How to check if a psu is failing ? !!!

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phong1996

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Jan 25, 2013
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Here is the picture of my dead gpu (it lost 2 capacitors http://www.upsieutoc.com/image/BOA1q
i'm planning to get a new gpu so i need to find out what component killed my last one. I don't know what damaged my gpu , most of the guy here said that a mobo can't kill my gpu so i think that my psu is the only thing that could kill my gpu .However my pc still running fine with or w/o a gpu ( i have an old gpu which only need power from pcie slot ) .
My specs
Msi 970 gaming
Fx 8320 ( i do need overclock )
8gb of ram
Psu : Thermaltake smart se 630w
 
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Whether it's a cheap system or not, a high quality power supply is very important.

Many people think that all power supplies are created equal and that the only reason some are more expensive than others is because of branding. I'm not making fun of these people. But there are plenty of reasons why a high quality power supply is essential to a stable and reliable system.

You see, the power supply needs to supply both voltage and amperage to all of the components within the case, and sometimes features on the case itself. Now these components are very sensitive to voltages. Let's say you have a power supply that costs $20 without any rebates or coupons. At that price range, I would expect voltage delivery to be very unstable. The...
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weberdarren97

Glorious
Aug 10, 2015
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Whether it's a cheap system or not, a high quality power supply is very important.

Many people think that all power supplies are created equal and that the only reason some are more expensive than others is because of branding. I'm not making fun of these people. But there are plenty of reasons why a high quality power supply is essential to a stable and reliable system.

You see, the power supply needs to supply both voltage and amperage to all of the components within the case, and sometimes features on the case itself. Now these components are very sensitive to voltages. Let's say you have a power supply that costs $20 without any rebates or coupons. At that price range, I would expect voltage delivery to be very unstable. The system may behave like it's working properly, but in reality, the voltages may be fluctuating, damaging the system over time. Some low quality power supplies may fail completely if you attempt to use all of their available wattage, and this may result in the full 115V (or 230V depending on region) entering the circuitry of the system. Not surprisingly, this would be the death of the system.

When capacitors burst or appear to disappear (it likely exploded into shards too small to see with the naked eye), it's likely because they were receiving too much voltage. This is a sign that your power supply is not to be trusted any more.

Popular brands I recommend avoiding: Rosewill, Thermaltake, Linkworld, Cooler Master (except for V series), etc.

Brands and series I recommend: Cooler Master V series (overpriced in the US), Corsair AX/AXi/HX/HXi/RMi/RMx series, EVGA SuperNOVA G2/P2/T2 series and the more budget friendly Seasonic M12ii series of power supplies.

For a basic breakdown of brands/lines vs quality, take a look at the Tom's Hardware PSU Tier List. Please note that this list is somewhat outdated, and those that are familiar with how power supplies work would rather suggest a relevant unit than refer a user to the Tier List.
 
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weberdarren97

Glorious
Aug 10, 2015
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If you don't have any multimeters around the house or where ever the machine is, just pick one up at the local superstore. Anything that can measure DC voltage will work fine.

How I usually suggest testing a power supply: Take a paperclip and trick the unit into turning on while not connected to the computer, then measure voltage across different pins and determine if they're what they're supposed to be. Up to a 5% variance is acceptable.

Once that is done, install the power supply into the system and load up the system with heavy tasks like a system stability test in AIDA64 Extreme, then take your reading from connectors that are not being used.

To turn on the power supply without installing it into a system, use a paperclip to connect the -12V and PS_ON# pins found in this image. Test voltages across all connectors. Here's an image that shows pins on PCIe and CPU power connectors. Here's another image that shows voltages on other connectors.

When using your multimeter, set it to DC voltage and make sure you're connecting the black wire to the black pins on the images. The red wire from the multimeter goes to the positive voltage pins in the images.
 
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weberdarren97

Glorious
Aug 10, 2015
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That will only tell you about your power supply voltages when idle, so you're only getting half the story. Without being able to take readings while under load, there's no real way to tell if a power supply is dying... Unless of course it's so far gone that it's screwing up even at idle.

I can throw together a small video and upload to YouTube, then link it here. Expect that by 20:00 New York time zone today.
 
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