Question Pc doesn't work at my house, works at another house, then works temporarily at my house

[sshapeshiftt]

A while ago I posted this https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...ock-random-shut-offs-gpu-oscillating.3810814/ thread. Recently I got the opportunity of going to a friend's house and trying my pc with his components to pinpoint the issue, but my pc ended up working normally as is. I came back home and tried booting it up, and it did it with no problem. I managed to use it for the whole day and the next too, but after that, the issue came back, and it has been like that ever since. So I tried getting a new power cable as it was the only differencial when I tested it in my friend's house, but no luck.
I am getting desperate here. What could it be? I've tested the electricity on my house, and it's fine.
Thanks in advance to any who tries helping.

 

[geofelt]

How did you test the electricity in your house?
At the very least, a plug tester can test for proper grounding.

Past that, a cheap psu like yours can have strange symptoms which are hard to diagnose.

 

[sshapeshiftt]

How did you test the electricity in your house?
At the very least, a plug tester can test for proper grounding.

Past that, a cheap psu like yours can have strange symptoms which are hard to diagnose.

I tested it with a multimeter.

 

[DaleH]

A while ago I posted this https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...ock-random-shut-offs-gpu-oscillating.3810814/ thread. Recently I got the opportunity of going to a friend's house and trying my pc with his components to pinpoint the issue, but my pc ended up working normally as is. I came back home and tried booting it up, and it did it with no problem. I managed to use it for the whole day and the next too, but after that, the issue came back, and it has been like that ever since. So I tried getting a new power cable as it was the only differencial when I tested it in my friend's house, but no luck.
I am getting desperate here. What could it be? I've tested the electricity on my house, and it's fine.
Thanks in advance to any who tries helping.

Perhaps there is a loose component or cable. That might explain the problems intermittency after moving it around.

 

[sshapeshiftt]

Perhaps there is a loose component or cable. That might explain the problems intermittency after moving it around.

I've tried checking and reseating all the cables and components multiple times, I doubt it's related to that

 

[thestryker]

I'd suggest trying to leave your system disconnected from power for approximately the amount of time it was disconnected going from your place to your friends. If this temporarily fixes it then your computer has a power delivery problem which could easily be PSU related though could also be motherboard or anything else with capacitors really. I'm working on the assumption that the power in your residence is indeed perfectly fine.

 

[sshapeshiftt]

I'd suggest trying to leave your system disconnected from power for approximately the amount of time it was disconnected going from your place to your friends. If this temporarily fixes it then your computer has a power delivery problem which could easily be PSU related though could also be motherboard or anything else with capacitors really. I'm working on the assumption that the power in your residence is indeed perfectly fine.

I've already tried that - usually it does in fact turn on, but only lasts a couple of minutes. Even so, I always leave it disconnected overnight, so I'd discard that.

Interestingly, today it managed to turn it on normally, and used it for the whole day. Then I decided to game with my friends, and after ~40 minutes I had a "memory overrun" error (I was playing monster hunter world) and got the black screen. I managed to turn it back on a few times, and very frequently it's been turning off only while I'm gaming.

 

[thestryker]

I'd replace the PSU either try someone else's or a spare if you have one first if those are options, but if not get a new one.

 

[sshapeshiftt]

I'd replace the PSU either try someone else's or a spare if you have one first if those are options, but if not get a new one.

I've got a new PSU, but unfortunately the issue is still there.

 

[Viking2121]

Are you using a Power strip? On a GFCI outlet? Some houses are wired with GFCI breakers, usually for just bedrooms and sometimes living rooms, I found that GFCI breakers so not like some computer PSU's and power strips, If you are not sure, try using a outlet in a kitchen, they typically do not have them wired in a GFCI breaker but usually use a GFCI outlet which normally isn't a problem.

Some PSU's and power strips the why they do surge protection or even the way they do grounding can mess with the GFCI stuff, I ran into this problem myself in a house in Arizona, even went out to replace the PSU, just kept tripping the GFCI breaker outside even at idle, and it was so random, could get days sometimes just a few minutes.

I had a UPS cause this in a different house here in Ohio, I ended up swapping the breaker out to a standard breaker to get around that.

Good Luck!

 

[Misgar]

If you check the graphs on page 2 of this report, you'll see the switch-on surge of this 550W PSU is 78.580A on 115V supplies and 93.990A on 230V.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asus-tuf-gaming-550w-bronze-power-supply-review

I chose this report because the inrush currents for this 550W PSU are quite high. Higher quality PSUs usually have better (lower) inrush currents, especially on a115V AC input.

This 850W PSU has a much lower inrush current of only 24.440A at 115V, but a fairly normal 86.390A at 230V AC. This PSU would be far less likely to trip a circuit breaker in the USA than the 550W PSU.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermaltake-toughpower-gf3-850w-atx-v30-power-supply-review/2

The reason why this 850W PSU is better is because it incorporates a Negative Temperature Coefficient thermistor which limits the input current, plus a bypass relay which disconnects the thermistor after a short delay, to improve efficiency.

Surge protection is offered through an MOV, and inrush protection is handled by an NTC thermistor and bypass relay combo.

After the EMI/Transient filter an NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistor is usually used to protect the other components from large inrush currents. A thermistor is simply a resistor that adjusts its resistance according to its operating temperature. The resistance of a “cold” thermistor is usually 6-12 Ohms and after the start up of the PSU the thermistor heats up and lowers its resistance to approximately 0.5 to 1 Ohm.

High efficiency power supplies use a relay that bypasses the thermistor after the PSU starts up, in order for the thermistor to cool down and operate normally in a hot switch restart (off/on) of the PSU. Also by bypassing the thermistor efficiency is improved a little bit since no energy is wasted by heating the resistor.

https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/psu/160/3

As stated below in all Tom's PSU reviews, high inrush currents can trip some circuit breakers.

Inrush Current​

Inrush current, or switch-on surge, refers to the maximum, instantaneous input current drawn by an electrical device when it is first turned on. A large enough inrush current can cause circuit breakers and fuses to trip. It can also damage switches, relays, and bridge rectifiers. As a result, the lower the inrush current of a PSU, right as it is turned on, the better.

TLDR
If you want to avoid tripping circuit breakers with ATX PSUs, check Tom's reviews for units which incorporate a thermistor and preferably, a bypass relay. This usually means buying a more expensive high quality PSU. Junk PSUs omit the thermistor and relay to save money.

 

[sshapeshiftt]

Thanks for the answers! I never hoped to get such informative responses. But yes, I've tried multiple outlets from all across my house, and I'm pretty sure there are no GFCI outlets/breakers. I'm not sure if this helps, but the new PSU I got is a Gigabyte GP-P450B, 450W, 80 Plus Bronze - 28200-P450B-1BRR.