EVGA power supply exploded 0.o

[app25]

First of all, my specs.
MOBO-Z97 gaming 7
CPU-I7-4790k @4.4ghz @1.154 volts (was used at the time) Benchmark is 4.8 ghz at 1.3v 5ghz at 1.4
GPU-Nvidia GTX 980 Ti with custom bios 500 watt tdp 1405 mhz
Storage-2 samsung 850 pros and a 1tb WD caviar blue hd 7200 rpm
PSU EVGA G2 850 Watt power supply with the 90$ custom white sleeved cables by evga made specifically for G2/T2/P2 power supplies
Monitor- Asus vg248qe 144 hz 1 ms 1080p

I have been using this power supply with the custom cables and everything for almost 2 months now with no problems ( was using it on eco mode as well if that makes a difference, fan definitly worked I could hear it turn on every now and then). Today I started playing Black Ops 2 a low demanding game when my pc shut off, then AFTER my pc shut off like a split second after I heard a loud pop and a nasty ass smell, as well as a blue light come out of the psu. It definitly blew. I used a spare rosewill 750 watt 80+ gold non modular psu and nothing broke other than the psu. Im wondering what this could be? Does anyone know if maybe a capacitor went bad? or did the eco mode not work well enough and it overheated? The outside of the psu was no hotter than my laptops power brick. What could have happened? I already ordered a new evga g2 850 watt from newegg cuz I dont care about 150$ I just need my pc back up quick. Id just like to know what happened so it doesn't happen again. ANy help appreciated, thanks!

P.S haven't heard of this happening online, I Might be one of 10 people its happened to with this psu?

 

[Gam3r01]

PSUs can fail, even EVGAs.
I dont know why you ordered a new one though, just contact EVGA and have yours replaced, they will no doubt send you a new unit.

 

[Remixex]

Bad luck is my best guess, those are good units, or so i've read.
Warranty...at least ask for a second one and try to sell it, tbh makes me kinda cringe to read you don't care about a 150 bucks PSU going bad
(...) Did i just read right? 500W TDP?! my god is that a single card?
I read it was 250W maximum

 

[Gam3r01]

That was likely the cause of the issue, the 980Ti Lightning only uses 300w

 

[R_1]

the G2 is my go to suggestion for a power supply.
EVGA will replace it you know, it has a helluva warranty.
Remember that dying is the second most important thing a power supply can do, aside from giving power. a good power supply as you have just seen will sooner kill itself than damage any equipment connected to it. Beleive it or not a death like that probably saved all your pc parts.
if there was a surge, spike, or other nasty the PSU stopped it.
are you running a UPS? A fresh Surge protector? clamping speed on surge protectors will wear and they need to be replaced regularly.

 

[app25]

@Gam3r01 Because RMA takes too long and money ain't a problem. This is more of just an inconvenience. I will probably RMA the other in the future and sell it or use it as a back up. I was just curious as to whether you think it was user error or just a plane dud/ bad batch. Both my friends are using same psu with eco mode no problems. Im just glad it didn't take other parts with it.

@Remixex So you think dud too? Thats only thing I can think of. Dunno why it worked for 2 months then just boom smells like crap. And yes you read correct 500w just so the power is "unlocked" I changed the bios a good amount so voltage is locked at 1.180 as well 1405 mhz no gpu boost. These gpus WON'T use 500 watts, they only take what they need. Afterburner is reporting at 100% usage the card is pulling about 57% power which translates to 285 watts. THis means its within spec for being overclocked to 1405 mhz. Only takes what it needs, its safe.

 

[Gam3r01]

You still shouldnt set it so high if you arent drawing that wattage. Only raise it once you need to.
You said you had another unit though, use that during the RMA process.

 

[app25]

@R_1 Ya, I agree best psu ive ever used I like it other than the whole exploding bit lol. And ya I realized that its amazing that it shut off my pc then killed itself I love it. Very helpful that it didn't kill other stuff which is why I bought the same psu, I like the quality and realize there are duds. To answer your question and to ask one myself, Yes I am using a 20$ surge protector (no UPS) that I bought. I don't *think* it was the surge protector cuz the monitor status light never went off during the process And they are both plugged into the same surge protector (only two things plugged in the pc and the monitor). Ive had this surge protector for maybe 1 year. You think it needs to be replaced? The grounded and protected lights are both on and only the power supply seemed to be affected

 

[app25]

@gam3r01, it hasnt proved to be a problem and there is no way itll ever go near that, that it just to ensure it doesnt downclock in game. Lots of people use these 425-500 watt bioses fine no probs. And the other unit is being used in another pc that I built out of spare parts from upgrades im giving to my friend back home. I am currently in college and my parents have payed for everything including pc parts that fail. The new psu is already ordered and packaging not a penny from my pocket spent I'm just trying to figure out what went wrong, which im assuming still is a dud unless R_1 thinks it my surge protector

 

[Gam3r01]

You say other people do it without issue, but others also run G2 units without fail.
Just because other people do it dosent rule it out as a possible issue. If you want to ensure the unit was just the issue, do a proper OC. The power limit has nothing to do with downclocking, but rather instability at high clocks.

 

[R_1]

I suggest replacing them after 18 months. whats 30 bucks if it'll save you over 1000 in parts and priceless data. its a good investment IMHO.
I go crazy with a sharpie on the old ones and they become just power bars I use them in the garage.
if your are going through the motions with the power supply its a good enough time as any. your call.

 

[app25]

@gam3r01 Lol that is a proper way to overclock, you know the kingpin gpus use 400+ watt bioses on 980s and 980 Tis right? they are hard locked on the gpu to not go that high. PLUS to top it off, I ran this same set up on a rosewill psu since the 980ti was released and that worked fine, only changed psus cuz I wanted modular with nice sleeved cables. Think it was an error on EVGA's end. Even if it used 500 watts, that wouldnt blow up a psu, would just make the gpu run hotter. You realize the r9 295x2 has a tdp of 500 watts? Watts dont kill, volts and amps do. And the voltage is static at a low stock 1.18. If that kills a psu it shouldnt be tier 1.

@r_1 Ya I believe ill go and replace it soon. Just dunno why it only effected the psu not the monitor plugged into it. Or why it didnt trip if it was even the surge protecter.

 

[Gam3r01]

I know how overclocking works.
What you dont know is how to handle a system after a unit fails. You shouldnt assume everything is in proper working order. It was likely caused internally but its not worth the headache later on if there was some other issue.

 

[app25]

@gam3r01, Guess you didn't if I had to help you out. You claim I don't know how to handle a system after a unit fails? I did everything perfectly lmao. You know why I assume everything is in proper working order? Because it is. As I said before, I plugged in an old psu and everything worked, played a few games and no errors no shut offs, all drives detected cpu detected, gpu detected everything running FINE. Only thing that died is the psu. That is how you handle a system after it fails. That is why im saying it is the psu the had burst into a ball of blue light that failed. Plus I found this https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/551595-evga-supernova-850-g2-exploded/ Someone with a system with no OC and had an evga psu blow up. Not many people have had this issue, its rare, which is why im assuming its a bad batch/dud. Maybe they used a bad capacitor in one of em idk.

 

[Remixex]

Don't ask for help and say you did everything perfectly, if you want to continue blowing up good PSUs, please, go ahead with that attitude.
We are trying to help

 

[app25]

@remixex, I mean no one answered the questions, just insulted things I do that have no correlation, only one to contribute so far is R_1 who's help I greatly appreciate. Gam3r came in and basically told me I have no intelligence and did everything the wrong way without reading what I put. And clearly you didn't read anything at all or you just ignorant. I implied I did everything perfectly regarding testing the system for flaws. I said in the post that all parts were tested and worked after the failure other than the psu. I have yet to see what I did wrong. And looking at the situation and lack of answers, it implies the psu was a dud and will have a new one to replace it. You are an idiot if you think a blown up psu is a good psu, its clearly a dud. You go and try to blow up a psu there isn't really anything you can do unless you go out of your way.

 

[ko888]

The description of the PSU failure indicates a failure of a component on the high voltage side (i.e. primary side) of the PSU. Since the PSU is properly designed, the primary side failure didn't cause any damage to attached components on the secondary side.

 

[app25]

@ko888, thanks for your contribution, what do you suggest happened? Or are you just explaining why it didn't damage anything?

 

[R_1]

App25 short of an autopsy all we can do is guess based on the information provided and our own experiences. if it has to be answered then you can forget about the warranty, cause if you open it they will not replace it. as it stands you will have guaranteed quality power for at least a decade (w/backup) with just the swap as downtime.
the 150 dollar question, is the answer worth it to you?
AUTOPSY:if you open it and take pictures we would have more information. you would see which cap or component failed, where it is in the unit can help to determine what may have caused it but it would still be guessing based on information.
I think I can speak for everyone in the thread when I say that the answer is not worth it.

 

[ko888]

@ko888, thanks for your contribution, what do you suggest happened? Or are you just explaining why it didn't damage anything?

I can only speculate. To find out exactly what happened would require a teardown of the PSU and that would void the warranty.

 

[app25]

Thanks @R_1 and @ko888 I agree, when the replacement comes in all should be well and we will see how long that lasts too. If the second one fails too, ill be disecting and posting back here, should be fine though as this same system used a different psu for years with no problems as soon as I switched all was well for 2 months til this happened. Ill assume for now that psu came from a bad batch.