PC turns on then off in a cycle

[supermanu15]

I have been experiencing this for a year or two already but all i needed to do was reseat the the front panel connectors, RAM or GPU then the computer becomes usable. So I kind of overlooked this anomaly, and then it happens again after a few weeks or months.

When I turn on the PC the video card fan whirls at high speed then slows down gradually then the PC boots up so I thought this was normal until now, it just turns on but it doesnt display anything so I tried removing the discrete GPU and used onboard GPU and it worked for a while until I decided putting the GPU back in and then it worked fine. When I turned the PC on it does the thing I mentioned with the GPU fan whirling but this time unlike the last time, it doesnt get fixed by reseating the RAM, PSU 24 pin power connector, GPU or the front panel.

I tried removing the CMOS then it became usable again, and I sort of thought that it was the issue, so I have my unit running with no CMOS but this time when I turned it back on it does the same thing, is this an issue with the PSU?

 

[Barty1884]

Please post your full specs, including make/model of each component.

It sounds like a power issue, the PSU is likely either poor quality, or is borderline as fast as minimum power requirements go (it's why you have no issues without the GPU).

 

[supermanu15]

Please post your full specs, including make/model of each component.

It sounds like a power issue, the PSU is likely either poor quality, or is borderline as fast as minimum power requirements go (it's why you have no issues without the GPU).

| AMD Athlon x4 640 3.01GHz
| ECS-MCP61M-M3 v7.1
| ASUS EAH6770 DC 1GB DDR5
| 2 x 4gb Kingston 1333MHz
| CoolerMaster Extreme Powerplus 500w
| AOC 1943 18.5
| Segotep Raynor G2

These are my specs, its been in that cycle for a while and since it just suddenly gets working back to normal i overlooked it, now it happened again, I got it to turn on earlier with the discrete GPU but when I tried turning it on again when I woke up, it wont boot anymore :/

 

[Barty1884]

| CoolerMaster Extreme Powerplus 500w

I'd lay money on that PSU being at fault given what you've described.

The PSU is old at this point, and poor, poor quality. I seem to recall something about them being mislabled, or essentially being a "rebadged" version of an older CM unit. Essentially you had to knock 100W straight off the top to give a true reflection of the power of the unit (don't quote me on that, it's from memory). Essentially you have an older, poor quality 400W unit.

Rough calculations, your rig can pull north of 350W (although using an estimated 60W for the motherboard as I can't find anything to confirm it's max), with a 400W PSU (that may not be capable of putting out 400W any longer), it's really too close.

Sounds like a new PSU is in order.

A couple of suggestions in the $50 range (these will last, you can reuse them in a new build etc)
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

 

[supermanu15]

| CoolerMaster Extreme Powerplus 500w

I'd lay money on that PSU being at fault given what you've described.

The PSU is old at this point, and poor, poor quality. I seem to recall something about them being mislabled, or essentially being a "rebadged" version of an older CM unit. Essentially you had to knock 100W straight off the top to give a true reflection of the power of the unit (don't quote me on that, it's from memory). Essentially you have an older, poor quality 400W unit.

Rough calculations, your rig can pull north of 350W (although using an estimated 60W for the motherboard as I can't find anything to confirm it's max), with a 400W PSU (that may not be capable of putting out 400W any longer), it's really too close.

Sounds like a new PSU is in order.

A couple of suggestions in the $50 range (these will last, you can reuse them in a new build etc)
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9

I also forgot to mention, there are a lot of times in which i have to press the power button TWICE to light the unit up, then it start the on and off cycle like i described earler, i have researched earlier that the PSU was subpar but was the only thing i could afford during that time :|

 

[Barty1884]

Unfortunately it comes up a lot. Limited budgets should ideally wait a little bit longer, or make conscessions in GPU, CPU or RAM (appreciating nobody wants to do that though) opposed to PSU or Motherboard (another common 'cheap out on' component).

The PSU really is the backbone of your system, it's the only component that (worst case scenario) if it dies, can take other components (motherboard, CPU, GPU etc) out with it.

Doesn't sound like you've got a PSU that's sooo bad that it'll kill other components, but it also doesn't sound like it's capable any longer (it probably was ok for a while, but degrades rapidly) to power your setup.

 

[supermanu15]

Unfortunately it comes up a lot. Limited budgets should ideally wait a little bit longer, or make conscessions in GPU, CPU or RAM (appreciating nobody wants to do that though) opposed to PSU or Motherboard (another common 'cheap out on' component).

The PSU really is the backbone of your system, it's the only component that (worst case scenario) if it dies, can take other components (motherboard, CPU, GPU etc) out with it.

Doesn't sound like you've got a PSU that's sooo bad that it'll kill other components, but it also doesn't sound like it's capable any longer (it probably was ok for a while, but degrades rapidly) to power your setup.

Just in case we dont have seasonic from where i am, since ive always been the type who has contingencies, what other brands should i be looking out for? Should i always avoid coolermaster PSU's from now on? Thank you so much for taking the time to help

 

[Barty1884]

Where are you from? Out of curiosity.

Take a look at the Tier list here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
You want Tier 1 or 2 (Tier 2 are usually more affordable), 500W would be perfect.

SeaSonic are a brand you can trust outright, and they make PSUs for other "brands" too, like XFX (anything XFX is SeaSonic made).

As far as avoiding CM PSU's, as you'll see in the Tier list, most brands have "good", "bad" and outright "ugly" PSUs (as far as performance goes). The key factor(s) are the true manufacturer, not the brand - and the quality of components used.

 

[supermanu15]

Where are you from? Out of curiosity.

Take a look at the Tier list here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
You want Tier 1 or 2 (Tier 2 are usually more affordable), 500W would be perfect.

SeaSonic are a brand you can trust outright, and they make PSUs for other "brands" too, like XFX (anything XFX is SeaSonic made).

As far as avoiding CM PSU's, as you'll see in the Tier list, most brands have "good", "bad" and outright "ugly" PSUs (as far as performance goes). The key factor(s) are the true manufacturer, not the brand - and the quality of components used.

I am from the Philippines Cebu to be exact, ugh i use to think that coolermasters were the stuff, i mean theyve been advertised real well etc, what do you think about HEC, Silverstone and Corsair? Because ive found them listed in the price list of our local PC shops, some even have tommade and intex but highly doubt that these two are reliable seeing that they sound generic :/

 

[Barty1884]

Again, unfortunately the brands aren't the main thing - specific models would help to narrow it down, what specifically are listed?

Simply put, HEC don't make a "good" PSU for themselves or others. They're "Ok" at best, and more frequently would be quantified as "poor".

Corsair & Silverstone are a mixed bag. All the info is in the tier list I linked, but to answer your question directly:

Corsair:
Buy: AX, AXi, HXi or RMi (not just "RM", the "i" is important!) are great PSUs. The RM850 is good too.
Avoid: CS, RM (other than the 850W model), CX, CXM or VS models.

Silverstone:
Buy: Nightjar Platinum 520W is great - made by SeaSonic
Buy: Strider Gold Evolution, Strider Plus (600W, 750W, 850W or 1000W), SFX-G, SFX-LG are all good
Ideally avoid: Strider Essential (600W), ST300F, ST450FM, Strider Gold S 750W and Strider Platinum 750W - not the best
AVOID: Strider Essential (400W or 500W), Strider Platinum (850-1200W), Strider Titanium, SX-700 or Zeus - Junk.

 

[supermanu15]

Again, unfortunately the brands aren't the main thing - specific models would help to narrow it down, what specifically are listed?

Simply put, HEC don't make a "good" PSU for themselves or others. They're "Ok" at best, and more frequently would be quantified as "poor".

Corsair & Silverstone are a mixed bag. All the info is in the tier list I linked, but to answer your question directly:

Corsair:
Buy: AX, AXi, HXi or RMi (not just "RM", the "i" is important!) are great PSUs. The RM850 is good too.
Avoid: CS, RM (other than the 850W model), CX, CXM or VS models.

Silverstone:
Buy: Nightjar Platinum 520W is great - made by SeaSonic
Buy: Strider Gold Evolution, Strider Plus (600W, 750W, 850W or 1000W), SFX-G, SFX-LG are all good
Ideally avoid: Strider Essential (600W), ST300F, ST450FM, Strider Gold S 750W and Strider Platinum 750W - not the best
AVOID: Strider Essential (400W or 500W), Strider Platinum (850-1200W), Strider Titanium, SX-700 or Zeus - Junk.

Thanks a million! Ive always been an enthusiast but I am more of a minimalist enthusiast if there is such a thing but didnt feel the need to research the realm of PSU's, their certification and what-not but I definitely learned something new today I shall commence PSU-hunting tomorrow, more on model and not on brand, got it! I'll find the ones you specified.

 

[Barty1884]

Thanks a million! Ive always been an enthusiast but I am more of a minimalist enthusiast if there is such a thing but didnt feel the need to research the realm of PSU's, their certification and what-not but I definitely learned something new today I shall commence PSU-hunting tomorrow, more on model and not on brand, got it! I'll find the ones you specified.

Technically you're looking more for the manufacturer & quality opposed to model, but you've got the idea.

Good luck. Post back if you have any more questions!

 

[supermanu15]

Thanks a million! Ive always been an enthusiast but I am more of a minimalist enthusiast if there is such a thing but didnt feel the need to research the realm of PSU's, their certification and what-not but I definitely learned something new today I shall commence PSU-hunting tomorrow, more on model and not on brand, got it! I'll find the ones you specified.

Technically you're looking more for the manufacturer & quality opposed to model, but you've got the idea.

Good luck. Post back if you have any more questions!

Oh! Lastly, any PSU's you would care to recommend that is cheap and reliable for crossfire setups? I am planning to give my old unit(with new PSU of course) to my brother, EAH6770 doesnt have those crossfire plugs and as such will remain as a stand alone card, I am planning to buy a new build soon

 

[Barty1884]

Depends on the cards you have in CF (along with other power draws like CPU etc).

Most upper-end AMD cards can be power hungry, so the absolute minimum you'd need would be 750W - the EVGA SuperNOVA B2 750W is frequently on sale (or with a rebate) in the US/Canada, but as far as what's available to you I'm not sure.

Take a look at the Tier list again ,Tiers 1 & 2, 800W would be recommended for most cards, quality unit though.

 

[supermanu15]

Depends on the cards you have in CF (along with other power draws like CPU etc).

Most upper-end AMD cards can be power hungry, so the absolute minimum you'd need would be 750W - the EVGA SuperNOVA B2 750W is frequently on sale (or with a rebate) in the US/Canada, but as far as what's available to you I'm not sure.

Take a look at the Tier list again ,Tiers 1 & 2, 800W would be recommended for most cards, quality unit though.

Will 500w - 600w be good and able for CF-ing mid-range cards like 7770 for example, at best I am going for phenom, i am not going to buy high end ones, just the midrange cards

 

[Barty1884]

7770's are around 80W max, each. A Phenom (depending on the specifics) can be 125W.
80W x 2 + 125W = 285W
Add another 100W or so for HDDs, motherboard & peripherals puts you right around 400W.

A quality 500W PSU should be fine, 550W-600W would give you a bit of comfortable headroom.

 

[supermanu15]

7770's are around 80W max, each. A Phenom (depending on the specifics) can be 125W.
80W x 2 + 125W = 285W
Add another 100W or so for HDDs, motherboard & peripherals puts you right around 400W.

A quality 500W PSU should be fine, 550W-600W would give you a bit of comfortable headroom.

That is noted, thanks a million! This is all i needed to know, please close this thread