Power supply upgrade fixed my blurries

For years, i have been searching the net tweaking, mucking around with FSX.cfg, overclocking CPU, you name it, i tried it.

I once read something about a graphics card lowering its clock speed when it cant draw enough juice from the PSU (POWER SUPPLY) and always wondered if my PSU was big enough and if it could be a contributing factor to my poor FSX performance. It was about 5-600 watts from memory. No idea of the exact rail stats.

Finally it blew up overseas so i got the opportunity to upgrade the PSU because i had to.

My computer is as follows:

MOBO: Gigabyte B85M

CPU: Pentium G3258 clocked up to about 3.4Ghz (single core, maximum speed for cheap)

RAM: 12 Gb (8 + 4) of DDR3 i think 1600 or maybe 1333

GPU: GTX 560 Ti at standard clock (1 gig of on board memory)

HDD: 2 Solid state drives, with FSX operated on the system drive and large scenery add-ons on the second.

DISPLAY 1680x1050 LCD

Power Supply: Previously Corsair ~500 watt, currently Cooler Master 700 Watt

This single upgrade has enabled my graphics card to run at optimum clock speed, as well as the CPU to run at its overclock speed. Everyone who told me "A PSU WILL EITHER RUN OR NOT RUN YOUR COMPUTER" was wrong. That frustrates me, so this post is to educate and inform others that the PSU is not only able, but actually very likely to have an effect on performance.

Thanks no one. :P

When ever you build a computer you should use this PSU calculator to help gauge what wattage you will need. Also, chose a reputable brand. The PSU is the heart of the system and if it fails it could take the whole PC with it. Hard drives included. So it's very important to have an adequate PSU and a good brand you can trust. I like Antec myself.

http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

all of those calculators seem to tell me im fine with a 340 watt.

For that reason, i dont think they have all the information they need in order to calculate what an FSX rig will use.

all of those calculators seem to tell me im fine with a 340 watt. For that reason, i dont think they have all the information they need in order to calculate what an FSX rig will use.

I suspect your PSU was defective and not putting out enough power on the PCIe power connectors to the video card.

The GTX560Ti will consume a max of 170W; as will my GTX760. I am hard pressed to pull more than 200W from the wall using FSX; assuming 80% PSU efficiency my entire rig is only consuming 160W or so.

Cheers!

Luke

On replacing the PSU. My current one also is on the way out. It has the flow thorough cooling arrangement with the fan exhausting out the backside of the case. I want to upgrade to something around 700W but they all have the cooling fan on the upper/lower surface of the PSU housing.

As long as mount footprint is the same on my case, any reason why one of these newer PSU's could not be used? I presume the fan still intakes from the case interior and exhausts out the backside of the case.

I used to have a my psu at the top with fan on the bottom. Worked great.

The PSU was mounted at the top of the case. So the PSU-Fan was directly above the CPU. It sucked in the hot air, and blew it out the back.

There was a small issue. Problem was not the position of the fan, it would have been the same with a fan at the back of the psu.

Simply put, the air from the computer after 3-4 hours of flying FSX was kind of hot.

I switched the pc off one day and opened the case for something, and I happened to notice the PSU was very hot to the touch.

Overheating is not great for the longevity of the PSU.

There wasn't much I could do, the case simply did not have adequate cooling. All it had was a tiny 8cm intake fan at the front, and the psu functioned as the only exhaust.

I opened the front cover of the extra CD drive slot, and ran the pc. I noticed air was being drawn in through the slot. Meaning the psu blew out air faster then the intake could suck air in.

It helped the cooling only slightly.

I ran the pc for a while with the side cover removed. That was not a great long term solution. I had the pc under the desk, and was afraid at some point I would stretch my legs and inadvertantly kick the cpu-cooler, and kick the pc to shreds.

Plus the noise was a lot louder.

Finaly I decided to man up and spend a few dollars on the issue. Bought a new case.

Not just any case, the Fractal Design - Define R5 Black.

Best hundred plus dollars I ever spent. (Had to live off beans and water for a few weeks to afford it, well worth it.)

It has two 14cm fans included. I set one as intake and one as exhaust.

It has room for, thinking..., 1,2,3,4,5 more I think.

The PSU gets mounted at the bottom of the case.

You can mount a PSU upside down no issue.

But I mounted it with Fan-down.

This case has mesh at the bottom of the case, and the psu draws its air through that, and is therefore drawing in cool air, which cools the psu, and then gets exhausted out the psu at the back. It is completely separate from the other parts of the pc.

Those other parts get cooled just fine by the two 14cm fans of the case.

This setup has reduced the noise significantly. The whining 8cm fan is gone. The PSU is no longer fanning at full blast to try and cool itself with the hot air fro inside, but calmly purrs cooling with cool outside air.

The 14 cm fans are so quiet you sometimes forget the thing is even on.

It has a fan controller built in, so you can make the 14cm fans spin faster when needed. (three settings)

Really, it's the bees knees.

I wrote a thread all about the case here too.

Not what you were asking, I know. But it's in there. A top mounted psu, fan at the bottom, above a cpu, works.

PSU's can be mounted upside down if you want. (as lone as the screw holes permit it, but you can always skip a hole, ore use a drill).

But using a psu as exhaust is not ideal, and drawing hot air into the psu ism't a great idea, as that fan is meant to cool the psu, and not to function as exhaust for the pc.

In case that case interests you:

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r5-black

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?292852-Advise-please-case-Fractal-Design-Define-R5-Black

My pc btw:

GA-Z77-d3h (mainboard)

i5-3570k

8gb Corsair Vengeance Ram

Geforce GT430

Sandisk 256gb SSD (C windows7-64 Home Premium and FSX Accell Box)

Western Digital 1000gb HDD (D,E,F All Data)

Corsair 550 Watt PSU

all in a Define-R5-Black:)