[SOLVED] Circuit Breaker Frequently Tripping After Upgrading Ryzen 3600 to 5600x

[Cwasson12]

Hey guys,

I upgraded from these specs:

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
COOLER: Arctic 360mm AIO
MOBO: ASUS Tuf X570 non-Wifi
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4x8GB 3200MHz
GPU: EVGA RTX 2070 Super Ultra OC
M.2: Sabrent Rocket 4.0
PSU: Corsair RM850

To a Ryzen 5 5600X a few days ago. It has run great in terms of performance, temperatures rarely even get over 70°C on the GPU or CPU under full extended load.

The problem is, ever since I upgraded, it keeps tripping the circuit breaker. It had previously only done so maybe once a month. I replaced the PSU today with an EVGA 850GQ, reseated the GPU, played for about an hour and a half, and celebrated that I had solved the issue, when the circuit tripped again.

I've run it on an extension cord into the living room, on a separate circuit, and same result.

Considering the TDP of my new and old processors is 65W, and HWMonitor never reported the 5600X breaking 75W, I'm really reluctant to blame the CPU for tripping my circuit breaker, and would prefer not to downgrade and write it off.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[COLGeek]

What PSU did you have before the RM850? What else is plugged into the same outlet (one normally used)?

This is more likely the PSU (or something else connected to the circuit/breaker.

 

[Cwasson12]

What PSU did you have before the RM850? What else is plugged into the same outlet (one normally used)?

This is more likely the PSU (or something else connected to the circuit/breaker.

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't have a PSU before the RM850, I had that, then swapped it for the EVGA 850 GQ since the issues started happening.

I'm reluctant to believe it's the PSU as I just replaced it and it still trips the circuit, and the RM850 was never an issue until I upgraded CPUs.

I'm wondering if a short in the PC could be the problem, but everything runs like butter for an hour and a half before a circuit breaker trips, and I would think the PC would just crash sometimes as opposed to tripping a circuit, and it would likely happen when powered on or as soon as load is applied, not after extended use.

 

[COLGeek]

Understood on the PSU models. This still implies an issue with the PSU. 850W may just be too much for that circuit. What else is plugged into the circuit protected by the breaker that keeps tripping?

 

[Cwasson12]

Understood on the PSU models. This still implies an issue with the PSU. 850W may just be too much for that circuit. What else is plugged into the circuit protected by the breaker that keeps tripping?

There was a good amount, but I've been troubleshooting with almost nothing besides like a small lamp and a phone charger plugged in.

Also, 850W was never too much before as both PSUs are 850W and it wasn't a consistent issue. It seems to be a new issue instigated by upgrading the CPU, but the CPU should only be a few watts more power, right? There's always a chance I damaged another component during the CPU swap, but everything runs flawlessly for over an hour until the circuit breaks.

 

[COLGeek]

The wattage difference between CPUs is likely not the cause. I would imagine that if you connected a Kill-a-watt device, you would see your system is using less than 850W.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

Loads, bad grounds, surges, can all lead to breakers tripping. Are you using a power strip/surge suppressor with your PC?

Are you in a house, apartment, dorm?

 

[deesider]

Your description of the problem suggests that it has nothing to do with the PC itself. A faulty PSU could trip the circuit breaker, but you've replaced it and the problem keeps occuring. A short within the PC on the low voltage side would cause problems, but would (should?) trigger the overload protection in the PSU itself rather than the circuit breaker.

Seems most likely that it is something external to the PC. Have you tried using a different power cable? Also, bear in mind that an electrical circuit in your house will include multiple outlets. Are you sure the other outlet in the living room that you tried was actually on a different circuit? Did it trip a different breaker?

The power level of the PSU even at maximum draw should not even come close to overloading a mains circuit by itself. At most it will drawing 7 to 8 amps. More realistically it will be more like 5-6 amps. But when everything that is connected on the same circuit is added together it could overload the breaker.

You could have weird wiring where the outlets are on the same circuit as an appliance, like a refrigerator, so when it turns on the circuit is overloaded?

 

[Cwasson12]

The wattage difference between CPUs is likely not the cause. I would imagine that if you connected a Kill-a-watt device, you would see your system is using less than 850W.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

Loads, bad grounds, surges, can all lead to breakers tripping. Are you using a power strip/surge suppressor with your PC?

Are you in a house, apartment, dorm?

1 bedroom apartment. I'm using a surge protector, but I tried it into my living room with an extension cord and no protector out of desperation, and same issue.

Strangely, when the living room breaker tripped, so did the bedroom breaker, so I'm wondering if even though they have different breakers, they are on the same circuit.

 

[Cwasson12]

Your description of the problem suggests that it has nothing to do with the PC itself. A faulty PSU could trip the circuit breaker, but you've replaced it and the problem keeps occuring. A short within the PC on the low voltage side would cause problems, but would (should?) trigger the overload protection in the PSU itself rather than the circuit breaker.

Seems most likely that it is something external to the PC. Have you tried using a different power cable? Also, bear in mind that an electrical circuit in your house will include multiple outlets. Are you sure the other outlet in the living room that you tried was actually on a different circuit? Did it trip a different breaker?

The power level of the PSU even at maximum draw should not even come close to overloading a mains circuit by itself. At most it will drawing 7 to 8 amps. More realistically it will be more like 5-6 amps. But when everything that is connected on the same circuit is added together it could overload the breaker.

You could have weird wiring where the outlets are on the same circuit as an appliance, like a refrigerator, so when it turns on the circuit is overloaded?

I've used different power cables, surge protector, no surge protector, extension cord into the living room...

I think you might be right that seemingly unrelated circuits are actually the same. The living room breaker tripped when it was plugged in there, as well as the bedroom one, but only the bedroom one trips when plugged into the bedroom.

Could my breaker just be toast? Why does it take over an hour to trip and not trip right when I power on the PSU? My girlfriend has vacuumed on the same circuit in the past while my PC is running games with no issues, but suddenly just the PC alone for an hour trips it?

 

[deesider]

It's unusual to trip breakers at the same time, unless maybe they are double pole breakers - which would be mounted next to each other and usually cover the same circuit. In that case there should be a handle-tie that links them together that maybe has been removed. The handle-tie just lets them both be turned off and on at the same time, removing it doesn't change whether they both trip or not.

If you think it could be the PC causing the issues, you could take it to someone else's house and see if it trips their breakers. Otherwise you should probably have an electrician check out the house wiring.