After Power Outage: Many PC components damaged or destroyed.

[SacredScout]

Greetings everyone,

yesterday during the night my PC experienced a power outage. I was sleeping then, my PC was on full load when it happened (it was mining with the GPUs).

Following things happened/ I observed:

- I bought two new GTX 1070 Ti for myself, for gaming and for mining. One GTX 1070 Ti survived, but it is only working in the lower PCI Slot. If I plug it into the upper slot, I only get a blackscreen and I cannot even access the BIOS. I am not going to use my GPU until I got a new PSU, and MB because I do not want to destroy another GPU. I have warrant on both of them (bought them 3 months ago), but it would be a bad move, nevertheless.

- My other GTX 1070 Ti which was plugged in the first PCI Slot did not survive. KIA, Killed-In-Action. The GPU does not work inside the other slots as well, and I get the same symptoms my old GPU gave me which is that it makes my PC freeze and crash if it is plugged into the lower slot. In the upper slot it does not boot at all, black screen. It does not even get recognized properly. It looks like this is GPU-Z; https://i.gyazo.com/a3af056844125b58...644ca6e420.png

-Like I already said, my first PCI Slot does not work at all, even with the working GPU.

- I think the PSU caused it. I think the PSU destroyed the first GPU and the Slot it was plugged into. I am not sure though, maybe the GPU or the Motherboard is the cause which I highly doubt though. I will buy a new PSU for myself to 100%. My PC works currently, but I am on it with my IGPU.

What do you think, what caused the problem? How could my GPU get destroyed and the Slot it was plugged into as well? I will send my GPU back, since I have warranty with it. I have to buy a new CPU, Motherboard, PSU and RAM though, which will cost a lot. Damn it.

 

[captaincharisma]

was it just your computer that lost power or your entire house? did you have the computer plugged into a surge protector?

 

[jay32267]

When the power goes out and comes back on there is the potential for all sorts of transient voltage spikes and dips etc. These high voltages can damage things.

I run into this a lot as I work in a plant and I'm responsible for lots of machines and computers and when there is a power outage it is not uncommon that I have failures.

 

[SacredScout]

was it just your computer that lost power or your entire house? did you have the computer plugged into a surge protector?

Just the PC. No, it was plugged into a cheap power socket. I am going to buy one with surge protection for 20€ as well, good idea.

When the power goes out and comes back on there is the potential for all sorts of transient voltage spikes and dips etc. These high voltages can damage things.

I run into this a lot as I work in a plant and I'm responsible for lots of machines and computers and when there is a power outage it is not uncommon that I have failures.

Sounds plausible. What could possibly protect me against such things? A power socket with surge protection I suppose? A good PSU?

 

[ehmkec]

You need to get a decent surge protector either in your home's circuit breaker panel (whole-house) or a power strip with a minimum of 600 joule (higher the better). Welcome to the 'Killed by Surge' club.

 

[jay32267]

A surge protector should suppress any high voltage spikes but won't protect against drop outs obviously. A UPS will protect against dropouts. I typically run with a surge suppressor but no UPS.

 

[captaincharisma]

was it just your computer that lost power or your entire house? did you have the computer plugged into a surge protector?

Just the PC. No, it was plugged into a cheap power socket. I am going to buy one with surge protection for 20€ as well, good idea.

if it was just the PC that lost power then it is likely that your PSU is failing or too weak to handle a multi-GPU setup. that may be why your 2nd GPU isn't working.

 

[grimfox]

You may also want to look into a battery backup. But don't skimp on the quality. A good one will be expensive and heavy. It provides protection against low voltage and high voltage as well as surges. An added benefit is that it'll give you access to the power management tools you'd find on a laptop. This will let your PC gracefully shut down if the power goes out and the battery drains.

Downside is that if the power goes out in the middle of the night you'll be woken up as most UPSs have very loud audible alarms.

 

[ehmkec]

Whole-house surge protection will protect everything in the house obviously.

 

[jay32267]

Yes...whole house surge protectors are pretty handy and they aren't that expensive and they are easy to install. I've had one on for years and have never had an issue (knock on wood) and I get LOTS of lightning.

 

[SacredScout]

No Idea how I can install them for my Flat.... And I doubt that there are any of that Kind here in Germany?

How is it with the warranty looking? Should I get it replaced? The GPU is still being detected by the PC but causes it to crash.

 

[grimfox]

You could try the warranty route. This likely falls into the category of "improper use" and wouldn't be covered but they might accept it as an RMA.

You don't need to get a whole house surge protector, particularly in an apartment situation. But you should get some sort of protection for all your electronics.