Is my PSU starting to fail

brucey034 · 27 Sep 2012 at 15:09

Hi all,
I have my i5 2500k overclocked to 4.6ghz and it runs prime 95 stable for 48hrs.

The VTX 7970 I have is set at stock.

The problem I am having is when I load up Max Payne 3 the system crashes and restarts, no BSOD, it's as if someone turned off the power.

I have swapped out the 7970 for an old 2900xt that I have and the computer still does the same.

All other games and software run fine including BF3 on ultra settings.

When Max Payne launches I can hear a noise that sounds like an old dial up modem, it appears to be coming from the psu.

If I remove the overclock the noise is still there when launching Max Payne but the game will play.

The psu I have is an OCZ 780w modxstream and its just over three years old.

Is it possible my psu is on its last legs ?
Any help much appreciated.

dunn2010 · 27 Sep 2012 at 15:22

Dosent seem like it to me. every other aspect of running pc does not cause issue. take overclock off. issue no longer exists seems like the game is causing the PC to shut itself off for whatever reason.

tried reinstalling the game?

brucey034 · 27 Sep 2012 at 15:30

dunn2010 said:
Dosent seem like it to me. every other aspect of running pc does not cause issue. take overclock off. issue no longer exists seems like the game is causing the PC to shut itself off for whatever reason.

tried reinstalling the game?

Hi, The game is on steam, I will uninstall it and download it again, worth a shot, thanks.

Forgot to mention I am running three samsung F1 hard drives and an Intel 120gb ssd, as well as a Asus essence st sound card.

I wondered with the overclock on is it possible my system is trying to draw too much power from the psu ?

Speed · 27 Sep 2012 at 15:35

Try a "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" first. Right click on the game in the Steam library > Properties > Local Files tab and then the option should be the third one down.

However it is more likely to be the overclock as removing it seems to solve the problem. Some games are more sensitive to overclocks than others, so it is possible your overclock is not 100% stable. Run LinX, All Memory and see if it is stable, HWMonitor in the background to keep an eye on temps and voltages. Download link to LinX here.

With regards to the noise, that is likely coil whine or similar.

brucey034 · 27 Sep 2012 at 15:46

Speed said:
Try a "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" first. Right click on the game in the Steam library > Properties > Local Files tab and then the option should be the third one down.

Some games are more sensitive to overclocks than others, so it is possible your overclock is not 100% stable. Run LinX, All Memory and see if it is stable, HWMonitor in the background to keep an eye on temps and voltages.

With regards to the noise, that is likely coil whine or similar.

Hi, Thanks for the advice.
I have already tried the verify integrity of game cache and defrag of game files and the pc was still crashing.

Funny thing is I have tried different levels of overclock, ie 4.0 ghz and 3.8 ghz,
It appears that anything over stock and Max Payne 3 crashes the pc.

Thanks for the LinX link, I will go and give that a try. Thanks again.

brucey034 · 28 Sep 2012 at 09:09

Quick update, I ran LinX for 50 times using all memory, no issues.

Over night I downloaded Max Payne 3 again through steam, started it up this morning and it crashed the pc at the loading screen, so I think I am safe to assume that Max Payne is just exactly that, a max pain.

sadbuttrue · 28 Sep 2012 at 09:38

The noise you hear at start of Max Payne is probably coil whine. This is more likely to occur when a card runs at 1000+fps during a loading screen.

I suspect you need to increase memory/vtt/imc voltages. In my experience a sudden random reboot on an otherwise stable system is caused by the memory. Overclocking will put more stress on memory, hence the issues there.

brucey034 · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:38

Just a quick update.
I took the plunge and replaced my OCZ psu with The XFX 850w black edition.
No more crashes in Max Payne 3 when overclocked, and computer is running a lot quieter.
Im one happy chappy.
Thanks again to all that helped.

Speed · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:39

Glad to hear it, just shows what strange issues a slightly faulty PSU can cause!

brucey034 · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:47

Speed said:
Glad to hear it, just shows what strange issues a slightly faulty PSU can cause!

Very true.
Over the last few days funny things started to happen, random freezes and the odd reboot etc.
I guess I got it replaced just in time, hate to think what could have happened if it had gone bang.