Question Could my PSU be causing issues?

[Whirlingdervish]

Hi all,

Thank you in advance for any helpful thoughts or advice that you may offer…

I have an aging system that needs assistance, so feel free to laugh at me for not replacing the whole thing… I bulit it nine years ago and I’ve certainly got my money’s worth out of it!

It has been crashing randomly for the last few month. It doesn’t often crash right away, but usually after the computer has been on for a while, and often in a warmer room. It then will often start crashing repeatedly, often times not even getting to the MB screen before it cycles off and on again. If I let it rest for about a half an hour, it can sometimes come back to life for a while.

Here’s what I have done to troubleshoot, thus far:

I had Windows 7 running when the issue began. I replaced the HD with an SSD and did a clean Windows 10 install, in the effort to offset any HD failure. I still have the old disk drive connected, just in case I need a W7 boot. I did notice upon start up, that three of my drives all occupy IRQ 10, which I thought was a little curious.

I removed half of my 6 memory sticks, thinking I might have a memory failure, but Windows memory diagnostics shows no error with memory.

I suspect a failing PSU, but I have no knowledge or means to do a proper diagnostics on it, and I can’t afford to plunk down cash to replace it, until I feel more certain that this is the problem.

So, any thoughts as to what else I might try before I start replacing more components?

I would certainly value any input you might have to offer…

🙂🙃

Thank you!

Kelly

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Random crashes is usually a failing PSU.

 

[Whirlingdervish]

Random crashes is usually a failing PSU.

That is what I have been suspecting.

I had a fellow on the Microsoft forum say that he thought my woes were due to my Windows 10 install, since he believes that older components never play well with Windows 10. He suggested that I roll back to Windows 7, but this problem preexisted my Windows 10 days.

Do you think it’s worth pulling that PSU our of there and testing it with a voltmeter? That seems like a lot of work, but I would hate to order up a new PSU, only to find out that this not the problem.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

What's the make and model of the PSU?

 

[Whirlingdervish]

What's the make and model of the PSU?

Cooler Master GX - 750W Power Supply with 80 PLUS Bronze Certification... purchased in 2010 and has been run with high hours on it most of the time…

I used the Corsair power supply calculator, and I would probably need about a 650 W PSU. I think the calculator said I was at about 550 W, but I think 650 would probably be a good bet.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

A decent 650w will run most builds on the market. That GX PSU is most likely your issue.

 

[Whirlingdervish]

A decent 650w will run most builds on the market. That GX PSU is most likely your issue.

TY... I think so, too.

Given the poor bloke that I am, I’m tempted to consider a 550 W decent power supply.

My CPU is an older Intel i7 930. I will be running an older GTX 1050 ti Video card, and six memory sticks. I have a primary SSD with two other hard drives, with only one of them getting regular use. Two optical drives, as well.

Think I would do OK with 550 W?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

With those specs a decent 550w is plenty of power , no need for 650w.

 

[Whirlingdervish]

With those specs a decent 550w is plenty of power , no need for 650w.

Thank you for your thoughtful replies!

All the best!