[SOLVED] Possible PSU problem, would love to get some opinions.

[groscheveux]

Hey, first time posting, was always able to find an answer to my problems in already existing threads, but this time it's too specific.

So everything in my pc is about 6 months old but three things: my PSU (a 9 years old Cooler Master 1000w silent pro gold), my case (Rosewill Thor V2, also 9 years old) and my UPS (at work right now, don't have the exact model, but also 9 years old).

Additional specs:
Asus Rog Strix RX 5700XT
Ryzen 5 3600X
Asus Prime X570-P
Ask me if anything else matters.

I hadn't encountered any problem with this build so far, but this morning, this happened:

After a game of modern warfare, I'm spamming escape to quit lobby because I got rekt, and my whole pc just shuts down. Fan, leds and all. Pressing power button doesn't do anything.

At first, I tried switching off and on both the PSU and USP respectively, nothing. Then, I opened the case and found out which wire was going to the power switch, started fiddling with it, and bam, computer turns on.

Now here's the problem. Everything turned on but my graphic card. Leds on it were on but fans not spinning, monitor stays black. Everything else is on, CPU fan, case fan, etc.

I didn't get through anymore troubleshooting because I had to leave for work. Yes, nice non-stressful day at work right there.

My questions are:

What is, by the look of things, likely to have happened here?

Can a PSU only "partly die"? As in, could it be able to send power to some components, but not all?

If the PSU is faulty, is it a bad idea to troubleshoot by removing graphic card and trying to use onboard, or using my old one?

Thank you very much!

 

[Crowii]

What is, by the look of things, likely to have happened here?

My first thought is dying PSU. Second, something shorted. Third, dying GPU. Fourth, something triggered OCP (doubt it). Fifth, crusty power button cable/pin issued shutdown at a really bad time (highly doubt it.)

Can a PSU only "partly die"? As in, could it be able to send power to some components, but not all?

Sure, a PSU can partly fail... Especially when its age is almost twice the warranty period. Anything from voltages going up/down out of spec, a capacitor(s) just dying and generally unstable power delivery that can swiftly kill components. There should protection for just about all of that, but as long as a ''possibly dead old PSU'' is in question, then I personally won't trust a single sticker on it, inside my system.

If the PSU is faulty, is it a bad idea to troubleshoot by removing graphic card and trying to use onboard, or using my old one?

First and foremost I'd test the GPU in another system.

Then check your current system with a different PSU, thoroughly checking for any signs possibilities of shorting. Different beater GPU you don't care about at all as well, the 3600x doesn't have an iGPU, so you won't get any output from that. If that doesn't work, try another PCI slot. The main one might have died.

If you get in, try to gun it for event logs as the first thing, as long as you remember when your shutdown happened. More often than not, this will tell you if it was a PSU issue.

The unethical, unsafe way of troubleshooting it:
Reseat GPU, ram, all power connectors and I/O cables, try to boot, hope it doesn't turn into a metal box containing green smoke and a fireball, grab event logs if successful.

I'd largely prefer other people in on it as well, I'm but a single brain.

 

[groscheveux]

Thanks a lot for your answer!

Update and possibility of narrowing the problem:

When I came back from work, I powered the pc on again, just to check, and the graphic card actually powered on. I should have checked event log right away, but as stupid as it is, dinner was ready and I went for it. When I came back about 30 minutes later, everything was still on but the graphic card, it had turned off again.

So the graphic card clearly isn't dead, am I wrong thinking this is definitely the PSU dying out?Considering it's almost 10 years old, I'd have no problem buying a new one.

I have some old hardware I could use to run tests, but no other case so I'd have to take everything apart. Let's say if we're at least 80% sure it's PSU related and a new one would solve it, I'd rather just buy a new one right away.

I guess what I could do is unplugging and cleaning everything and then use my old graphic card to see if the problem persists, if it doesn't, put my recent card in and see if it turns off again... Just not sure how risky that is.

 

[BogdanH]

Crowii gave you some good advices, but you narrowed troubleshooting a bit with today's post. Your way of thinking is logical in my eyes, so I'm actually only confirming your thoughts.
That is, just to avoid wasting time, I would get new PSU first (yours is quite old anyway and is probably the troublemaker). Just get some quality 550-650W and you'll be fine (i.e. Corsair RMx650).
As Crowii mentioned, PSU can be partially broken (how that damage manifests, depends on rail/power distribution inside PSU). According to your description in 1st post, I would assume there's trouble with delivering power to GPU 2x 8pin connector (or weak contact there). Usually, if there's no power on these two connectors (screen guaranteed black), then you should hear "beeps" from MoBo during POST -indicating GPU card not present (not working, in your case).

 

[groscheveux]

Thank you so much for your time, your help is greatly appreciated.

So I will order a new PSU today and keep you up to date.

One small update tho, last night I tested booting with my old 780ti and got the same result in both pcie slots. At least some power get through the card, because leds AND fan turns on. Thing is, monitor still shows no display, tried both display port and HDMI.

Could that confirm that only some power is getting to the video card? Enough to power the fan in my 780ti since it only has one, not enough to power them on my 5700xt since it has 3?

Wondering if that's possible and normal behavior for a faulty PSU or if it's starting to point toward something else.

Thanks!

 

[BogdanH]

5700XT and 780Ti are quite similar in power requirements (230-250W depending on brand & OC). Single fan on graphic card needs only about (guessing) 2-3W -which is negible compared to the rest.
Now.. it would "great", if you'd have some very basic graphic card by hand. Any cheap PCIe card would do. Important being, it doesn't require any additional power (is without any 6pin or 8pin connector). Such basic card gets all needed power directly from PCIe slot. How would that help? If by using such card PC would run normally, then that would indicate PSU fault -meaning, it doesn't deliver power to 6/8pin connector properly. However, if PC wouldn't run with that basic GPU card (still black screen), then I would start assuming something is wrong with motherboard. In this case, also check inside PCIe slot on mobo (with loupe) for signs of burned/damaged contacts.
As you probably don't have some cheapo PCIe card nearby, buying new PSU is still a good idea.

 

[King_V]

From this write-up:

Rosewill

Rosewill is the Newegg house brand, but is also available through other sources. There are three Rosewill lines from among they many lines they sell, which in some circumstances might be good options. The Rosewill Tachyon, Quark and Capstone M series are pretty good options especially if there are no other options available that have been recommended here. The rest of the Rosewill power supply products are generally either very "meh" or are outright poor quality.


In MY opinion, Cooler Master and Thermaltake should be completely avoided

They do have a few good units, like some of the Thermaltake Toughpower series models, but most of the models sold by both these companies are either REALLY poor or barely mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced. The Thermaltake TR2 and Litepower series, even the newer revisions, should probably just be avoided altogether, along with the Smart series units, which are simply not good choices for use with gaming systems. If you want to use a Smart series unit with your internet browsing machine or some kind of low powered office box, it's probably ok. Although I'd recommend avoiding them, the Smart series units might be the best available units in some regions. That should not be mistaken for the idea that they are quality units though.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JonnyGuru for a well known brand name product. It should be a complete embarrasment for the company, but unfortunately this is not the first time we've seen a really bad power supply come from either of these two companies. Sad.

Cooler Master Masterwatt Lite 600W review

 

[NightHawkRMX]

9-year-old PSUs and a 5700xt. I would most definitely suspect the PSU(s) is/are the issue.

 

[groscheveux]

5700XT and 780Ti are quite similar in power requirements (230-250W depending on brand & OC). Single fan on graphic card needs only about (guessing) 2-3W -which is negible compared to the rest.
Now.. it would "great", if you'd have some very basic graphic card by hand. Any cheap PCIe card would do. Important being, it doesn't require any additional power (is without any 6pin or 8pin connector). Such basic card gets all needed power directly from PCIe slot. How would that help? If by using such card PC would run normally, then that would indicate PSU fault -meaning, it doesn't deliver power to 6/8pin connector properly. However, if PC wouldn't run with that basic GPU card (still black screen), then I would start assuming something is wrong with motherboard. In this case, also check inside PCIe slot on mobo (with loupe) for signs of burned/damaged contacts.
As you probably don't have some cheapo PCIe card nearby, buying new PSU is still a good idea.

Unfortunately I don't have access to any other graphic card, BUT, my 780ti is a founder edition, so everything would make sense, fan spins because there's enough power going through for it, doesn't spin on 5700xt because not enough power for 3 fans.

Alright, I'm ordering a PSU right away so it gets here tomorrow.

Thanks again!

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Which model of PSU are you ordering?

 

[groscheveux]

Corsair RMx650, as @BogdanH suggested!

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Very good quality unit! Let us know how it goes.

 

[groscheveux]

It worked! Thank you everyone, that was really helpful! <3

 

[BogdanH]

Glad you solved that on first try

 

[Siusiujuju]

Hey, first time posting, was always able to find an answer to my problems in already existing threads, but this time it's too specific.

So everything in my pc is about 6 months old but three things: my PSU (a 9 years old Cooler Master 1000w silent pro gold), my case (Rosewill Thor V2, also 9 years old) and my UPS (at work right now, don't have the exact model, but also 9 years old).

Additional specs:
Asus Rog Strix RX 5700XT
Ryzen 5 3600X
Asus Prime X570-P
Ask me if anything else matters.

I hadn't encountered any problem with this build so far, but this morning, this happened:

After a game of modern warfare, I'm spamming escape to quit lobby because I got rekt, and my whole pc just shuts down. Fan, leds and all. Pressing power button doesn't do anything.

At first, I tried switching off and on both the PSU and USP respectively, nothing. Then, I opened the case and found out which wire was going to the power switch, started fiddling with it, and bam, computer turns on.

Now here's the problem. Everything turned on but my graphic card. Leds on it were on but fans not spinning, monitor stays black. Everything else is on, CPU fan, case fan, etc.

I didn't get through anymore troubleshooting because I had to leave for work. Yes, nice non-stressful day at work right there.

My questions are:

What is, by the look of things, likely to have happened here?

Can a PSU only "partly die"? As in, could it be able to send power to some components, but not all?

If the PSU is faulty, is it a bad idea to troubleshoot by removing graphic card and trying to use onboard, or using my old one?

Thank you very much!

your current PSU is semi modular, try detach the cable and test a different connector on the PSU, i had the same PSU as you and it is 10 years old. I was struggling to get stability from one connector but when i switched to another it's fine, so yes the PSU is dying...but some parts still working
I know you've ordered a new PSU, but I would suggest getting a 750w just as future proof, You see the power requirement of these Amphere cards?

 

[BogdanH]

...I know you've ordered a new PSU, but I would suggest getting a 750w just as future proof, You see the power requirement of these Amphere cards?

Above mentioned 650W PSU is already future proof -for OP's current PC config, 550W would be more than enough. And currently having RX5700XT & Ryzen5 3600X, I can hardly imagine he will switch to 1000$ GPU & 500$ CPU soon. Still, having PSU he just bought, he has a plenty room for upgrading.
Just my opinion

 

[Siusiujuju]

Above mentioned 650W PSU is already future proof -for OP's current PC config, 550W would be more than enough. And currently having RX5700XT & Ryzen5 3600X, I can hardly imagine he will switch to 1000$ GPU & 500$ CPU soon. Still, having PSU he just bought, he has a plenty room for upgrading.
Just my opinion

It's called Future proofing, that 1000 dollar GPU won't cost 1000 dollar in a few years, and these 8 core, 16 core CPU will be so much more affordable in 2 years time, no longer 1000 and 500 dollars. Nvidia recommend a bare minimum of 750w for a 3080, and that card does not cost 1000 dollar discarding the price gouging of course , let alone a year or two down the line. with a 650 PSU i can almost certain that he'll need a new PSU on his new upgrade, He's on a 6 core now, his next upgrade would be at least 8 or 12 core , and his graphic card.