Vega64 PSU recommendation

Associate
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
756
I have just got a brand new Seasonic GX650 as a replacement for my Focus+ under RMA (Focus+ had a manufacturing issue that caused it to trip when it shouldn't) and I am still tripping the PSU when the graphics card causes power spikes.

AMD recommend a 750w for this, but I was told a 650w that is decent quality would be enough. Well, it's not lol. Soon as a fancy effect(like an explosion) occurs on my screen, the screen goes black, fans hit 100% and it requires a hard reset.

Before anyone suggests it could be my GPU, it's not. If I limit my GPU power draw so that it only pulls 150-180, this never happens (been running like this for 2 weeks waiting for RMA replacement). Even if I force the GPU to run at throttling temperature it's not happening.

So I am after a PSU that is more than enough for this GPU and any future GPUs I may get, preferably overkill.

Can someone spec me a 850w-1000w PSU for the following:

  • Vega64
  • Ryzen 2700x
  • x2 Crucial MX500
  • x1 3TB Western Digital Green
  • Some corsair AIO I forget the model of
Looking for it to be between £150-200. I'll sell on this GX650 to recuperate the cost.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
12 Jul 2005
Posts
20,484
Location
Aberlour, NE Scotland
Before you go buying anything how are you powering the Vega64? Is it from a pair of seperate pci-e leads or from a single lead with the pair of daisy chained connectors? If it's the latter then switching to a pair of seperate leads may cure this problem as it did for many other people when vega came out. If it doeasn't fix it then the Corsair RM850 is a very good psu and a steal at it's current price.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2008
Posts
11,616
Location
Finland
still tripping the PSU when the graphics card causes power spikes.

Soon as a fancy effect(like an explosion) occurs on my screen, the screen goes black, fans hit 100% and it requires a hard reset.
PSU's protections aren't getting triggered:
In that situation PSU would shut down completely and your PC wouldn't make even a beep untill you power cycle PSU to clear that "error state".

That's some kind hard crashed state.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
756
Before you go buying anything how are you powering the Vega64? Is it from a pair of seperate pci-e leads or from a single lead with the pair of daisy chained connectors? If it's the latter then switching to a pair of seperate leads may cure this problem as it did for many other people when vega came out. If it doeasn't fix it then the Corsair RM850 is a very good psu and a steal at it's current price.

2 separate cables.

That's some kind hard crashed state.

It's not hard crashed though. I can still hear audio, skip music etc etc. Everything is still running. The behaviour I am describing is the same behaviour that others have experienced with this card during power spikes, my particular PSU (Focus+) was known to have a problem with the fail safes tripping when it didn't have to (I believe it was set to tight?).

If I reduce the cards power load (put power limit to -15%) this never happens.

In that situation PSU would shut down completely and your PC wouldn't make even a beep untill you power cycle PSU to clear that "error state"

Well that sucks. In that case I am not sure what to do, I am not inclined to blame the card, as it runs flawlessly if I reduce the power draw. A new PSU is not expensive and will last the life of another 1-2 builds, so I am prepared to rule it out.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2008
Posts
11,616
Location
Finland
It's not hard crashed though. I can still hear audio, skip music etc etc. Everything is still running.
So it's some kind graphics card/its driver crash.
Or maybe image output stopping for some reason.
Could try changing monitor connection to another output just to change variables.
Vega 64 isn't anymore any new card, so who knows if something in it has degraded.

And check Event viewer and Reliability history for any errors coinciding with disappearance of image.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
756
Vega 64 isn't anymore any new card, so who knows if something in it has degraded.

Afraid not. As far as I remember, this card has always done this. I just never came across it frequently as my day to day games were things such as Terraria, Minecraft and Heroes of the Storm. So nothing that would heavily tax this GPU. I have recently started playing new titles, hence why I've sorta raised it more of a persistent problem than random event like I assumed it was in the past.

So it's some kind graphics card/its driver crash.
And check Event viewer and Reliability history for any errors coinciding with disappearance of image.

Could this be due to lack of power delivery? The GPU can run perfect without allowing it to draw massive amounts of power. If I reduce the graphics down in games, it never occurs. It occurs every time without fail whenever something on the screen suddenly happens, like an explosion. Again, if I limit the power draw, this doesn't happen (but I lose FPS, a lot).

Could try changing monitor connection to another output just to change variables.

Already tried this, was the first thing I tried :D.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jan 2006
Posts
2,524
My Vega was rock solid on RM850X, RM850 is pretty much the same spec, have one of those also in a different system. I think it skips braided cables and other unnecassary 'features'.
Either of those should be more than fine.

The card by default is limited to 250W unless you have the liquid cooled version so shouldn't be causing an issue with a 2700X.
If you maxed the power slider then it can take up to +50% power, that may be enough to challenge a 650W PSU with transient loads as the card can pull close to 400W maxed. Unlikely the cooling will cope but enough to cause a crash.

Vega performance is actually way better with an undervolt, then it should be nowhere near 250W power limit.
From the factory the voltage is way high so it hits the power limit and throttles, the 64 is really bad for this hence why the 56 can often perform nearly as well.
However if you undervolt ~ 1.1V, perhaps a little lower, from memory you should be able to run at ~1600+Mhz core continuously without hitting any power throttling.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
756
My Vega was rock solid on RM850X, RM850 is pretty much the same spec, have one of those also in a different system. I think it skips braided cables and other unnecassary 'features'.
Either of those should be more than fine.

The card by default is limited to 250W unless you have the liquid cooled version so shouldn't be causing an issue with a 2700X.
If you maxed the power slider then it can take up to +50% power, that may be enough to challenge a 650W PSU with transient loads as the card can pull close to 400W maxed. Unlikely the cooling will cope but enough to cause a crash.

Vega performance is actually way better with an undervolt, then it should be nowhere near 250W power limit.
From the factory the voltage is way high so it hits the power limit and throttles, the 64 is really bad for this hence why the 56 can often perform nearly as well.
However if you undervolt ~ 1.1V, perhaps a little lower, from memory you should be able to run at ~1600+Mhz core continuously without hitting any power throttling.

So I currently have it set to 1075 on P6/P7 and +50% power limit. It pulls 220-250 during gaming, but it's obviously much higher during spikes. I remember the first day I got the card and seen the stupid voltage/heat numbers on the factory setup.
My version is the RedDevil, so it's actually got a better aircooler than other cards except the Nitro.

It's also worth noting that even with the preset "Turbo" mode in the AMD software, this issue still occurs.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jan 2006
Posts
2,524
So I currently have it set to 1075 on P6/P7 and +50% power limit. It pulls 220-250 during gaming, but it's obviously much higher during spikes. I remember the first day I got the card and seen the stupid voltage/heat numbers on the factory setup.
My version is the RedDevil, so it's actually got a better aircooler than other cards except the Nitro.

It's also worth noting that even with the preset "Turbo" mode in the AMD software, this issue still occurs.


Seems like you have it pretty well dialed in. Either a faulty card or needs a bigger PSU.
As above, RM850X / RM850 should be easily capable. My 'stock' card was fitted with a water block, never had any power issues with the RM850X
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
756
Thanks for the input everyone!

I know there is still a chance my card could be faulty, unfortunately this machine is also my work machine (independent contractor) and PowerColors process is 6-8 weeks and they won't advance me a temporary card. So this is the cheapest, fastest way for me to possibly solve it. I would rather remove all the variables before I deem my card ******. It's also out of warranty, and they have specified if it does need repairs and it can be repaired, I would be footing the bill. Not sure what could possibly be wrong with it that they can repair to be honest, normally when these things are busted they get tossed in the bin anyway.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Sep 2003
Posts
10,002
Location
Newcastle, UK
Sounds very similar when my old PSU was on its last legs with my old Vega64. I starting getting black screens, but stuff was still working. Music, game play, etc. And the issues slowly manifested from gaming into normal Windows usage. Went with the easier option (replaced the PSU as it was 10 years old after all). And struck lucky. It was the PSU. Vega64 was working just fine with new 1300W PSU, and still is to this day (albeit with my brother). My old PSU was 850W and worked fine with the Vega64 and its power requirements (as mentioned, undervolt for the win). Hope this helps. :)
 
Associate
Joined
14 Sep 2015
Posts
449
Location
Scotland
Thanks for the input everyone!

I know there is still a chance my card could be faulty, unfortunately this machine is also my work machine (independent contractor) and PowerColors process is 6-8 weeks and they won't advance me a temporary card. So this is the cheapest, fastest way for me to possibly solve it. I would rather remove all the variables before I deem my card ******. It's also out of warranty, and they have specified if it does need repairs and it can be repaired, I would be footing the bill. Not sure what could possibly be wrong with it that they can repair to be honest, normally when these things are busted they get tossed in the bin anyway.

Just for a bit more info for you - I'm running a Sapphire Nitro+ Vega 64 on a EVGA SuperNOVA G2 850w and it's been rock solid. Other system specs are: 3900x on full AIO, x570 Asrock Taichi motherboard, 2x SSDs, 1 x M.2 NVME.
 
Associate
Joined
2 Jul 2016
Posts
459
i had the same thing with a focus when I bought my Vega 64, there was a product recall on them but it only affected PSUs manufactured before jan 2018. I bought mine on the 2nd jan so it must have been older stock

https://www.bit-tech.net/news/tech/psus/seasonic-warns-of-focus-plus-psu-compatibility-issues/1/

I wonder if the gx Seasonic GX650 has the same problems.

Seasonic RMA to their credit were brilliant and sent a replacement and labels to ship the old one back to them. I think I swapped the replacement for a EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 with a friend and had no issues running it with that.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,505
I came to this forum for the exact same reason Gibbo3771 with the same graphics card.

- Vega64 Sapphire Nitro
- If I put the GPU under a some loads it will crash to black, fans go 100%.
- Sometimes it will be fine for days and then random games will make to crash. COD Warzone, old games like Rome Total War II.
- If I run something like a GPU password cracker it will crash instantly.
- Sometimes I keep hearing music just like you - after t has 'crashed'
- I have a 750w PSU and I was coming here to buy a new one. Current PSU is about 5 years old so I thought it was that (EVGA supernova 750w)
- I often had error messages like power trip protection but even with this disabled it still happens.
- I have had a new Mobo and CPU and it still happens so I can push that out of the equation.

My card has done it for years, throughmany different drivers.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,505
Thanks for the input everyone!

I know there is still a chance my card could be faulty, unfortunately this machine is also my work machine (independent contractor) and PowerColors process is 6-8 weeks and they won't advance me a temporary card. So this is the cheapest, fastest way for me to possibly solve it. I would rather remove all the variables before I deem my card ******. It's also out of warranty, and they have specified if it does need repairs and it can be repaired, I would be footing the bill. Not sure what could possibly be wrong with it that they can repair to be honest, normally when these things are busted they get tossed in the bin anyway.

Did a new PSU fix it?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,505
the vega64 has hungry spikes which can crash your sys .. i like many others run a 850w psu with separate cables .. i'm on a evga 850 ...

yeah I have a decent 750w but seeing as Gibbo has the exact same issue as me I wanna see if he had luck with a new PSU

If so i'll go for an 850

I run separate cables also
 
Back
Top Bottom