Political Crossfire Forums

[Sid]

I recently got a light that reacts with sound, as well as shines continously. Well, while I have it reacting with sound, if I do something like make my computer load another page in firefox, the light will go off, or dim. I'm wondering if that may be because it is losing the bit of power it needs to run? Could that be the case?

On the other hand, it will shine continuously when I load a page, and I have it set to shine continously. Perhaps the usb connection is more for drawing power, as it also gives the thing signals as to when it is playing a sound? If that's so then I didn't get a notification from windows xp that any new hardware had been installed, which is also weird.


Any thoughts? Strangest thing.

[TheCreepyApostate]

Sid wrote: I recently got a light that reacts with sound, as well as shines continously. Well, while I have it reacting with sound, if I do something like make my computer load another page in firefox, the light will go off, or dim. I'm wondering if that may be because it is losing the bit of power it needs to run? Could that be the case?

On the other hand, it will shine continuously when I load a page, and I have it set to shine continously. Perhaps the usb connection is more for drawing power, as it also gives the thing signals as to when it is playing a sound? If that's so then I didn't get a notification from windows xp that any new hardware had been installed, which is also weird.


Any thoughts? Strangest thing.

Cold cathodes should barely use any power. What are the specs on your power supply and how much crap do you have running off of it?

[Sid]

My power supply is about 350-400 watts (one or the other, I can't remember)

64 mb VC
512 mb ram
1.2 ghz processer
1 HDD
1 CD drive

5 lit fans (I plan on aquiring a motherboard where I can overclock soon)
1 not

1 fan controller

and this new light.

[Gus]

Try hooking it up to a different power plug on a different string of plugs--preferrably on a string that doesn't have much stuff attached to it (or stuff that isn't used often like your CD drive). If that doesn't work, get a bigger power supply. I'd recommend at least 500W since you have so much fancy stuff.

Also, if the problem persists after you change the plug, I'd recommend not using the light until you get a new PS Unit, because the power could be fluctuating to all your other devices too and could potentially cause a hard drive failure.

[Sid]

Gus wrote: Try hooking it up to a different power plug on a different string of plugs--preferrably on a string that doesn't have much stuff attached to it (or stuff that isn't used often like your CD drive). If that doesn't work, get a bigger power supply. I'd recommend at least 500W since you have so much fancy stuff.

Also, if the problem persists after you change the plug, I'd recommend not using the light until you get a new PS Unit, because the power could be fluctuating to all your other devices too and could potentially cause a hard drive failure.

Well, the power supply for this light is usb (since it's supposed to be external) so I can't really choose a different string, but yeah, I think a better PS will be on my list of future purchases. *turns off a few lights as well*

[TheCreepyApostate]

Sid wrote: My power supply is about 350-400 watts (one or the other, I can't remember)

64 mb VC
512 mb ram
1.2 ghz processer
1 HDD
1 CD drive

5 lit fans (I plan on aquiring a motherboard where I can overclock soon)
1 not

1 fan controller

and this new light.

That's plenty for what you have. I have a 450 I've been using for years and I've had way more stuff connected over the years until I ripped everything out for portability. Unless it's dying I don't know why the PS would be the problem. LED fans and Cold Cathodes use virtually no power. Your graphics card isn't even plugged into it so I dunno. It could be a bad connector, try switching it out with a fan for a few seconds and see if it stays on.

[Sid]

It's entirely possible that it's dying, and doesn't the graphics card run off of power supplied from the motherboard?

[TheCreepyApostate]

Sid wrote: It's entirely possible that it's dying, and doesn't the graphics card run off of power supplied from the motherboard?

You can get a really nice one like an Antec Smart Power 500w for $64 on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

[PricklySponge]

FCTE wrote: Sid wrote: It's entirely possible that it's dying, and doesn't the graphics card run off of power supplied from the motherboard?

You can get a really nice one like an Antec Smart Power 500w for $64 on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937
Another nice one he could get is this 430w. I just got it a month or so ago and it works great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023