Partial PSU Failure?

Swordkd · May 3, 2013

I ran 3dmark11 and looked at the scores. I noticed it had listed my Cpu being clocked at 2.8ghz and some change, and my Ram being clocked at 800mhz, so I rebooted my Pc to enter the Bios to look at settings(I just rebuild my system on Wednesday).

The Bios had everything listed correctly for speeds, so out of curiosity I entered the advanced settings and AI Tweaker. My system immediately shut down, died. When I pushed the power button my case light would light up and immediately died. After holding in the power button for about 5 seconds I got the system to spin up for a couple of seconds, then die. I rechecked all connections in the case, unplugged and reseated the motherboard power connectors and retried. Spin up, HDD spins up, then about 5 seconds later it all dies.

On a whim I turned off my power bar and moved the power cord from it's current plug on it, to a different one and retried my Pc. The case light came on, then the system beeped and finally booted into Windows just fine.

I've played games on the machine with no problems, and haven't noticed any other oddities so far. What gives? The only thing I can think of is a partial failure of my PSU, so I came here asking the question. System Specs are as follows:

i5 3570k
Asus P8z77-v LK
2 x 4gb's Crucial DDR 3 1600
HIS Radeon 6870
640gb WD Caviar Black
Thermaltake Frio cooler
OCZ Fatal1ty 750w PSU
DVD burner and 2x 120mm case fans mounted in a NZXT Guardian 921(blue)

Thanks for any help.

knightdog56 · May 3, 2013

You answered your own question, the power bar is most likely the problem, try a new surge protector with a 3000 joule rating. Also check for low voltage at wall outlet.

TenPc · May 3, 2013

Whatever you had connected to the power bar seemd to be drawing a lot of power.

Swordkd · May 3, 2013

I've had the same AC plugs connected to the power bar for the last 18 months. I also haven't unplugged any other item off the bar. My previous build also drew more power than my current build. Turning off the power bar and moving the plug from one outlet to another seemed more like kicking the tires on a car and having it suddenly be able to start up. Not really connected.

TenPc · May 3, 2013

Check the power point in the wall, if it looks a bit black or out of character somewhat, a power surge may have gone through iat some stage and caused the mishap or affected a connector on the power bar and you'd only notice if the PC or the other appliance on the power bar had been switched off then on again.

Also, sometimes connectors in a power bar get "sticky" or "clicky" when inserting or removing a plug and if so ,avoid using that particular plug socket, the connector bars inside the socket are loose or have been somewhat subjected to some sort of power surge.

You should consider acquiring only those power bars that have individual on/off switches so that you are not pulling out a live power plug should the occasion be required, as well as plugging in to a live socket.

Swordkd · May 3, 2013

Yeah, nothing like that on the power bar or wall outlet. I updated the bios and when it went to reset it died again. I'm now starting to wonder if my motherboard is bad or just not working completely correctly. When I'm in windows I'm rock solid, but changing settings in the bios causes issues. I don't know, and I'm at wits end on this. I think I'll pick up a surge protector just because it's a good idea, but I don't think that's the issue with my pc.

knightdog56 · May 3, 2013

Try to clear CMOS according to owners manual then enter BIOS and load optimezed defaults, save and exit. See if you can post. What version of BIOS did you update to? Also is the standby power LED illuminated on the motherboard with just the computer pluged into the wall outlet and the power supply switched on?

Swordkd · May 4, 2013

It finally loaded up, and I installed bios 1001. The standby LED is lit up when everything is plugged in and the power switch on the psu is on. Like I said, once I'm in Windows I'm just fine, it's only when I mess around in the bios. I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't boot up, or why it would suddenly work when it hadn't been.

TenPc · May 8, 2013

Messing around in the bios is cause enough for something to go wrong.

Swordkd · May 8, 2013

I'm familiar with changing bios settings, that's not the issue. Contacted Asus tech support and the only thing he had me try was resetting cmos. Didn't work so I was advised to rma the motherboard. Really frustrating though. Second Asus board I've had issues with in thirteen years.

TenPc · May 8, 2013

http://ocz.com/consumer/psu/fatality-750w-power-supply/specifications
Quad +12VDC @ 54A combined
The specifications state that the 12v rails combined amps is 54 and yet there are 4 x 18amps, would not that equate to 72 amps?

I'd say that the PSU, which seems unavailabe online, is somehow giving the wrong output as per the spec sheet and the label on the PSU.

Swordkd · May 9, 2013

Well, 4 x 18 = 72 obviously, so I don't know about that. I don't know a lot about the specifics of the PSU's. I just go off of reviews and site recommendations that I trust. That PSU has gotten good reviews though, and is listed as a tier 2 according to Eggxpert Tiered Power Supply List.

It didn't make sense to me that the system would shut down only in Bios, but it's solid in the windows environment. 0 issues while playing games, or anything else that would cause a higher power draw. Asus has told me to return it, so that's what I'm going to do.

Thank you for the responses.

TenPc · May 9, 2013

You should consider RMAing the PSU.

Swordkd · May 9, 2013

Why would I RMA a perfectly good PSU? I initially thought that's what the issue was, but I've since been convinced otherwise. I only paid less than 70 dollars for the PSU from newegg, and it's been perfectly fine. Just because the amps don't seem to add up, under testing this PSU can draw up to 980w before shutting down.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-Fatal1ty-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/1019

The Psu powers my system just fine, and I have no reason to believe that it won't continue to do so. I have way more than enough wattage headroom to add another video card and to overclock...if only the Led glow was blue it would be perfect.

TenPc · May 10, 2013

Let's go back to the beginning -

"The Bios had everything listed correctly for speeds, so out of curiosity I entered the advanced settings and AI Tweaker"

Could be that is your issue above everything else. Perhaps resetting the BIOS might also reset the AI tweaker.

Swordkd · May 10, 2013

The asus tech had me update to the latest bios(I already had) and clear cmos. Neither of which fixed the problem. After I replied as such to him, he told me to return the Motherboard.

I also never actually entered the ai tweaker. As soon as I clicked the button my system died.

TenPc · May 10, 2013

Disconnect all the power cables from the hardware except the video card then try to power on, leave the motherboard conectors in place, though.

I'm trying to debunk the PSU but am having no luck finding a site that agrees with me

The only thing that might or not be a concern would be having the cables connected to the PSU that are not in use,
that you are not using 12v1 for the graphics card, and
that the hdd cable is run from not from the next available PSU slot, ie 12v2

Swordkd · May 10, 2013

TenPc :

I have the cables connected to the PSU exactly as I had them in my last system, and that system drew more power natively and was overclocked(AMD Phenom II 940 oc'ed to 3.5ghz). However in my last motherboard, it only had a 20 + 4 pin main motherboard connector, and a 4 pin connector. This one has the 20+4 and an 8 pin. My PSU has both setup's always connected to the Psu, so I used the 8 pin cord. Manual is showing an 8 pin and a 4 +4 pin connectors for my Psu for the motherboard, so I might swap to the 4 +4...although I don't recall seeing it, but I might have just picked up different 4 pin connectors twice.

My video card uses 2 6 pin connectors, and those are connected to the PSU in the spots designated for PCI-E cables. What are you being disagreed upon on the sites you are looking at? Or, how are you trying to debunk the PSU?

TenPc · May 10, 2013

I'm trying to find fault with the PSU but even Tom's Hardware Reviews give it the all clear.
The refernce to the 54mps, even though quite adequate, are not the total Amps that 4 x 18A totals which I find rather querilous so I was rather thinking that 2 of the 12v rails would be only 9 Amps each instead. In saying that, I was on the train of thought that the sockets for the cables might also be affected by the change in amps (if that were the case) so that by using the sockets 1 & 2 would give better results, possibly (otherwise alternate between the sockets ()in the PSU)..

What I meant by the cable spots is that they might be marked on the back of the PSU as to which cable should go where (I mis-typed what I was trying to say) and that the cable connector iteself might be marked with a number or text as to which connector goes on what hardware.

Which SATA connector is the hdd?

Is there any DUST in the rig?

Do you use any other hardware like a PCI card or all in one SD card drive? TV card? Are there any other devices attached externally like a phone, camera, printer, external Storage drive?

Edit - I think I now prefer the NON-Modular types of PSU. Anything with a socket is likely to become loose or poorly fitting if you have the cable too tightly drawn between the PSU and the device.

Any chance you could add a picture of the PC insides?

Swordkd · May 10, 2013

I'll add a picture tonight after work. Only extra thing I have hooked up is a phone usb cable connected to the back of the case. All other possible power draws are listed in the original post. I'll also double check and see which connector I'm using for my HDD.

TenPc · May 10, 2013

Thanks for the pic.

Would you be able to replace the power cable between the PSU and the wall socket?

I had a Pc that wouldn't boot (I 've got a lot of PC's) and I tried everything until I decide to try a different power cable and the PC worked.
Some cables are rather thin and others are rather thick, either way, just try a different cable, if possible.

Swordkd · May 11, 2013

I have other pictures, but let me know if there is a particular area you want me to focus on. I took it while the PC was running. Tried to do my best for cable management, so it's not a complete cluster fluff. I'll try switching out the PSU main cord later, but I doubt that's it. I tried resetting the cmos again, this time taking the battery out(last time I did it, it remembered the system time...not sure if that matters because I had to reset all the system parameters). When I redid the bios, I got in and changed some things just fine, but I did that too when I first built the system.

TenPc · May 11, 2013

I'm not sure about that Thermaltake brick you got there, it's really close to the Video card. Does it have any fans in it? I would have assumed it to have one on the top to vent out the heat but there are no signs of vents on it apart from the sides (Ithink) and then if there are vents on both sides, the video card would be getting a lot of that heat.

In the beginning you stated: "On a whim I turned off my power bar and moved the power cord from it's current plug on it, to a different one and retried my Pc. The case light came on, then the system beeped and finally booted into Windows just fine."

Are you still having issues or are we just trouble-shooting something that already has been solved?

Most people say that if you have a vent on the "base" of the case then the PSU side panel fan should be facing it.

Swordkd · May 11, 2013

I burnt a 700w PSU when I had the PSU with the fan facing down. I'd bought it 4 years ago, and had it boxed up for 3(my motherboard at the time had built in graphics and I knew I needed an actual card, was saving the 700w PSU for that) then bought a new case and video card last year. I installed it facing down when I migrated everything to my new case and about a month later my PSU fried. I assumed lack of air flow, bought my current PSU, installed it like you see and have had no issues.

The Thermaltake FRIO has 2 fans connected to the motherboard blowing towards the back exhaust fan. I haven't messed around in the bios since yesterday, but after I post this I'll go back in and probably lose my pc for a while, lol. It'll eventually boot up, just annoys me.

TenPc · May 11, 2013

I don't use those new-fandangle cases, all of mine are more than 7 years old. I wouldn't think that the PSU would behave all that well with the side fan facing down on the desktop even though manufacturers swear blue in the face that it's "alright" and PC reviews seem to be taking their side. Ive read that you need to use a dust filter but wouldn't that also impede air flow? I've actually suggested to other OP's toadd books under the PC base to lift it off the desk to allow the extra airflow, none of them ever replied. lol

I'm a bit worried about the Thermatake brick, blowing hot air towards the back fan but it seems rather low and could be blowing hot air on the back panel ports. Also, it is real close to the video card, it might be impacting somewhat, check the heat of the heatsink (with your hand) to see if it is actually causing the video card to become overly hot.

That brick is also covering two of the ram slots, that also causes issues, it might be becoming too stifled for the ram.
you should consider going back to the stock fan if you sdtill have it, at least for testing and comparison.

Check the BIOS PC Health for temps at boot up, take notes then wait about 5 minutes or so and then see if those temps have changed. Just leave the bios open without changes made.

As for the BIOS itself, you should not make more than 5 changes of settings at any one time, of any setting even if it is for the boot priority, date/time, etc..

It's Mother's day today (here) so I may not be back on the PC for about 20 hours or so.

Do post back any other issues or good results.

Happy Mothers' Day!

Partial PSU Failure?

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