Computer Upgrade Went Ape!!!!

Hello Everyone, I"ve ran into a problem. I have an emachines w2260 with a 250w power supply.It has an AMD Athlon 1.8 processor. It also has a 64mb integrated chipset for sound and graphics. So I thought I would just upgrade it. I bought an nvidia geforce fx 5200 graphics card, a soundblaster Live LS 5.1 sound card, and 256 of memory for a total of 512 mb. But since I done this, every time my kids want to play certain games the screen turns black and the computer makes a steady and loud static sound. It just quits responding. The only way to turn it off is unplug it. I contacted the maker of the graphics card and I was told that my power supply was the cause and that I need to upgrade to 350w. Could someone PLEASE HELP.

No idea on this issue but good luck and I hope it works out soon for you...someone else here will know this response!

Let's see...
Your power supply IS the cause and you need to upgrade it. http://www.newegg.com is very well priced, you can buy a plain jane psu for real cheap there. I'd recommend getting the most for your buck (so if you see a 450 for 20, but it over the 350 for 18 ), that way if you want to upgrade you'll have more then enough power.

Basically your new video card is starting to suck some major resources when you use it at full capacity. The video card, for instance, may use 100 watts, but like a speaker, it could use as little as 1, or as much as 100. So perchance your children's games are demanding on the video card.

Also, check to make sure your powersupply has air blowing out of the back of it.

//moved to hardware.

Thanks for the info. I'm picking one up tomorrow so stay tuned. I noticed you liked the Exorcist website. Try http://www.jonathan-dark.com/afterlife/index.htm. I think that will work. It's wonderfuly eerie site.Thanks again

did you properly install the nvidia drivers?, and switched from the intergrated to agp ok..

im just saying....but i bet b_heyer is correct, this is just a possability

I think so. Most of the games with just one disk play just fine, but the ones with 3 or 4 cause my problem.

hahaha i guess this was salved fast... <:] anyways .. nvidia.com shud have the drivers for ya if u need : p
or the cd following the card ..
but i bet its the power : p

Well I upgraded my power supply from a 250w to a 350w and my internet sped up,but my games became worse. I contacted the graphics card manufacturer and they told me my motherboard might not support the card. I'm gonna take the card back and pickup a radeon card. If this doesn't work I'm gonna play BAM BAM on it. Everything works just fine except the games. Since I put the new power source in,the games doesn't seem to respond. I'm just dumb founded.

Argh ... didn think of that .. !. .. yea.. the motherboard might need upgrate.. i sugest abit : p i dont know i aint the best at this but i know basics i gues..
u gota make sure yer motherbord is compateble to all the stuff u got ehe... boys ? .. girls ? .. .. Abit ? .. : p

I changed the nvidia card to a radeon 9200 and after all of my trouble I find out that my Windows XP isn't recognizing the cards primary driver. I was told my only chance of hope is to reload my Windows XP all over again. I really don't want to restore my system. If anyone has any ideas, please help.

You need to just get a better computer. You really can't do much about trying to update a motherboard that will save you money. You usually will want/need to upgrade your processor too then.

PS: You don't need a wicked graphics card unless they are playing pretty intensive games. And if they are, they can probably help you out.....lol.

The kicker is I found out that Windows XP isn't recognizing the primary driver for the graphic card. This is the third time I've tried to install a card and finally I found out what the problem is. I could take a chance and install windows again to see if that would work, but the chances are very slim. So now I'm gonna check out http://www.cyberpowerinc.com and find the perfect computer. If anyone has anymore ideas please let me know and save me a little money.