[Toups]

So I upgraded my videocard recently (thanks Sarsamis!) and when I installed it, my USB mouse doesn't work. It doesn't matter what port I plug it into -- the front or the rear. It works for about 2 seconds then just stops. Device manager says it's working properly. The only thing I think might have happened is that I didn't plug one of the internal connections in properly when I put the motherboard back in, or maybe I damaged one of the cables?? Is there any way the videocard could have directly caused this?

help :(
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[Broco]

Weird. How are other USB devices doing? Does the mouse work properly on other computers?

Now that IRQ autodetection is practically flawless, there aren't a lot of ways that a video card could possibly interfere with a USB device. And the fact that the mouse works temporarily indicates it's probably not a problem with the wiring. The best conjecture that comes to mind right now is that your power supply is being pushed to its limit by the new video card and can't supply enough power to the USB ports. That's just a wild guess, though.

[Toups]

[Toups]

Oh dear lord. Apparently this card needs a minimum of 450W. My PSU is only 420W.

:(
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[Broco]

Yeah, it sounds likely then. Maybe you could ask somebody with a multimeter to test it first to make sure before buying another though.

I encountered similar USB device flakiness due to not enough power with my last laptop, which is why that came to mind. I solved the problem by getting a self-powered USB hub. In your case though it is probably eventually going to lead to crashes and things as well though.

[Talbain]

[rabite gets whacked!]

Hey, I'm gonna piggieback the computer thread!

I'm doing a build right now; my exhaust fan has a 4-pin molex (male and female), while my intake fan's got a 3-pin (female) connector that'd go right into sys_fan on the motherboard. I've got an adapter that looks like this:

(3 pin female)>>[yellow wire]>>(3 pin male)>>[black/red wires]>>(4 pin molex male)>>[yellow/black/black/red wires]>>(4 pin molex female)

can I use this thing to power/control both fans from the sys_fan on the motherboard? Or should I just plug the exhaust straight into the PSU and have it blowing all the time?
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[Talbain]

Take a picture please?
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[shnozlak]

[rabite gets whacked!]

There. So could I plug the first into the motherboard, the second into the intake, and one of those molexes into the exhaust? Can the mobo produce that much power? and is it wired right to do that?
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[Toups]

[sarsamis]

There'd be no difference in size between a 500W PSU and a 550-800W one. Possibly even higher than that. I just know that the 1000W and over ones can be bulky.

For reference, I have a slightly beefier build than yours and am using a 550W. Like I said last night, that 450W estimate is probably made with a dual-core system with an integrated sound card and such. I know you have a quad, and I'm gonna assume you got a sound card since you're into the music scene and all that, so it might be possible that your requirement is actually a little above 500W, but probably under 550 still.

I still think you should try lurking around on PC forums and maybe calling EVGA to see if the problem's common. Can't hurt.

[Toups]

I actually haven't purchased my sound card yet. Could the video card still be drawing too much power directly from the mobo even if it's not plugged into the PSU?
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[Toups]

perhaps more pertinent: should I decide to upgrade my PSU (and, at this point, why the hell not -- assuming that's the problem, of course), how much more wattage should I get?
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[manmachine plays jazz]

you should plug the graphics card into the PSU, that plug probably runs the fan and your card could be damaged without it.

[Toups]

the fan runs without it, and graphics card automatically lowers its performance if its not being powered.
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[Panoptic]

Note that the performance is reduced to avoid damage to the card and your motherboard long enough so you can turn the system off and plug the thing in; it's not meant to be a permanent fix.

[manmachine plays jazz]

yeah

it's not going to kill your PSU if you plug it in, so plug it in.

[Toups]

yeah I shut it down immediately when the problem wasn't resolved.

so, if I put the old videocard back in and the USB works again, does that mean it's a power issue? is there possibly anything else that could cause this?
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[BIGJ420COOLDUDE]

yeah it sounds like a power issue to me

hope my stock supply can handle when i upgrade:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8850712

[BIGJ420COOLDUDE]

also i'm not sure how many psu's you're gonna find for a matx case

unless your case has room for an atx supply which happens sometimes.

[Toups]

the case is pretty small :(
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[Toups]

according to the comments thread on newegg for my case, standard ATX power supplies will fit, but will limit what kind of optical drives you can fit in there. thankfully my dvd drive (lite-on) is notably shallower than most, so it should be fine.

how much wattage would y'all recommend?
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[BIGJ420COOLDUDE]

use an online wattage calculator

heres one
http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

there are better ones out there too!

[Toups]

that one doesn't even include this videocard on it. nvidia 9600GT. when I selected the 8600, it told me I need 423 watts, so it looks like maybe that's the problem. I dunno. when I used this other one, it only said 249...

this looks like the only PSU that would fit and give me an appreciable wattage boost:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709011

it's cheap, and only has one SATA connector, but looks okay otherwise. anything notably wrong with it?
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[Touran]

650 will cover whatever you need.

And don't skimp on this Toups getting a cheap PSU will come back to haunt you every time.

You would have to get a new PSU if you ever decided to get another hard drive at any rate, so shoot for something better.

PS: You can calculate this stuff yourself if you are so inclined.

EDIT: Oh yeah, PSU's don't operate any where near 100%, so you actually aren't going to be getting whatever the thing is rated at in power. So give yourself a bit of a cushion.
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Man, I'm sorry.

[Toups]

[Felix]

you should've gotten a qpack 2 =(

[Toups]

[Touran]

That thing has to run pretty hot.

If it can fit ATX PSU's then you shouldn't have to worry about the size.
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Man, I'm sorry.

[Toups]

[Kappuru]

did you power supply come with the case? if so, your "500w" one is more like a 300, trust me. See Dynex brand power supplies for what I'm talking about.

Get an Antec or Thermaltake one.
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[Panoptic]

Note that Thermaltake's 430 watt PSU is actually a re-badged 350 watt unit. I actually used to own one though - did the job really well for $30 if you didn't need too much power.

Either way, suggesting Corsair's 650w unit ITT, which is actually a re-badged Seasonic.

[Toups]

well, I put in the old video card just now and still had the same problem (and, I even went ahead and restored other minor changes -- I put back in a broken wireless card that I removed, and removed the q-connector for the front panel connections, just to be sure. so I think that almost entirely rules out the PSU theory, though after researching it I think it may be worth upgrading anyway. but that's another topic for another time.

also, though it didn't occur to me at the time, the PSU explanation seems unlikely because the mouse is still powered on when plugged in via USB -- it just doesn't work. but the light stays on, so I assume it's still drawing power, right?

so, I think this likely means that maybe something got damaged on the motherboard, orrrrrr there's a slight possibility that there's some weird driver stuff happening with windows. the only reason I suspect this is because I'm using an n-lited version of XP, so that might have caused some erratic behavior like this? I'm going to install an ubuntu disc tomorrow and see if USB devices will work with that. if not, I guess I'll send the motherboard back to the manufacturer. I'm going to spray some compressed air over the whole thing first to make sure it's not just an ill-plaed dust particle somewhere.

any other ideas?
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[Toups]

alright y'all, the mouse works fine in ubuntu. so I guess that means the drivers got fucked somehow? any advice on how to remedy this without doing a full reinstall of windows??

I've already deleted and reinstalled the USB controller drivers. and the mouse drivers, too. maybe I should try uninstalling the videocard drivers?

any BROTIPS? or should I just format and start over.
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[Panoptic]

Have you tried plugging the mouse into a different port?

[Toups]

every port and foreign shore
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[Predator Goose]

I'm assuming that you've already tried this, but just in case you haven't...

Have you checked to see if the mouse will work when in safe mode?

Have you tried to bring up the task manager and kill every non-essential process and seeing if the mouse works then?
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I can no longer shop happily.

[Toups]

I have not thought to do that. In fact, I've kind of forgotten how to boot into safe mode.

I'll give that a shot when I get home. Do y'all still think it's worthwhile to upgrade my PSU anyway?
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[sawtooth]

get a mac lol
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[Toups]