Consequences if your power draw exceeds your PSU power rating?

[Componentgirl90]

If you try to draw more power from the PSU than it is capable of, it will shut down.

But how bad is that if that is happens? Will it damage the components?

I have a PSU that I think will work but not 100% sure.

I figure if it wont do much harm then might as well just give this PSU a go. If it will do harm, then I will just another PSU.

 

[rcald2000]

It doing harm is certainly possible. You can get a more precise answer to your question, if you list you specs, including the manufacturer and precise model number of your power supply.

 

[madmatt30]

^ what he said , list everything you're using.

A very good quality PSU with all the relevant protection circuitry will either shut down or will be capable of actually supplying more power than its label rating (this still does nor make it an acceptable idea though in all honesty)

A poor quality PSU has a good chance of 'popping' & taking components with bit when it does!!

 

[Componentgirl90]

Many thanks for your quick replies.

https://www.evga.com/products/Specs/PSU.aspx?pn=81e4cda4-e770-4372-91a9-55ab4bb5b12b
e7500 core 2 duo
ssd
4gb DDR2
1 system fan (very small)
XFX 390x DD (TDP:275W)

This is a test rig for the 390x among other things. The load power is around 403W.

This PSU is often quoted as being of the bronze level standard although there seems to be some confusion around this. At any rate it was tier 3 on the list of PSUs if i remember correctly. I always try and buy good enough PSUs.

 

[madmatt30]

Well its a w not a b model , the b are bronze rated & have a better emi filter , better caps & better voltage regulation.

The PSU you have ?? Id put it at the point where it will 'just' handle that 390x at stock clocks.

I would not want to be running 24/7 with it or pushing prolonged 100% GPU usage for long periods of time however.


What do you mean by a test rig anyway??

 

[Componentgirl90]

Well, I purchased an XFX 390x DD from ebuyer and the fans keep going to 100% randomly. I have RMAed it twice and they said they were not able to replicate the fault. They said it was likely air flow issues (unlikely, I have good airflow) or software (possible). I reinstalled many old drivers and I did a clean install of Windows 10 but the problem persists. This card ran for a year without having issues. A test on a different machine will help me decide whether it is likely software or not.

I have an EVGA Gold G2 850W but I cant use that or the test would not be on a totally different machine. I have read that loose PSU cables etc can cause card fan problems so using a different PSU seems to be important.

I will go ahead and test that 390x on that system.