good for this old machine, but with regards to if I'm going to build a new rig, I could use the same PSU?

My rig (stand back, please...):

  • Cabinet: Antec Sonata II
  • PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA-500D 500W -
    • DC Max outputs: +5V 24A; +3,3V 24A; +12V1 22A; +12V2 22A; -12V 0,9A; +5VSB 2,5A
    • Max load: +5V, 3,3V: 130W; +12V1, +12V2: 408W
  • Motherboard: Asus P5KC - https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5KC/
  • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3000 MHz Wolfdale
  • RAM: 2x Corsair 2GB 800MHz DDR2 CM2X2048-6400C5DHX XMS2-6400 1,8V 5-5-5-18
  • GPU: Zotac GeForce 8800GT Amp! edition 512MB DDR3 HDCP OC SPDIF D/D/TV
  • GPU (new): Sapphire AMD Radeon HD7950 3GB GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/Dual mini * DisplayPort - P/N 299-1E207-000SA - SKU# 11196-00
  • Storage:
    • 256 GB SSD Samsung 840Pro
    • 250 GB HDD Western Digitial WD Caviar SE WD2500 SATA
    • 1000 GB HDD Samsung HD103SJ - S/N S246J90B856915 SATA

GeForce 8800GT with hacked-on 120mm fan :D Radeon 7950 Antec 500W PSU

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    @SvendK - Your PSU is over a decade old. Time to replace the unit based on the new information you have provided.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 14:29
  • @Ramhound - You are right. Update 2: Also unstable with old GeForce GPU. New PSU needed. FML... :-/
    – SvendK
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 14:33
  • Thanks all for your input.
    – SvendK
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 14:33
  • Hardware recommendations are out of scope. Questions seeking a hardware recommendations is subject to be closed
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 14:36

1 Answer 1

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It's pretty unstable and sometimes just turns off. When it does this, I cannot start it from the power button. I have to turn off the power supply, wait some seconds and then turn it on again. Something's not right ... If I try to change BIOS settings and then save, it immediately turns off!

Your PSU was manufactured in 2007 and is currently over a decade old. Electronics do not last forever, the additional draw with the new card, likely killed and already unstable unit.

Any suggestions on what would be good for this old machine, but with regards to if I'm going to build a new rig, I could use the same PSU?

Any compatible 500 Watt PSU can be used. Your current PSU is broken, you will be unable to use the same unit, on your new build.

Just replace the unit and call it a day.

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