Could my PSU be causing these problems?

Restorer · 17 May 2010 at 18:24

I'd be grateful if for opinions on this one (6 month old system in sig). I am about to receive my second pair of replacement DDR. Problems seemed to start a few weeks ago when I replaced the stock cooler with the Titan Fenrir and had to start using the blue memory slots. Immediately system failed to boot. One stick failed Memtest. The other stick passed memtest but not prime95 Blend which crashed straight away. Both sticks replaced and same happened again within 24 hours.

Before I return this third lot of new memory to the case, I really want to know if my PSU is up to the job and whether it could actually be causing RAM to go bad? I don't know much about power units but this did get decent reviews on this site and I was looking to spend under £60 thinking 500W would be enough.

Is there a way to test? I have swapped out with friend's 650w Corsair but I couldn't tell any difference.

If I do need to up the wattage, could you recommend reasonably quiet budget models?

RJC · 17 May 2010 at 18:44

I would say your PSU is upto the job, whether the unit is faulty it would be hard to say. My uncle had a problem with his pc and turned out to be the psu. Failing mem test and stability testing.

Is there a possibility of borrowing a psu for few days with the new memory in.

Restorer · 17 May 2010 at 19:48

RJC said:
I would say your PSU is upto the job, whether the unit is faulty it would be hard to say. My uncle had a problem with his pc and turned out to be the psu. Failing mem test and stability testing.

Is there a possibility of borrowing a psu for few days with the new memory in.

The 650w unit is always in use but I do have an old 400w unit I could try in. However, I'm not sure what this would achieve. If mine is a faulty unit that is damaging the memory, wouldn't the old one work fine and then wouldn't it just happen again when I put the Akasa back in?

Maybe I should just play safe and order another unit. Blowing memory sticks just to prove it's the PSU doesn't seem the way forward.

Would a PSU be able to damage DDR just because it is under-powered?

Restorer · 18 May 2010 at 18:47

Been looking at the Ocuk range. The higher powered ones seem remarkably well priced. Is there a downside to this budget range? Are the noisy? Less reliable?

Shakeel · 18 May 2010 at 19:04

Restorer said:
Been looking at the Ocuk range. The higher powered ones seem remarkably well priced. Is there a downside to this budget range? Are the noisy? Less reliable?

a budget range is bad idea becuase it most likely to fail compared to someone like corsair or antec.

never skimp on the psu as it couldtake out your other parts too if it blows

Restorer · 18 May 2010 at 19:37

Shakeel said:
a budget range is bad idea becuase it most likely to fail compared to someone like corsair or antec.

never skimp on the psu as it couldtake out your other parts too if it blows

Thanks for the advice. It's just the budget ones seem to offer dual 12v rail. I would be happy to pay the extra for say the Corsair tx650w. But this only has a single rail. The top brand dual rails really are out of my range.

To my simple mind dual rail means a lot better cos it spreads the load x 2? Can someone explain?

Oh, also nobody has answered my question: can the fact that a PSU is underpowered in itself cause RAM to fail or would it have to actually blow to cause that?