New graphics card new problems, Nvidia GT 710 2GB

I got a new GPU from amazon for about 30$
So I got a ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 2GB PCIe x16 2.0
Put it in my computer and i immediately had problems
First problem
Computer wouldn't turn on.
Kept cycling on and off repeatedly... so I turned my computer off by unplugging it.
And this time I unplugged the hard drive to see if my computer would boot without it.

worked but i noticed the bios got completely reset. so i had to manually plug the hard drive back in while the computer was on and change the bios settings to enable hard drive controller1 and some other settings like virtualization and speedstep (now it boots up fine without cycling on and off or needing the hard drive unplugged? I guess the capacitors needed to be charged for the first time and they were never primed or tested?)

A restart and windows won't boot past windows startup logo (Forgot to disable integrated graphics driver)
so i boot into safe mode and uninstall it. let it install VGA drivers
Now ive got the driver installed from the nvidia website (without the 3D vision or HDMI audio drivers and other things i wont be using)

i installed PhysX though
but now I get random display driver crashes IF DWM/AERO is turned on (i made a seperate partition and never had any crashes on a windows XP 64-install

It crashes and successfully recovers.. Sometimes its when opening a game. right clicking my desktop to bring up context menu. or opening a new tab. pausing a youtube video. Playing a really long youtube video.

but it doesnt crash with DWM/AERO turned off. at all ever. instead I get lots of crackly audio on youtube (IF) my taskbar is showing and not "hidden"
but I open my start menu with the taskbar showing and it stops the crackling audio. And hovering over a link to make a extended text bubble appear makes the audio start crackling as well (this doesnt happen if DWM/AERO is on)

so I have two choices. random driver crashes and recovers.. or crackly audio doing certain things.

Ive tried the drivers from the CD/DVD and NVIDIA's drivers and theres no difference.

it also doesnt make a different if i underclock my CPU and GPU to the lowest they can go. or overclock them to the highest they can go.

(I also even tried raising my PSU voltage with the potentiometer adjustment dial with a micro precision screwdriver) so from 11.91v to 12.09v and my -12v and 5v and +12v are locked to the same dial. so I got 5.17V for 5v (within spec below 5.25v) And it helped my CPU overclock a tiny bit more (50mhz more) but nothing else changed besides that to be honest. its a very old computer (One of the voltage adjustment knobs don't seem to do anything at all.. seems broken. none of the voltages change when i adjust it. so only the main pot does anything)

For some reason even with DWM/aero off or on. I dont get any crashes during playing a game of any kind. (only when I go to start a game like clicking the .exe occasionally i'll get a crash but it usually doesnt make the game crash and i can just ignore it)

The audio crackling thing happens no matter how I play audio from my computer.. USB. bluetooth wireless adapter.. USB headset. 3.5mm jack front or rear. happens anyways. but only when DWM/AERO is disabled.. Happens if I watch 144p to 1080p60FPS videos or even playing audio in WMP or VLC
Sometimes even when playing games.. although gameplay isnt affected.

Surprisingly the GPU can overclock by huge amounts and still need no voltage adjustment and be stable no visual artifacts or glitches.
up to 1200mhz core and 1200mhz memory without any voltage change. almost a shear 50% increase in both memory and core.. And FPS.

Stock is 954mhz core and 800mhz memory.
And the temp barely rises by even 5*C when overclocked this much. so I flashed the bios to be permanently overclocked to 1200 and 1200 and its been fine no change in stability.
temp is only 55*C under 100% load for several hours (no fan but it still stays cool good)

Hi,
Are you still using a 220w power supply ?
This card requires a minimum of 300w
GeForce GT 710 | Specifications | GeForce

I saw another one on Newegg that says the same thing,
ZOTAC Synergy Edition GeForce GT 610 DirectX 11 ZT-60601-10L 2GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card-Newegg.com

You'll be fine with 250W. 300W for GT 710/610, and GT 620/720 is overkill. 220W is holding it back because your computer doesn't have enough to supply power to your Graphics Card.

That's good news. However, we do NOT know if the power supply on pre-built computers are even good enough to supply juice. (The 80+ Rating should be ignored because it's all about the quality.)

Hi,
The free upgrade to 10 has expired :)

realflow100 said:

My computer only uses about 10-12 amps maximum under full GPU and CPU load with my hard drive cranking (tested by using a 400 watt power inverter in which a 200 watt vacuum cleaner takes 20-22 amps at 12v inverting up to 120v AC 2 amps
The computer barely takes half of that amount of power/amps/wattage when at full max load.

And thats less than 200 watts in total.. I dont understand how it could be faulting..

Not sure about your testing methodology and I don't really understand how you did it, but AC current does not equal DC current. When the voltage goes down, the current increases for the same load. A current measurement inside the PC will be very different from one based on what is used at the wall socket. You could easily be exceeding the power rating of the PSU on one of its rails. Presto! Crashing.

Add to that the fact that OEM power supplies are not that good to start with. From experience with this forum, it would seem that many of them have trouble meeting their rated power output, and that is when they are brand new. As a power supply ages, the amount of power it can provide diminishes. What was once a 220W supply can now become a 180W power supply if you factor aging capacitors into the equation. Any supply should only be operated at 90% of rated output power, maximum, anyway.

@ realflow100

All the measurements you have made mean nothing.
Forget about all the charts and graphs.
You asked for help and it was given.
Upgrading your power supply is the first step.
I say first step for a reason. Don't assume their is only one problem that needs dealing with.

So now you can clean install 10 and all your problems will be solved