Question PSU choice for my build / gaming problem (need new psu?)

[maziech]

Hey,

So my build is posted at my footer. I'm running OC'ed i7 2600k @4.6 with Aorus 1080 ti. Gaming at 2K most of the time.

Question:
What do You think, is Seasonic Prime 80+Gold (ssr-850gd) a good buy? I can buy good, used, 1-year old PSU with full warranty for about 100$.

I suspect my OCZ Fatal1ty 750W to be the cause of trouble in some serious stress moments. It's great, but an 8-years old PSU. All works great most of the time, but at close to 100% CPU and GPU load sometimes screen freezes and it drops me to windows in witcher 3 / WQHD/Uber. I tried everything to solve this issue. This only happens in this one game, but this is where entire system is under heavy load, so i suspect there are some high peaks of power usage, which my PSU can't handle.
When i set up vsync to 60fps, problem dissappears and i can play smoothly without any freezing (low power consumption?)

GPU was tested under load in furmark/3d mark and it seems to work fine - runs smoothly and has like stable 71C.
What i noticed during the test, is that GPU clock runs at 1600- most of the time, regardless of the setup/mode (i use aorus app for that, OC mode is set up to 1700+mhz, but at test it still runs at 1600-).
That made me think, that it's underpowered...

I know this 850W PSU is an overkill for this build, but the price is very good and i have some issues with my graphics now which i expect to resolve with that.
Besides, i'm going to switch soon (in 1 year) to some high end build like ryzen 3700X, maybe something of 10th gen. intel. So i'll be needing new PSU soon anyway.

Thx for tips about the PSU and described problem with the game!

 

[maziech]

Also, one more question. My motherboard is connected via 20-pin connector, but not with the additional 4-pin connector. (it was like this from the start, ATX connector has 24 pins).
AFAIK it's additional supply for motherboard and is required for PCI cards, that don't have external power supply connectors.
My 1080ti is ofc connected directly to psu on both 8-pin external connectors
I assume, I should just plug additional 4-pin connector in?

 

[DSzymborski]

You ought to have the whole 24 pins in there, especially given that you're overclocking. I'm not sure why you've never plugged those in.

I would never buy a used PSU without a way to test it, which means load testing equipment, not your PC. You hardly need an 850W PSU with this build and even if you did, you can get a new SeaSonic Focus Plus 850 Gold for $105 right now.

The larger problem is that it's likely that these problems are not PSU related (though as you say, you'll want a new PSU anyway for a new build). PSU problems generally manifest themselves in sudden power-off scenarios, not crashes-to-desktop on load. I'd fully power my motherboard and re-evaluate. Then if still a problem, I think I'd reinstall Windows and re-evaluate; I like to eliminate software problems early in the process before the more onerous task of replacing hardware.

 

[maziech]

you can get a new SeaSonic Focus Plus 850 Gold for $105 right now.

Yep, at our market (Poland), from what i see, it's about 130+$, at least at reliable sources.
I'm not really very familiar with PSU's, but from what i read, PRIME psu's from seasonic are high-end ones, FOCUS series is a bit cheaper.
Could You tell me what the differences are? Is it worth to invest in PRIME series?
(what i don't exclude is SLI setup in the future, if i'll be able to find anothr 1080ti cheap)

 

[DSzymborski]

Ah, the country makes a large difference!

The Prime ones are the higher outputs and efficiency. There's a bit of overlap of older Primes with newer Focuses because SeaSonic went to the Prime nomenclature first. They're all excellent PSUs.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about an SLI setup. Multi-GPU solutions don't scale very well except in specific games and that situation's gotten a bit worse in recent years. By the time you're thinking of a second GTX 1080 Ti, you'd likely be much better off selling your old one and simply paying the difference for a better single GPU.

 

[maziech]

So, yeah, thanks for Your help.

I'd fully power my motherboard and re-evaluate.

That will be done ASAP when i get home. Then i'll test it again without vsync limit.

Then if still a problem, I think I'd reinstall Windows and re-evaluate;

Gonna consider that, but 99,9% it's not the issue. Everything works super great, except for witcher 3, so i doubt it can be operating system issue.

By the time you're thinking of a second GTX 1080 Ti, you'd likely be much better off selling your old one and simply paying the difference for a better single GPU.

Fully aware of that, but thanks. Time will show.

The larger problem is that it's likely that these problems are not PSU related (though as you say, you'll want a new PSU anyway for a new build). PSU problems generally manifest themselves in sudden power-off scenarios, not crashes-to-desktop on load.

Tried everything and nothing else comes to my mind. Also, what worries me, the card doesn't run at full clock speed during the stress in OC mode, in tests like furmark (which might be caused by that not-connected 4-pin plug).
GPU itself seems to be okay, so as the rest of the system, which i use for 8 years...

Any ideas on last one?

 

[maziech]

You ought to have the whole 24 pins in there, especially given that you're overclocking. I'm not sure why you've never plugged those in.

Ok, didn't help at all. Also tried to manage clock speeds on GPU, reinstalling the drivers, another, older drivers, steam file integration check etc etc... No clue what's going on.... Maybe it's a steam or game problem....