Do I need a new PSU?

Bobo888

Bobo888

Bobo888

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5 Aug 2011
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I built a PC around september last year with a 3770k in it, which I overclocked to 4.7ghz. It was completely stable until recently when I started getting occasional BSODs, program crashes, windows explorer locking up etc.

My first thought was memory but it survived 4 hours of memtest.

All the crash dump analysis pointed towards a driver issue so I figured reinstall of my OS would be the easiest solution, however my PC eventually froze and programs were still crashing

I then ran prime95 and it failed it instantly ( I hadn't suspected my overclock up until this point as it passed intel burn test).

So I increased the voltage to try and get it stable but it still isn't even with an extra 0.04 volts.

So my only idea now is maybe the cheap psu I had to get a few years ago is dieing.

It's an iCute that I had to get from a terrible shop in an emergency.

It is rated at 700w and has 2 12v rails each with 20a and is just over 2 years old.

I'm running quite a lot in my PC: 3770k at 4.7ghz, EVGA 660ti SC, 8x12cm fans, water cooling pump, 4 hard drives, optical drive.

I think the PSU must have been struggling all along and has now lost just enough power that it can no longer cope.

Does this sound likely and if so can anyone recommend a reasonably priced PSU which has enough power and is modular?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post :)
 
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You do need a new PSU, Icute are of a very poor quality and would be my first school of thought as to whats causing the issue.

Does the thermal paste between the CPU and water block need renewing?

Download and run MEMtest for the RAM to see if that's error free.

Also do me a favour and edit out the competitor name.
 
Start by getting a decent psu and work from there. 700w and only 2 x 20a 12v lines is pretty bad.

You would be surprised how many problems can be caused by a poor PSU.
 
Thanks for confirming my suspicions guys. I'll get a new psu ordered today.

I will re-apply the thermal past and clean out the radiator when I fit the new psu.

I ran memtest for 4 hours and it found no errors so hopefully the ram is ok.
 
Just installed my new psu and it's still failing OCCT after 10 minutes even with more volts than it used to need to be stable. Please someone help me diagnose the problem. :(
 
I went for an Akasa Venom 850w as it was just under my budget of £100 and gold rated. http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?t...plies&type_sub=Performance&model=AK-PA085AM03

I've done some more research and found that overclocks can become unstable overtime due to cpu degredation etc. I've knock my OC down from 4.7 to 4.5 and it's lasted for 30 minutes of occt so far, I know that it could fail any minute but it's progress.
 
Bobo888 said:
Just installed my new psu and it's still failing OCCT after 10 minutes even with more volts than it used to need to be stable. Please someone help me diagnose the problem. :(
Click to expand...

Full system specs. and voltages used to get 4.5/4.7, are needed to help you.
 
Ok sorry
I should have posted full info.

Gigabyte Z77x-UD3H Mobo
3770k was running at 4.7ghz with 1.27 volts, base clock 100mhz and multi of 47
Voltage was set as an offset of +.08 with boost enabled

Is now on 4.5ghz at 1.27 volts without boost enabled and has been running occt for 2 hours without error

4x4gb Patriot black mamba running at stock settings, 1600mhz

Not sure what other specifics are required
 
Haha I guess I was lucky to have 4.7ghz on 1.27 running at all. I'm wondering if it was because of the lower winter temperatures that it worked.

I've been running 4.5 at 1.27 volts all weekend without error. I'm kind of said that I'm not on 4.7 anymore though.
 
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