Question Can a bad power supply slow down my pc and make hard drives not work?

[ZoidVero]

Hi! i recently bought a new hard drive and they dont seem to work but when i tested them on 2 other pcs they work just fine. And my pc has been especially sluggish recently, from freezing up to 10 whole seconds on games i could run easily before and annoyingly slow while just in youtube and last night even froze i had to restart just on 2 youtube tabs. I have a decent enough pc to atleast not lag in youtube so im really confused what the hell the problem is. I ran Userbenchmark on my pc and every single part of my pc is running below expectations based on the results. I suspect that its because of my power supply as its a pretty [redacted] ACEPOWER 650 watt psu i got for cheap maybe its failing and causing all this slowness on my pc?

PC SPECS:
Ryzen 5 3600

Power color RX 570

HyperX 16 gb ram (2x 8gb)

MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX motherboard

ACEpower 650w 80+ bronze powersupply

 

[DSzymborski]

(Please watch the expletives, the site has a pretty strict policy about language).

Junk power supplies don't generally *directly* cause slowdown. If they're a cause, it's typically because they've damaged a component. There's likely another cause, though I'd be replacing this junk PSU before even starting to worry about something else. Once the hardware is sorted out, I'd probably just rule out software from the start and do a full OS wipe and reinstall.

 

[ZoidVero]

Ive got a Corsair CX 650 on the way! not the best but its way safer than this psu im using right now. Once i get to replace it and see no improvement should i wipe my OS then? or is there other things i should try thanks!

 

[DSzymborski]

Ive got a Corsair CX 650 on the way! not the best but its way safer than this psu im using right now. Once i get to replace it and see no improvement should i wipe my OS then? or is there other things i should try thanks!

That's what I would do. A lot of freezing problems can be remedied with a wipe-and-reinstall. It's good to prepare a USB flash drive that has all your applications' install files for a quick, painless reinstall.

After that, I'd simplify. Testing with one drive and one RAM stick, and other parts if possible, to see if a hardware issue can be isolated.

 

[geofelt]

I would first suspect that your psu might be the cause, not from any HDD issues, but for not delivering consistent power to the graphics card.

Separately, if you want performance, use a ssd. Particularly for the C drive.

 

[ZoidVero]

I would first suspect that your psu might be the cause, not from any HDD issues, but for not delivering consistent power to the graphics card.

Separately, if you want performance, use a ssd. Particularly for the C drive.

I am using a ssd for my c drive though its pretty old and i bought a new m.2 to replace it. as for the graphics card, what do you mean? could that be causing the freezing and lagging?

 

[Satan-IR]

Can you post a link to a page with the exact model of that PSU? It sounds like a low quality unknown model. Also how old is the PSU?

 

[Bob.B]

Hi! i recently bought a new hard drive and they dont seem to work but when i tested them on 2 other pcs they work just fine. And my pc has been especially sluggish recently, from freezing up to 10 whole seconds on games i could run easily before and annoyingly slow while just in youtube and last night even froze i had to restart just on 2 youtube tabs. I have a decent enough pc to atleast not lag in youtube so im really confused what the hell the problem is. I ran Userbenchmark on my pc and every single part of my pc is running below expectations based on the results. I suspect that its because of my power supply as its a pretty [redacted] ACEPOWER 650 watt psu i got for cheap maybe its failing and causing all this slowness on my pc?

PC SPECS:
Ryzen 5 3600

Power color RX 570

HyperX 16 gb ram (2x 8gb)

MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX motherboard

ACEpower 650w 80+ bronze powersupply

Post a link to the userbenchmark results page.

 

[ZoidVero]

Post a link to the userbenchmark results page.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/67325776 here it is though i guess userbenchmark is biased

 

[ZoidVero]

Can you post a link to a page with the exact model of that PSU? It sounds like a low quality unknown model. Also how old is the PSU?

I cant find any link for amazon but its pretty abundant here in my country here from a seller here in my country https://gameone.ph/ace-power-650w-80-bronze-ultra-power-fx-certified-power-supply.html
and also the power supply is around 2-3 years old im pretty sure

 

[DSzymborski]

Can you post a link to a page with the exact model of that PSU? It sounds like a low quality unknown model. Also how old is the PSU?

It's a sub-600W PSU in +12V power and the 80 Plus people don't appear to have even heard about this PSU they supposedly certified, so it's definitely trash tier.

 

[Satan-IR]

I cant find any link for amazon but its pretty abundant here in my country here from a seller here in my country https://gameone.ph/ace-power-650w-80-bronze-ultra-power-fx-certified-power-supply.html
and also the power supply is around 2-3 years old im pretty sure

If you're sure that is the PSU in your chassis it looks like a no name generic low quality unit, or what they call a door stop! They tend to have bad output on various rails/voltages and have fluctuations under load. As they get older it gets worse too.

Also "Provide full range green power from 350W to 1000W" on the Details tab for a supposedly 650W PSU is not very trust-inducing.

How much is 2096 pesos in USD? I think around $40, right? I wouldn't trust a low quality $40 PSU for a minute.

On the same website you linked there are some decent PSUs. Such as Corsair RM series. I am aware of the price difference but it's worth it if you want your system to work properly and last as long as it should.

The problems you have might be caused by low quality and substandard behavior of the PSU and even regardless of that I would get rid of that PSU as soon as possible. Before it bursts into flames or dies and takes other components down with it.

 

[Satan-IR]

It's a sub-600W PSU in +12V power and the 80 Plus people don't appear to have even heard about this PSU they supposedly certified, so it's definitely trash tier.

Yes, indeed. It looks like a no good dangrous unit. I wouldn't be surprised if amost all of OPs problems stem from that PSU.

 

[ZoidVero]

If you're sure that is the PSU in your chassis it looks like a no name generic low quality unit, or what they call a door stop! They tend to have bad output on various rails/voltages and have fluctuations under load. As they get older it gets worse too.

Also "Provide full range green power from 350W to 1000W" on the Details tab for a supposedly 650W PSU is not very trust-inducing.

How much is 2096 pesos in USD? I think around $40, right? I wouldn't trust a low quality $40 PSU for a minute.

On the same website you linked there are some decent PSUs. Such as Corsair RM series. I am aware of the price difference but it's worth it if you want your system to work properly and last as long as it should.

The problems you have might be caused by low quality and substandard behavior of the PSU and even regardless of that I would get rid of that PSU as soon as possible. Before it bursts into flames or dies and takes other components down with it.

Thank for the really detailed reply! i really hope my new power supply comes soon as im tired of dealing with the problems this old one causes

 

[Bob.B]

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/67325776 here it is though i guess userbenchmark is biased

Run ubm like this.
Reboot.
Wait a few mins.
Run ubm with the browser closed.
Post a link to the results page.

Clean off 25GB+ from the os disk.
Update the bios and also the chipset driver if it's old.

How hot is the cpu getting?