PSU or motherboard replacment

[Adrean Kael]

Im Looking at either having to replace my Motherboard or my PSU i'm not sure which. Im having issues with the computer randomly shutting off (no windows is shutting down message it's as if the power plug was pulled) and then instantly rebooting itself. I have checked my temps using MANY different monitoring programs such as HWmonitor, HWiNFO64, Speedfan, AIDA64 xtreme etc etc etc. My temps never go above 60c under heavy load (90% usage or more) for more then 2 hours (usualy 20c or less on idle). I have a gigabyte GA-970a-D3 motherboard with a AMD Athlon II x3 450.(stock cooler). HWmonitor reads my PSU 3.3v at 2.06v my 5v at 3.4 and the 12v at 7.76 volts However my bios reports much differnt numbers 12v is at 12.04v 5v is at 5.01v and my 3.3v is at 3.28v. Both the HWmonitor and the bios are read at idle. I dont know what the issue is and dont have a multi-meter to test the PSU. It will be at least 3 weeks before i can purchase another component for the computer and I REALLY want to upgrade my CPU. So anyway to know for sure which to replace that wouldn't include buying another PSU to test with?

P.S. No overclocking

 

[Anonymouselite5]

Well without purchasing a new psu, if they're nice they'll let your borrow a PSU just to test for a little bit, or you can borrow from a friend to test your system.

Restarts could be a variety of things, So the best option would to test every single part of your PC instead of just guessing a part and replacing it and not fixing the problem.

So first try to test your psu.
Also what is your psu model and GPU model? and other specs.
Also how long has this been happening, recently or forever?



-good luck

 

[Adrean Kael]

The PSU is a Thermaltake TR2 600w The case i honestly have no idea who makes it. I did check my Video card and ram though The video card is a Geforce GTX 660 Ti. System shuts down even when i swap out my 660 and use my old GTX 460 or even if i use an old pci 256 mb Radeon I have gathering dust in the closet and it doesn't matter what memory i use it still does it so I'm wondering if the different voltage reading from HWmonitor and my bios are indicative of the PSU going bad or if HWmonitor is just reading the voltage incorrectly. Or if the difference is indicative of a Motherboard issue. I have noticed the Northbridge on the motherboatrd getting hot so i put a HS and cooler on it, it helps but only very little.

 

[Adrean Kael]

It started 3 months ago with just one issue that I just figured was a fluke but its been getting worse and yesterday I couldnt keep it running more then 20 minutes without it shutting down.

 

[Anonymouselite5]

It's odd that my friend has the same problem with the exact some motherboard. Still I wouldn't want to spend money just to replace it without knowing for sure.
If it's still under warranty you can probably make them look at it and see what the problem is. BUT BEFORE YOU DO THIS.

Try updating the Bios on it really quickly, and also try starting windows in safe mode and see if it still crashes.

(safe mode: Startmenu, type in msconfig. Go to boot tab. Safe mode)
Also try clearing the CMOS.
Also random shutdowns could be due to a certain program, mainly your graphics driver perhaps.

Other than that, I trust Thermaltake psu's (doesn't mean they can fail) but there's alot of other people having problems with your motherboard.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2233183/gigabyte-970a-ud3p-double-booting-restarting.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2089441/system-rebooting-shutting.html

These people had the same problem.

-good luck

 

[Adrean Kael]

That's one of the main reason's I thought it could be the motherboard. But since it seemed power oriented I believed it could be the PSU. I am going to try the PSU on an old MB I managed to trade a friend out of and see if the issue remains. BTW 10 hours with no resets is coming up soon. The only change I have implemented is a reduction of room temperature. So the issue could be a stability issue with the PSU above room temperature. The processor and GPU temps haven't dropped more then 2°C so i don't think that's the issue since they have never been close to max temp.

 

[Anonymouselite5]

That's odd, Is your psu mounted on the top or bottom of your case? It could be the problem. Although it should be rated to run at 40 degrees.

Also the other problem may be is the actual Motherboard VRM's over heating as well, that isn't listed on HWmonitor.

Another reason why it may be shutting down is due to electricity surges. When the psu senses a surge it trips itself and cuts all power to your system, now it may not actually be a real surge but some psu's have problems with certain motherboards. Where for some odd reason things like that randomly happen.
Although this is very rare.

Test your psu on a friends MOBO and post back here

-good luck

 

[Adrean Kael]

Problem solved. It apparently was an issue with the 4gb stick of corsair ram i had installed. Apparently that stick did not appear on the supported ram list for my MB. Once i removed it ALOT of my computer issues stopped. Including the shutdowns, the cpu fan halting on boot for half a second and the free ram issue I had. Didn't think that the memory would be the issue but it seems to have fixed it.

 

[Anonymouselite5]

Problem solved. It apparently was an issue with the 4gb stick of corsair ram i had installed. Apparently that stick did not appear on the supported ram list for my MB. Once i removed it ALOT of my computer issues stopped. Including the shutdowns, the cpu fan halting on boot for half a second and the free ram issue I had. Didn't think that the memory would be the issue but it seems to have fixed it.

Yay you found the issue. It wasn't your motherboard or your psu. Well I guess memory isn't as expensive as a psu or motherboard so I guess it's a good thing.

Solution found.
-Happy gaming