Question I think my PSU is failing, how do I know for sure?

[AdamHFF]

Hello. My PC has been acting up these past few months, I'm not sure if any of these issues are related, but I think my power supply is going out. So for over the past 2 years on bootup my PC makes this noise which I can only describe as a fan getting going, it stops after a while and everything has been fine after that. This whole "fan" issue has come to a head the past few days. So I've been playing a game a lot and my graphics card software was set to everything off, nothing fancy. I enabled some higher graphics settings and in a hour or so my whole system crashed. This wasn't a blue screen or anything, everything just lost power, keyboard mouse etc. I am sure this is a power supply issue but is there something else I should try before I buy a new PSU? It seems to be doing this on high load times. I really don't look forward to plugging in all those cords for it to still have a problem. I have tried putting the settings back to low and it has just "went black" (crashed) again.

I'm not sure how to check the temperatures at the time it shut down, speccy seems to be saying my normal temps are fine.
I also have "whocrashed" and it's not reporting any crashes.

So additionally, my system is getting kinda old and it's been noticeably slower about the past month or so. For some reason it is also shutting down much slower these past few days as well. I don't think a PSU would cause that, but what do I know?

So do I just buy a new PSU and call it a day?

Thank you!

 

[--SID--]

What's the brand and model of the PSU?

 

[AdamHFF]

What's the brand and model of the PSU?

So my PC is 7 years old and I don't have the original parts list, I know that was stupid. But I opened it up and its a thermaltake, I think this is the one it is: https://thermaltakeusa.com/products/toughpower-grand-rgb-650w-gold-full-modular-ps-tpg-0650fpcgus-r - it's gold/rgb and 650w

Thanks!

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Hello. My PC has been acting up these past few months, I'm not sure if any of these issues are related, but I think my power supply is going out. So for over the past 2 years on bootup my PC makes this noise which I can only describe as a fan getting going, it stops after a while and everything has been fine after that. This whole "fan" issue has come to a head the past few days. So I've been playing a game a lot and my graphics card software was set to everything off, nothing fancy. I enabled some higher graphics settings and in a hour or so my whole system crashed. This wasn't a blue screen or anything, everything just lost power, keyboard mouse etc. I am sure this is a power supply issue but is there something else I should try before I buy a new PSU? It seems to be doing this on high load times. I really don't look forward to plugging in all those cords for it to still have a problem. I have tried putting the settings back to low and it has just "went black" (crashed) again.

I'm not sure how to check the temperatures at the time it shut down, speccy seems to be saying my normal temps are fine.
I also have "whocrashed" and it's not reporting any crashes.

So additionally, my system is getting kinda old and it's been noticeably slower about the past month or so. For some reason it is also shutting down much slower these past few days as well. I don't think a PSU would cause that, but what do I know?

So do I just buy a new PSU and call it a day?

Thank you!

If you opened the power supply, that was stupid. Not knowing what you're doing and proper care could kill you from residual charges. If you mean opened the case, then there's nothing wrong with that.

You mentioned the fans and then ADD'd and switched topics. Where is the fan sound coming from. That could be significant and an indicator.

Next issue, you said you went into the graphics software meaning either Nvidia/GeForce+Control Panel, AMD Adrenaline or if your card has its own suite-that, and "turned everything off". Pending the definition of everything off, I SAS hope you didn't turn the GPU fans off.

Not sure what "whocrashed" is, maybe it's reputable but sounds like a Netflix Murder Documentary. HWInfo64 to monitor your temps. AMD generally 95 is the absolute max it can take but should never be close to that. Intel it's 100 or 105C, again, should never be close to this. GPU, depends on your GPU.

Lastly nobody can say what it is because you don't have your full system specs posted and if you changed any components from when you got it at any point. Start with posting your full components list or if it's a pre built, the EXACT make and model and if you changed anything ever. You posted too many things while not giving much info about any of them and are jumping too quickly to the cause.

 

[AdamHFF]

Of course I didn't open the power supply.

I can't be sure where the sound is coming from but like I said, I suspect its from the PSU.

I have a AMD GPU, so in their adrenaline software it has always just been on default settings, which is all of the options off. By options I mean things like AMD super resolution, Anti lag, speed boost etc. - I haven't turned off fans or anything major, I was just messing with settings because I have really not had many problems with this system and I wanted to try them out.

Who crashed is what I have used in the past for examining crash reports, like a BSoD for instance would typically show up there. I reckon it didn't show up because the power to everything just stops and it didn't have a chance to generate a crash report.

My computer is a custom from iBuyPower. I have added ram, a nvme 1 TB drive and replaced my GPU throughout the years. Like I said this is really the first hardware problem I've had.

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K
Cooler: Liquid cooled
RAM: DDR4 3600 mhz G-Skill Ripjaws 32 Gigs
MB: MSI Z370-A PRO (MS-7B48)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB

EDIT: So for full disclosure, A few days ago I put in a bluetooth dongle to add a xbox controller to my PC. I have not connected it again yet, but I unplugged the bluetooth dongle and the "safely remove media" icon has been on my taskbar since then. That is also when the slowing of the shutdown started. I can't get it to go away.
Also, after opening my PC and cleaning it with the duster I think the sound has stopped.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Of course I didn't open the power supply.

I can't be sure where the sound is coming from but like I said, I suspect its from the PSU.

I have a AMD GPU, so in their adrenaline software it has always just been on default settings, which is all of the options off. By options I mean things like AMD super resolution, Anti lag, speed boost etc. - I haven't turned off fans or anything major, I was just messing with settings because I have really not had many problems with this system and I wanted to try them out.

Who crashed is what I have used in the past for examining crash reports, like a BSoD for instance would typically show up there. I reckon it didn't show up because the power to everything just stops and it didn't have a chance to generate a crash report.

My computer is a custom from iBuyPower. I have added ram, a nvme 1 TB drive and replaced my GPU throughout the years. Like I said this is really the first hardware problem I've had.

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K
Cooler: Liquid cooled
RAM: DDR4 3600 mhz G-Skill Ripjaws 32 Gigs
MB: MSI Z370-A PRO (MS-7B48)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB

EDIT: So for full disclosure, A few days ago I put in a bluetooth dongle to add a xbox controller to my PC. I have not connected it again yet, but I unplugged the bluetooth dongle and the "safely remove media" icon has been on my taskbar since then. That is also when the slowing of the shutdown started. I can't get it to go away.
Also, after opening my PC and cleaning it with the duster I think the sound has stopped.

BT dongle crashing the system would be a sign of severe system corruption. I doubt that's the culprit.

For the fan, you'll just have to put your head in/against the case to be sure. If it's PSU's fan, that'd reason alone to get rid of it (that and it's 7 years old). Undoubtedly some wisesss will comment "well CPUs run in silent mode, they don't need to run perfectly", so I'll just address that now. Those are DESIGNED to run at elevated temps and the fan will kick in if it gets too hot. Here the fan could one day not kick in at all and Best case shut down, worst case catch fire.

So start with that. After that download HWInfo64 and run whatever the most demanding game you have for an hour or two and report the max and avg temps (screenshots would probably be best).

Testing the CPU itself properly will cost you more than just buying a new one. Again people will bring up the hacky solutions with jumpers and wires but that doesn't test load, only if it's functional at all.

There are other next steps but start with determining which fwn and monitoring your temps.

If it's none of those we can go on to RAM and GPU. CPU is highly unlikely unless you Overclocked the piss out of it. Or aforementioned water-cooling was done recently and you inadvertently damaged the pins. But we'll cross all that after above.

 

[AdamHFF]

Sorry for the late reply. I dont know I think that sound must be the PSU. Just a side note: The sound is only on startup and then the fan starts working fine.
I think my PC is still fine with what I do with it, maybe get a new one in a few years or if the motherboard goes out or something.
The only modern game I play is Diablo 4 and the GPU does start getting a work out, but no crashes.
The startup fan sound is still there, I jumped the gun in saying it went away.
So I put all my GPU settings back to default which is with no fancy stuff like that super resolution thing and it hasn't shut down again yet. Even playing a few hours of D4 on medium settings was fine.
I think for now I'll leave it alone unless it starts doing something out of the ordinary again.

I really appreciate the help you have given, I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks!