PC Power Cutting Out A Week After Installing New GPU

delta36

Hi all,

Weekend before last I upgraded my GTX 670 Ti to an EVGA OC'd GTX 970. There were no issues at all, my build ran completely fine on games with settings maxed out. Saturday just gone, however, my PC has started randomly turning off. It will immediately restart when this happens, and more often than not reset again while starting up, if I switch it off for a few minutes and turn it back on it'll be fine.

My first thought was overheating, but I've monitored it and the CPU is at 70, GPU at most is at 40 at times when the system has shut down. It's not bluescreening either as I've set the system to not auto-restart on a BSOD. I haven't had a chance to run Linux off a USB yet, but I left the computer in the UEFI menu, and the power issue happened again, so it's not software related. There's also no consistent pattern as to when it'll happen, it's happened when I'm browsing the internet as well as when playing games. It's also not a socket issue because my screen is plugged into the same outlet and it doesn't flicker or anything when the reset happens.

My next thing to try is putting back in the old GPU and seeing what happens, but I'm at a complete loss as to what is happening here. The minimum requirements for this card, which is OC'd OOTB, is 500w, and I'm using a Corsair CX500m. I also figured that, if power was the issue here, that would have been apparent in the first week of using it, right? Is it possible that this card has just been pushing the PSU too much, and it's now permanently damaged? What else could be causing these issues?

TL;DR: Installed new GPU, worked fine for a week, now system randomly loses power.

As always, denizens of Boards, any help with this will be appreciated!

Xenoronin

PSU might be on the way out. 500W would be pushing the limits for an OC 970. Sounds like your CPU is overclocked too? 70 is rather high for average CPU temperature.

TerrorFirmer

Possbily the PSU but would be due to it being faulty as opposed to inadequate wattage, 500w is plenty (assuming you don't have an overclocked AMD processor and lots of other stuff going on). What's that 70c in reference to? If your CPU is anything remotely near that while browsing the web that's seriously an issue.

delta36

Xenoronin wrote: »

PSU might be on the way out. 500W would be pushing the limits for an OC 970. Sounds like your CPU is overclocked too? 70 is rather high for average CPU temperature.

CPU isn't overclocked, I just need to clean out its fan

Thanks for the response. PSU seems like the most obvious solution, but if that was the problem, surely that would have been noticeable immediately? I used the new card for a full week before any problems. Or is it possible I just pushed the PSU too much by using this card and it got damaged?

I've tried estimating my wattage requirements using those online calculators, and I get around 430W or so putting in all my system information.

delta36

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Possbily the PSU but would be due to it being faulty as opposed to inadequate wattage, 500w is plenty (assuming you don't have an overclocked AMD processor and lots of other stuff going on). What's that 70c in reference to? If your CPU is anything remotely near that while browsing the web that's seriously an issue.

Is there an easy way to test if the PSU is faulty? I don't have another PSU I can use instead. Well, 70C was the max it got to before the computer was shutting down, that's from gaming and other stuff, but like I said I do need to clean out the fan on the heatsink

Cuddlesworth

delta36 wrote: »

CPU isn't overclocked, I just need to clean out its fan

Thanks for the response. PSU seems like the most obvious solution, but if that was the problem, surely that would have been noticeable immediately? I used the new card for a full week before any problems. Or is it possible I just pushed the PSU too much by using this card and it got damaged?

I've tried estimating my wattage requirements using those online calculators, and I get around 430W or so putting in all my system information.

Could be a overloaded 12v rail. Do PSU's rate by what they pull at the wall or what they supply? By the symptoms described I would look at the PSU first.

Gumbi

500w is plenty for a 970. Even if you do have an AMD CPU it would be enough I'd say. 970s sip power.

It does sound suspiciously like a faulty PSU however. Perhaps it doesn't have enough power on the 12v rail though.

delta36

Thanks for all the replies so far folks, really appreciate it. This is the most frustrating computer issue I've ever had.

I could shell out on a new PSU (thinking the Corsair RM series) as away of ruling out the PSU being an issue. I still don't get why this problem would only be apparent after a week of perfect usage. What else, outside of the PSU could be causing it? The mobo?

eeguy

Could you be pulling more juice from a single rail than what its rated for?

Every voltage rail has a corresponding max amperage. Perhaps your PSU isn't rated highly enough on a single rail.

delta36

eeguy wrote: »

Could you be pulling more juice from a single rail than what its rated for?

Every voltage rail has a corresponding max amperage. Perhaps your PSU isn't rated highly enough on a single rail.

I may be wrong on this, but from what I've read so far, the 970 needs around 42A (can't find info on my specific card), and the PSU I have provides 38A on the single 12v rail it has. If that's the case, why did it work fine for a week?

TerrorFirmer

The GTX970 definitely doesn't need remotely near 42a, that's a ludicrous figure.

The PSU from a specification point of view is perfectly fine.

If it's the root of the issue, it's just a faulty supply and not any inherent inability of the supply to support your system.

Gumbi

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The GTX970 definitely doesn't need remotely near 42a, that's a ludicrous figure.

The PSU from a specification point of view is perfectly fine.

If it's the root of the issue, it's just a faulty supply and not any inherent inability of the supply to support your system.

42A @ 12v!!! Terror Firmer is right here IMO.

Spec wise the PSU should be fine, but it seems to be failing.

delta36

I may feel I know a lot about computers, but my knowledge of amperages is definitely minimal :P

I'm going to go ahead an order a new PSU. If it doesn't fix my problem, well I can always find a use for another PSU. I'll update this post once I've had a chance to install it, lest some other poor sod stumbles across this months from now with the same problem I have.

Thanks for all the help folks!

TerrorFirmer

It's always a good idea to have a spare PSU, I always keep a basic spare CPU, RAM, GPU and PSU hanging around for testing purposes in times like this. Nothing too expensive either, but for the €150 odd the stuff is worth I'd rather keep them to avoid potential headaches down the line.

delta36

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It's always a good idea to have a spare PSU, I always keep a basic spare CPU, RAM, GPU and PSU hanging around for testing purposes in times like this. Nothing too expensive either, but for the €150 odd the stuff is worth I'd rather keep them to avoid potential headaches down the line.

Good point. If I had a spare PSU now I'd have been able to use it and rule out it being a PSU issue entirely. (For what it's worth I really hope it's the PSU, caus I can't think what else is causing the issue).

Redfox25

Delta. Im in maynooth and hahave a spare 450w psu. It should drive your pc and would let you check your rig

delta36

Redfox25 wrote: »

Delta. Im in maynooth and hahave a spare 450w psu. It should drive your pc and would let you check your rig

Hey, sorry for the delay in reply, and thank's very much for the offer, but I won't need to borrow one from anyone!
I ended up getting a new PSU during the week as it happens, and since I've installed it I haven't had any problems at all, so, hopefully, that was the cause of the issue and it's all sorted now.

Thanks for the help boardsies!

(For the record, my old PSU was a CM500x, and I've not replaced it with a RM750i, and no, I don't know what the word "overkill" means, why do you ask?)