Question 2 PSUs dead within hours?

[18por]

Hi.

I built my PC under 3 months ago and, at the time, I was not aware of the importance of using a high quality PSU. So, naturally, I bought the cheapest one I found. The PSU had coil whine and would heat up a lot, constantly spinning the fan loudly. After doing some research, I found out the unit was garbage and decided to buy a new one later this year.

However, a few days ago, the PSU died. Everything was working as usual, I launched DOOM 2016, got into my save and seconds later the computer shuts off and pressing the power button did nothing. Unplugged and plugged back, and pressing the power button made the power led go on for just a split second. Further presses would do nothing, unless I unplugged and plugged it back, which allowed it to blink once more. I removed the PSU and did the paper clip test, and nothing happened other than a slight pop sound. The motherboard lights would still work, for some reason. There was no smell coming from the PSU.

I bought a new PSU (EVGA 450 BR 80+ bronze 100-BR-0450-K1), which arrived today. I installed it, computer booted up normally, everything worked well for a few hours, tried a few games with no problem, the PSU would not even get hot under load. Then, I launched DOOM, loaded up my save and about 10 seconds later the computer dies again. This time pressing the power button does nothing, not even blinks. Motherboard lights on, paper clip test failed (nothing at all happens, not even a pop sound). I tried leaving it unplugged for a few minutes, but still wouldn't work. I tested the 24 pin connector with a multimeter and it says 4.46-4.47v between the power one and any of the others. Again no smell.

What could have caused this? Was I just that unlucky to get a bad unit and have it fail in the exact same game? Could it be the electricity coming in? I don't have any surge protector nor anything like that between the PC and the wall. But why would it suddenly start killing PSUs when there previously was no problem? Could a computer component be killing it?

I am thinking of RMAing both psus and using the garbage one to test if it will die again.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Could you state the specs to your build, like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:

If you're getting a PSU that's not meant to power your build, then it's probably the root cause of the death of the units.

 

[18por]

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard: ASUS Prime B450M-GAMING-II
Ram: 2x Xpg gammix d20 8GB DDR4 3200 MHz
SSD/HDD: 1TB Adata ssd
GPU: Gainward ghost oc RTX 3060 Ti
PSU: EVGA 450 BR 80+ bronze 100-BR-0450-K1 (first one was a random 500w)
Monitor: old sony tv

The cpu uses up to 100W and the GPU up to 200W. Pretty sure 450 should be enough, and when the psu failed the gpu was capped to 150.

 

[DSzymborski]

And, unfortunately, the problems with the second one could actually be problems with a component caused by the first, junkier one. As noted by Luftij, the lack of detailed information hinders us; the new one is only an OKish budget PSU and there's equipment that would be unacceptable to use with that one, too.

What do you mean "the power one" on the connector? There are like 13 separate pins (sorry, going from memory) on a 24-pin connector that supply power and that power varies (+3.3V, +5V, +12V, etc)

 

[18por]

And, unfortunately, the problems with the second one could actually be problems with a component caused by the first, junkier one. As noted by Luftij, the lack of detailed information hinders us; the new one is only an OKish budget PSU and there's equipment that would be unacceptable to use with that one, too.

What do you mean "the power one" on the connector? There are like 13 separate pins (sorry, going from memory) on a 24-pin connector that supply power and that power varies (+3.3V, +5V, +12V, etc)

the "power one" would be the green one (one of the ones used for the paperclip test )
I posted the requested info above

 

[DSzymborski]

That's a fairly low-quality PSU to pair with a 3060 Ti. You shouldn't focus just on wattage, but there are issues like transient spikes which cheaper PSUs are bad at dealing with ; a factory 3060 Ti can easily have short spikes over 200W.

The next options here are to test your GPU in another machine or to get a PSU that is undeniably appropriate for this machine, ruling out the PSU as a source of issues.

 

[DSzymborski]

the "power one" would be the green one (one of the ones used for the paperclip test )
I posted the requested info above

In any case, the paperclip test is not particularly useful here. The only think that can do is confirm a completely dead PSU is completely dead.

 

[18por]

That's a fairly low-quality PSU to pair with a 3060 Ti. You shouldn't focus just on wattage, but there are issues like transient spikes which cheaper PSUs are bad at dealing with ; a factory 3060 Ti can easily have short spikes over 200W.

The next options here are to test your GPU in another machine or to get a PSU that is undeniably appropriate for this machine, ruling out the PSU as a source of issues.

I see. What should I look for in a PSU to deal with the transient spikes? Do I just need higher wattage? This one is already DC-DC.

If there is a problem with the GPU, would that fry the PSU when tested in another machine?

 

[--SID--]

What's the brand and model of the first PSU?
The system could be f....d up by the 1st PSU.

What should I look for in a PSU to deal with the transient spikes? Do I just need higher wattage? This one is already DC-DC.

A 550w PSU with LLC on the primary and DC-DC on the secondary. Almost everything in Tier A and B except some be quiet!, EVGA and FSP units.

 

[18por]

What's the brand and model of the first PSU?
The system could be f....d up by the 1st PSU.


A 550w PSU with LLC on the primary and DC-DC on the secondary. Almost everything in Tier A and B except some be quiet!, EVGA and FSP units.

The first one is a OnePower, 500W, MP500W3-I.

Would a Corsair CX 650M be good?

 

[DSzymborski]

The first one is a OnePower, 500W, MP500W3-I.

Oof. That's barely even a real 300W PSU. That's certainly the kind of PSU that could take something with it when it dies.

The EVGA BR is DC-to-DC, but that's just the minimum of acceptability for PCs of the last 10-15 years. It's also a double-forward primary, so very cheaply made.

 

[--SID--]

Would a Corsair CX 650M be good?

No. Double forward with DC-DC like the EVGA BR. It's in Tier C.

 

[DSzymborski]

There are a lot of GPUs I'd run on a Corsair CX. It's a good budget PSU. But given how spiky 30-series cards are, unless it's a 3050, I would not go below Tier B on that list.

 

[18por]

Oof. That's barely even a real 300W PSU. That's certainly the kind of PSU that could take something with it when it dies.

The EVGA BR is DC-to-DC, but that's just the minimum of acceptability for PCs of the last 10-15 years. It's also a double-forward primary, so very cheaply made.

I found it weird that the evga just straight up died. Could it also have been defective? I would have expected it to cut power a couple of times before that (like the crappy one did).

Could something have got damaged after the first one failed despite everything apparently working normally when I first installed the second one?

 

[--SID--]

Could something have got damaged after the first one failed despite everything apparently working normally when I first installed the second one?

If the first PSU failed on the secondary side it could harm the other parts in the system.