Possible PSU Problem?

manhattan24

manhattan24

manhattan24

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9 Jun 2013
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Hi,

My PC which is about 4 years old now has just started behaving a bit erratically. Most nights I leave it in sleep mode and it usually starts back up fine, however the other day when trying to turn it back on it had switched off completely and when pushing the power button nothing happened. I switched the mains off and re-attached the cable in the back of the PSU (XFX Pro Series 650W) and it booted up alright. It worked for about a week and the same thing happened today. I just wondered if this was an early sign of a failing power supply or something else? If yes, could anyone recommend a suitable replacement?

The specs of my PC are - Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz, MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card, Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87, Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel, SanDisk Extreme SSD, XFX Pro Series 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply.

Thanks
 
xfx pro xxx is a seasonic base unit, shouldn't have (not that it cannot happen) problems with it so soon...
any overclock?
also might be the cmos battery?
windows settings?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The PSU has not been overclocked and I have not made any recent alterations to the windows settings. In regards to the CMOS battery, isn't it usual for the time to start misbehaving, or are there other signs?
The PC has been rock solid since building it, so I'm a bit bemused by the behaviour. I'm wondering if the culprit could be the AC power cord or the socket extension.
 
just to clarify - the computer was in sleep mode, and when you pressed the power button - instead of waking up, it shut itself off?

manhattan24 said:
In regards to the CMOS battery, isn't it usual for the time to start misbehaving, or are there other signs?
Click to expand...
there are other signs. failure to start, bios codes, peripherals not quite working properly etc
 
No, I left it in sleep mode overnight and it had switched itself off by the morning. I tried waking it up but nothing happened and there was no response from pressing the power button, so I turned the mains off and gently wiggled the ac power cord in the back of the PSU, turned the mains back on and it worked again. This behaviour happened a week ago and it seemed to be working like usual, however it happened again the other day so I'm now so wondering if something's not quite right.
 
sounds like a failing component...but question is whether its a failing psu or something tripping the overcurrent protection...hmm...
 
It's most likely the PSU - can you swap it out with a newer one to test this?

You don't want to wait until it (potentially) fails - it could fry working parts connected.
 
Unfortunately I don't have another one to test it with. Would it be a good idea to buy a new one as a precautionary measure? If yes, should I replace it with the same one or something else? I do plan to upgrade to a 4k monitor in the not too distant future, so might require something a bit more subtantial. I currently have a MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card installed.

Thanks
 
manhattan24 said:
Unfortunately I don't have another one to test it with. Would it be a good idea to buy a new one as a precautionary measure?
Click to expand...
80+ Bronze PSU is anyway pretty medieval.
80+ Gold PSUs came out nearly decade ago and those have been topped in efficiency first by 80+ Platinum and then 80+ Titanium PSUs.

And even disregarding by todays standards substandard efficiency, those old non DC-DC PSUs have lot lower performance than current PSUs in other aspects.

Seasonic Focus Plus is were price and performance meet.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=seasonic+focus+plus

Monitor resolution won't affect to PSU's load.
That's decided by what CPU (never fully loaded in games) and GPU can draw.
Techpowerup has excellent graphics card power consumption measurements.
 
Thanks for the advice.

Would the Focus Plus 650w be a suitable replacement, gold or platinum?

As my current PSU is very outdated, does the same apply to the rest of my components? If yes, would it be better just to use it untill it breaks and then just build a new PC?
 
If you're happy with your machine keep it going - compatible parts are available second-hand from people deciding to build a whole new machine.

The power supply should be replaced either way though - I tend to recommend Corsair PSUs, but that's just because I'm happy with the ones(s) in my machine.
 
manhattan24 said:
Great thanks. Think my PC has got a few more good years left in it if a new PSU does the trick.
Click to expand...
With its hyperthreading 4770K is still quite good gaming CPU.
Unlike those CPUs without hyperthreading, which are lot more prone to "hiccups"/framerate drops from background stuff.
Year from now With Zen2 architecture from AMD and maybe something actually new also from Intel would be better time to upgrade.


For HD7870 and average gaming graphics card even 550W PSU would be enough.
But 650W is good "golden middle" capable to handling almost any single GPU PC.

80+ Gold model has now with very good price.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-05q-ss.html
Would need awfully lots of use to cover price difference to 80+ Platinum by saved electricity, unless price of electricity hikes lift on satellite launch to orbit.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...-platinum-modular-power-supply-ca-05u-ss.html
 
You could get away with not having a modular power supply - you sound pretty happy with your current hardware, modular ones are easier to upgrade continuously.
 
Think I will stick with the modular PSU for the time being, I think it would be easier just to plug the existing cables from the old PSU into it and save some work with cable management.

The Seasonic gold 80+ sounds ideal and good value for money. I will wait then and upgrade my system in the near future when the newer technology surfaces at a good price.

Thanks for all the help.
 
manhattan24 said:
think it would be easier just to plug the existing cables from the old PSU into it and save some work with cable management.
Click to expand...
That would be anything between futile try and very bad as idea.
For example modular cable connectors can be different.
And even if connectors are same wiring might be different, causing risks of frying something...
PSU itself is protected against short circuits, but say 5V needing PC component isn't protected against 12V.

That XFX was actually made by Seasonic (using quality capacitors) with same modular cables as Seasonic's own PSUs of time.
But since then Seasonic has changed cables.
 
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