[SOLVED] PSU Too old?

archie.ives

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Dec 15, 2017
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Hey guys, I'm having an issue with my pc where when I boot up a game my monitor turns off and my other monitor freezes and the only way to fix my PC is to turn it off by the button, this only happened after installing my new GPU, does anyone know why this could be happening? (I don't know if it happens with other games as those are the only two I've been playing) also this only happens every 1 in 5 times

I did some searching up and I thought it might be PSU related? I have a really old psu (https://www.scan.co.uk/products/750...-120mm-silent-fan-sli-xfire-atx12v-eps12v-psu) it's 750w though and this problem only started to happen after I got my new 3070. DO you think this could be the problem? and if so do I need to get a new psu and if so do i need higher then 750? I was told 750 would of been fine
I have a 3070 FE

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
Well, based on your screenshots I am doubtful that the PSU is the problem, however, given the quality and expense of your hardware it is probably a very good idea that you did that. Consider it to be an investment in the protection of your hardware, even if it isn't the problem you are having right now.

Let me know if it doesn't fix the problem, because it still might be the fix even if the voltages look ok on software readings which are technically not the most accurate in some cases. Not as accurate as with a volt meter anyhow.

Also, make sure of ALL of these.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and...

archie.ives

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Dec 15, 2017
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How long has that PSU actually "been in service"?

What are the rest of your hardware specs?
Uhm, no idea to be honest, got the PC from my uncle about 5-6 years ago? He had it for a few years before that I believe, rest of my specs are;
Asus ROG MAXIMUS X HERO
Vengeance DDR4 16GB
i7-8700k
3070 FE
H60 Liquid Cooler

random ssd and hdd I got 5 years ago
 
Well, since it's arguably the MOST important component in ANY build, it SHOULD be something you'd really want to know. I'd recommend that you look, and see what it is. The model will be listed on a label or printed directly on one of the sides of the power supply. Usually it's on one of the sides that are visible if you remove the side panel but occasionally somebody installs one with the label on a side that is hidden and you have to disconnect the power from it, remove the four screws holding it to the case and then turn the unit until you can see the label. They will ALL have a label unless somebody has gone through great pains to remove it. Law requires that there is one there with the unit's specifications and certifications listed.
 
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archie.ives

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Dec 15, 2017
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Well, since it's arguably the MOST important component in ANY build, it SHOULD be something you'd really want to know. I'd recommend that you look, and see what it is. The model will be listed on a label or printed directly on one of the sides of the power supply. Usually it's on one of the sides that are visible if you remove the side panel but occasionally somebody installs one with the label on a side that is hidden and you have to disconnect the power from it, remove the four screws holding it to the case and then turn the unit until you can see the label. They will ALL have a label unless somebody has gone through great pains to remove it. Law requires that there is one there with the unit's specifications and certifications listed.
I posted the modle (I thought I did) here's a link to it https://www.scan.co.uk/products/750...3_1606338324_94c1c29f27a89a3e1ad1b2bf8e96ac17
 
Oh, you're right, you did. It's a Seasonic M12II-750, which is actually a pretty good unit BUT it is a very old model. It was a solid platform, with good build quality, but by now it's probably at least seven years old, likely more.

I would recommend that if possible you either get or borrow a volt meter and test the unit. In most countries you can usually find a cheap multimeter or volt meter at various retailers for fairly cheap if you don't have one or know somebody with one you can borrow.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw



If that's not possible, then at the least I would download HWinfo, install it, run it and choose the "Sensors only" option and then scroll down to the system voltage section. Take a screenshot of the section that includes the 12v, 5v and 3v readings and post that here by linking to it as follows.



Monitoring software

HWmonitor, Open hardware monitor, Realtemp, Speccy, Speedfan, Windows utilities, CPU-Z, NZXT CAM and most of the bundled motherboard utilities are often not the best choice as they are not always accurate. Some are actually grossly inaccurate, especially with certain chipsets or specific sensors that for whatever reason they tend to not like or work well with. I've found HWinfo or CoreTemp to be the MOST accurate with the broadest range of chipsets and sensors. They are also almost religiously kept up to date.

HWinfo is great for pretty much EVERYTHING, including CPU thermals, core loads, core temps, package temps, GPU sensors, HDD and SSD sensors, motherboard chipset and VRM sensor, all of it. When starting HWinfo after installation, always check the box next to "sensors only" and de-select the box next to "summary".


Run HWinfo and look at system voltages and other sensor readings.



*Download HWinfo

After doing that, it would be advisable to also try and run something that puts a load on the graphics card and PSU, such as Furmark or a demanding game, if possible, and then take a second screenshot of the system voltages.
 

archie.ives

Honorable
Dec 15, 2017
25
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10,530
Oh, you're right, you did. It's a Seasonic M12II-750, which is actually a pretty good unit BUT it is a very old model. It was a solid platform, with good build quality, but by now it's probably at least seven years old, likely more.

I would recommend that if possible you either get or borrow a volt meter and test the unit. In most countries you can usually find a cheap multimeter or volt meter at various retailers for fairly cheap if you don't have one or know somebody with one you can borrow.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw



If that's not possible, then at the least I would download HWinfo, install it, run it and choose the "Sensors only" option and then scroll down to the system voltage section. Take a screenshot of the section that includes the 12v, 5v and 3v readings and post that here by linking to it as follows.



Monitoring software

HWmonitor, Open hardware monitor, Realtemp, Speccy, Speedfan, Windows utilities, CPU-Z, NZXT CAM and most of the bundled motherboard utilities are often not the best choice as they are not always accurate. Some are actually grossly inaccurate, especially with certain chipsets or specific sensors that for whatever reason they tend to not like or work well with. I've found HWinfo or CoreTemp to be the MOST accurate with the broadest range of chipsets and sensors. They are also almost religiously kept up to date.

HWinfo is great for pretty much EVERYTHING, including CPU thermals, core loads, core temps, package temps, GPU sensors, HDD and SSD sensors, motherboard chipset and VRM sensor, all of it. When starting HWinfo after installation, always check the box next to "sensors only" and de-select the box next to "summary".


Run HWinfo and look at system voltages and other sensor readings.



*Download HWinfo

After doing that, it would be advisable to also try and run something that puts a load on the graphics card and PSU, such as Furmark or a demanding game, if possible, and then take a second screenshot of the system voltages.

when not in benchmark
when in benchmark
looks the same but unsure if this is the section you mentioned, only place i could find 5v/12v
 

archie.ives

Honorable
Dec 15, 2017
25
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10,530
UPDATE: I figured it was time for a PSU upgrade regardless of if it is the issue or not, I followed your guide you have about PSUs and ordered myself a Corsair HX750i, I really hope it is a problem with my PSU as last thing I want when Cyberpunk comes out is my PC freezing
 
Well, based on your screenshots I am doubtful that the PSU is the problem, however, given the quality and expense of your hardware it is probably a very good idea that you did that. Consider it to be an investment in the protection of your hardware, even if it isn't the problem you are having right now.

Let me know if it doesn't fix the problem, because it still might be the fix even if the voltages look ok on software readings which are technically not the most accurate in some cases. Not as accurate as with a volt meter anyhow.

Also, make sure of ALL of these.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.


Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



Fourth (And often tied for most important along with an up-to-date motherboard BIOS),

A clean install of the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.



And last, but not least, if you have never done a CLEAN install of Windows, or have upgraded from an older version to Windows 10, or have been through several spring or fall major Windows updates, it might be a very good idea to consider doing a clean install of Windows if none of these other solutions has helped. IF you are using a Windows installation from a previous system and you didn't do a clean install of Windows after building the new system, then it's 99.99% likely that you NEED to do a CLEAN install before trying any other solutions.


How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10, the RIGHT way
 
Solution

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