Question PC died during gaming, I think it's the PSU or possibly the mobo ?

[JCervi]

Hello all,

I upgraded my PC recently and everything has been running smoothly for about a month now but last night while playing Deus Ex which I've played tons of since the upgrade, my PC just shutdown. Then when I tried start up the PC again everything turned on for a split second then shutdown. I did a lot of testing and it's still doing this.

Below are my specs:
Video Card: MSI GTX 1080
CPU: Ryzen 7 5700x
Motherboard: Gigabyte AB350 Gaming CF
RAM: 32 GB (4x8 GB) G.Skill Series V Ripjaws DDR4.
SSD: Inland 240 GB
SSD : Inland 240 GB
NVME: 500 GB Western Digital Blue SN570
Blue Ray Drive: Toshiba
PSU: Solid Gear 550E 550W PSU

So for trouble shooting. I unplugged everything inside the PC and replugged it in and same issue continued. I made the CPU had proper seating and had plenty of thermal paste and the issue continued.

I did notice whenever I plugged in the 8pin connector for the CPU part it didn't work but if i unplug it everything starts up no problem minue the CPU. I then checked and the top row of the 8 pin connector was putting out 12v but the bottom row put out 20v (unsure if normal).

I then unhooked everything again and then tried to start up the PSU while just hooked up to the MoBo but nothing happened. I had it hooked up via 24 pin, 24pin and 8pin, and then just 8 pin. It didn't start in either situation. But once i hooked everything up again it started up as long as CPU 8pin wasn't hooked up.

I also tried unhooking 1 set of RAM but still didn't work with 8pin.

I also tried cycling the power by holding in power button with the CMOS battery out.

An oddity amongst all of this is when i have everything running without the CPU 8 pin in, it lets me power it on using the tower's power button but it won't let me shutdown the PC using the same button so I have to manually switch off the back of the PSU.

As an FYI i set my motherboard to warn me if anything reaches 70 degrees so overheating does not seem to be the cause.

So my question is, do you think this is motherboard problem or PSU problem?

Is there anything extra I should test? Also I don't have a spare PSU or motherboard (just sold old one haha).

Thanks in advance.

 

[DSzymborski]

Good lord, what was that PSU ever doing in there in the first place? It's not even really a 400W PSU in any real sense. The PSU should be replaced under any and all circumstances; hopefully it hasn't damaged anything else.

 

[JCervi]

Good lord, what was that PSU ever doing in there in the first place? It's not even really a 400W PSU in any real sense. The PSU should be replaced under any and all circumstances; hopefully it hasn't damaged anything else.

Yeh. I thought i upgraded awhile ago to 650 but I cannot remember why I had the 550 in there tocbe honest and after seeing everything in my PC and typing it up here I was thinking, "this sounds like way too much for a 550 watt PSU."

Wouls 650 be a safe bet or 700?

 

[JCervi]

According to this site, with me having a GTX1080 it a 650 or 700w psu should be no issue.

Choosing the Best Power Supply for AMD's Ryzen 7 5700X CPU

Learn how to choose a power supply for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU based on its power consumption and other factors.

www.techreviewer.com

I was looking into this one.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...700-watt-80-plus-atx-non-modular-power-supply

 

[DSzymborski]

According to this site, with me having a GTX1080 it a 650 or 700w psu should be no issue.

Choosing the Best Power Supply for AMD's Ryzen 7 5700X CPU

Learn how to choose a power supply for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU based on its power consumption and other factors.

www.techreviewer.com

I was looking into this one.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...700-watt-80-plus-atx-non-modular-power-supply

No, the SMART series, while better than your current one, remains firmly in junk territory. Cheap and group-regulated.

A Tier B PSU on this list is the absolutely lowest you can go. I would typically recommend a Tier A list for any Nvidia x80 sku, but if the alternative is a dodgy rebranded Sirfa, it's better to have something middling.

Article - [psucultists] PSU tier list rev. 14.8 (Final Update Jul '21)

PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (outdated) Last Update: 12-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Vic 40]

Hope low enough price for what you can spend,
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/n3...fied-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-erf650awt
or,
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zD...-modular-atx-power-supply-ps-tpd-0650fnfagu-1

 

[JCervi]

Thanks all.

So i got the thermal take GF1 that's i think Tier B but problem persists.

So it must be notherboard or cpu? Everything runs perfectly when plugged in but once I plug in the 8pin cpu cable, nothing works.

I really hope it's not the CPU since i bought it last month and worked no issue. I've had PSU die at work and on old PCs but never had a CPU go bad nor motherboard. It's just odd since I've been gaming etc no problem then randomy just died this weekend while gaming as usual. No BSOD nothing, just shut off then would not startup again.

Is there a test to figure out if the CPU is bad or the CPU 8pin port or just motherboard overall?

I visually inspected the CPU and saw nothing abnormal. No pins messed up. I mean CPU was aorking no problem to begin with.

Going to pick up a motherboard tomorrow most likely and test that with the new PSU. If it still doesn't work after that then it must be CPU right?

 

[Vic 40]

Thanks all.

So i got the thermal take GF1 that's i think Tier B but problem persists.

It's a tier A psu, but sorry to hear it wasn't the solution.

So it must be notherboard or cpu? Everything runs perfectly when plugged in but once I plug in the 8pin cpu cable, nothing works.

Is there a test to figure out if the CPU is bad or the CPU 8pin port or just motherboard overall

I visually inspected the CPU and saw nothing abnormal. No pins messed up. I mean CPU was aorking no problem to begin with.

Going to pick up a motherboard tomorrow most likely and test that with the new PSU. If it still doesn't work after that then it must be CPU right?

Seems it comes down to motherboard or cpu yes.

There is no test to see if it's motherboard or cpu other than replace / test with another one.

Think it's most likely motherboard that somehow crapped out in the process.

Hope another motherboard will make it work, do make sure you get one with a very recent bios or that the shop you buy from can flash it for you. Other option is getting a motherboard with a form of "USB Bios Flashback", in that case does it not matter if a cpu isn't supported, you can always flash the bios to latest version.

 

[JCervi]

So i got an Asus Prime A520M-A II motherboard amd hooked the powersupply up and it seemed to work so it was old PSU or Motherboard. So then i returned the powersupply since it was $120 amd I found a great sale on the Enermax Revolution DF 650W which is Tier A. Well the Enermax doesn't seem to want to work once I plug the 24pin cable in. It works when everything but the 24pin cable is in.

I did the paperclip test with the 24pin cable and everything worked perfectly while hooked up but once I plugged it into the mother board everything would start for a moment then shut down and do this continuously until I manually turned the power off. Then when i looked online I found this is fairly common unfortunately. I tested tgis on mybold motherboard and it did the same thing on that too.

Man I'm having bad luck recently.

Just going to pickup a new PSU at the store tomorrow and refund the Enermax unless you guys think I could test something else?

 

[JCervi]

Nevermind I'm a noob and Enermax Revolution DF 650W PSU and Asus Prime A520M-A II all work. I failed to realize the 24 pin cable needed both the 18 and 10 pin cables plugged in. This was my 1st modular PSU and instructions did not state to plug both in.

Also the 2nd issue was the motherboard only had 4 prongs to hold the Power Button and Power Led cables when i needed 5 so i took out the Power Led cable and just had the Power Button then it worked fine.

So for anyone out there with the Enermax Revolution DF 650W who has the clicking issue when plugging in the 24 pin cable to the motherboard, make sure the 18 and 10 pin connectors are both plugged in on the PSU. All the threads I read about that issue never mentioned this specifically so hopefully this helps others going ahead.

 

[Vic 40]

Good to hear you're up and running again.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Always always always get a good psu. When in doubt ask. I’ve fried ports on a board before with cheap power supplies. Microcenter sells good products but those solid gear power supplies shouldn’t be trusted imo. They might be ok in an office pc but even then.

I’ve worked on a computer before where a molex to sata adapter on a cheap psu actually started a fire inside a case, even leaving scorch marks on the inside of a silver aluminum case. Get a quality unit to begin with then you shouldn’t have to worry. But at least you are running.

 

[JCervi]

@Vic thanks me too
@ohio_buckeye thanks.

If it weren't for this website i wouldn't have realized the massive difference a power supply makes. A 650W Enermax which is Tier A coild blow a 750W Solid Gear out of the water.