[SOLVED] 850W PSU Tripping Breaker While Gaming

Sep 25, 2021
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Hey all,

I'm having an issue where my PC is tripping the breaker when playing games and only when playing games. This PC was bought about a year ago, and as such the PSU is about a year old. No issues up until now. As of current, it has never happened while starting up Windows or idling watching Youtube etc., only when I'm gaming. I've done a lot of troubleshooting and I've narrowed down the issue to be either A) my PSU being faulty or B) the breakers are going bad in my electrical panel. My breakers in my house are 15A.

My rig:
RTX 2080 GPU
Ryzen 7 3700x (not overclocked, but tuned)
Gigabyte X570 mobo
16gb hyperx fury RAM
EVGA 850W SuperNOVA P2

Things I've tried with no success:
Moving PC to a different room on an entirely different circuit
Using an extension cord to plug PC into a room with completely unused circuit while I have my monitors and room fixtures active on another circuit (PC tripped the completely unused circuit only)
Removing all new hardware and software installed recently (only a new mouse and some RGB desk lights)
Disabling my CPU tuning software
Buying a new power strip/surge protector
Looked for other potential fixtures/appliances around the house that could potentially be on the same circuit that could be causing overloading issues
Tried different types of games, both heavy and light and big and small, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of correlation. Happens with every game it seems, but more so with heavier games.


If the PSU was defect/faulty all of the sudden, wouldn't I not be able to play games at all? There has been nothing new added to the circuits in both my room and the room I'm in now. The only thing I haven't tried yet is replacing the PSU and/or the PSU power cable, but I think that is the next step other than calling an electrician. I am really avoiding replacing the PSU as it is a prebuilt PC and I'd have to go through all the stupid warranty stuff to get a new one. I also have never replaced a PSU before either. Was wondering if anybody has experienced this before and could offer some advice before I go that route.
 
Solution
The PC will trip that different circuit, even if it's the only thing on it. I've tried on 2 different circuits with 15A breakers and it's tripped all of them.

Really?! Wow. Something's up with that PSU then. I've seen similar behavior before and continued power cycles usually ends with exploding MOSFETs. Might want to get that thing swapped out.
Sep 25, 2021
4
1
15
How many outlets do you have on that same breaker?

I would say about 6 or 7. Our circuits on each breaker are separated by rooms and then by outlets or ceiling fan/lights. So each room has 2 different circuits. There's about 6-7 outlets in each room I've tried. I've made sure there's nothing else taking up load on those circuits when troubleshooting though.
 
I would say about 6 or 7. Our circuits on each breaker are separated by rooms and then by outlets or ceiling fan/lights. So each room has 2 different circuits. There's about 6-7 outlets in each room I've tried. I've made sure there's nothing else taking up load on those circuits when troubleshooting though.
What happens when you move the PC to a completely separate curcuit in the house?
 
The PC will trip that different circuit, even if it's the only thing on it. I've tried on 2 different circuits with 15A breakers and it's tripped all of them.

Really?! Wow. Something's up with that PSU then. I've seen similar behavior before and continued power cycles usually ends with exploding MOSFETs. Might want to get that thing swapped out.
 
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Solution
Sep 25, 2021
4
1
15
Just so it's on record in case it helps anybody else, I replaced the power supply and the issue is now resolved. Not sure what the issue was with the power supply but replacing it with a new one (same model) fixed it.
 
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