Question One PSU powering down in Dual PSU rig / PC

[Wafcon]

Hello again all,

I have a GPU mining rig that I am having issues with. The summary is this: one specific PSU from the rig will predictably power down at some point once the mining rig starts drawing increased power. The end result is that only half of the GPUs and the motherboard remain on, with the additional 3 losing power and powering off. Idling, the PSUs are fine, and they will both stay on indefinitely.

The strange thing to me is that this rig worked perfectly fine with 2 more GPUs in this exact config about a year ago. I removed the 2 to use in other PCs.
Another main thing to note, is that I have a second mining rig which is exhibiting the exact same issue, and that one also worked just fine in previous years. That should in theory mean that the issue lies outside of the rigs themselves, But if you look at the things I've tried below, including different plugs and cords and whatnot, you can see why I'm so confused.

Specs:
- 6 3080 FEs
- 2 1200 watt Corsair PSUs
- Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G4400
- 8 GB Ram
- USB Boot drive

Things I've tried:
Switching risers around. I've underclocked all the GPUs to 240w a piece, so there should be no way the PSU is maxed out with 3 cards on each PSU. I've verified all cable connections, even rebuilding the whole rig from the ground up. I even tried swapping main PSU power cables, using a different plug, using no power bar, I bought a recommended "Multiple Power Supply Adapter and Daisy Chain Connector, Add2PSU by Genetek Electric" instead of the cheap PSU link adapter that had worked previously. I've switched mining OS's, gone through the BIOS and matched settings to recommended Rig building videos, and made sure that all parts are well under their thermal limit.

Those are the main things I've tried, I've done various other things but can't think of it all on the spot rn.

Literally any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ralston18]

Any power plans enabled?

If you disable all power savers, screen savers, etc. does the problem end?

= = = =

On the mining rig look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or even an informational event that occurs just before or at the time the "specific PSU" powers down.

Start with Reliability History. Much more end user friendly and the time line format may reveal some pattern.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

 

[Wafcon]

Any power plans enabled?

If you disable all power savers, screen savers, etc. does the problem end?

= = = =

On the mining rig look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or even an informational event that occurs just before or at the time the "specific PSU" powers down.

Start with Reliability History. Much more end user friendly and the time line format may reveal some pattern.

Event Viewer requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

To help:

How To - How to use Windows 10 Event Viewer | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

Thanks for the reply! The main issue is, I'm not using windows. This happens in both my HIVE OS and my NHOS.

 

[Ralston18]

Not familar with either OS.

However, after reading back, I believe that the problem is indeed a lack of power.

This GPU? And 6 are installed in each rig - correct? Along with the other normally expected components that require power.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/30-series/rtx-3080-3080ti/

Look at the wattage specs: Remember that the specs were likely established via ideal circumstances. Actual power requirements being higher.

FYI:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

The intent being to use the various calculators to determine the mining rigs full power requirements. If a component provides a range of wattages use the high end wattage value.

And also just do your own manual tally to total up wattages., How close to peak wattages are the totals?

Another thing you can do is to actually monitor the wattages.

Use a Kill-a-Watt meter.

Kill-a-Watt

Purchase the model applicable to your electrical system.

Observe the wattage(s) at start up and observe what happens when a PSU powers down.

The PSUs initially working just fine but degrade with use/overuse due to constant high wattage output.

Then start faltering/failing. Premature EOL (End of Life) perhaps.

Another thought: are you able to provide a wiring diagram showing how all the PSUs, GPUs etc. are connected for power?

With two rigs exhibiting the same problem post a diagram showing components and connections.

Google "bit mining power rig schematic" for some example diagrams. Add a photo or two if possible and post here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

Example diagram

Someone may spot an inherent issue.