Possible PSU issue - desperate need of some advice :)

English Hardware
1

Ok, I recently build my system, however the budget was limited so I went cheap for the first PSU - terrible mistake, as the second morning the entire rig didn’t power up. Exchanged the PSU for a new one, Intertech Combat Edition modular. (I didn’t know much about PSU’s at the time and was in a hurry to get everything together). Now, sometimes when I boot up the system, suse stops prior to starting x server with a black screen(the display is lit up from behind but it is all black). There is no error message, no control no nothing. The same happens if I restart and boot into Windows. I’ve got grub-uefi and win 8. I kept restarting with no success, and had no clue what to scout for first. Bios was working fine, all params looked ok, no overclocking done, nothing to hint on this.

I then, unplugged the rig all together, gave it about 1 minute and restarted. Everything booted up properly now. I haven’t made any kind of overclock to the GPU. The CPU is AMD fx8320 and has turbo enabled in bios and activates in windows as well when starting. It goes to a max of 4.0Ghz from the default 3.5. Other than that, everything is default.

GPU is Sapphire 7850 OC edition, with Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 edition. The RAM is a cheap Kingston 8.0GB 1333Mhz.

I am suspecting the PSU for being at fault with the startup issue, considering the way it gets resolved(unplugging everything). I believe if the ram, CPU or GPU was at fault, I couldn’t start it at all nor would have any stability in games or otherwise.

I want to know if anybody else shares my opinion regarding the PSU, or if you have any other suggestions. Should I change the PSU? Is there any fast inexpensive way I can put the PSU to a test?
If it needs changing, what else should I buy? The price of the psu was 60$ or 220 lei(Romanian currency). Shouldn’t this be decent? The rated output is 650(or at least so the label says).

Thanks in advance for your help.

2

On Mon 14 Oct 2013 07:56:02 PM CDT, vaseer wrote:

Ok, I recently build my system, however the budget was limited so I went
cheap for the first PSU - terrible mistake, as the second morning the
entire rig didn’t power up. Exchanged the PSU for a new one, Intertech
Combat Edition modular. (I didn’t know much about PSU’s at the time and
was in a hurry to get everything together). Now, sometimes when I boot
up the system, suse stops prior to starting x server with a black
screen(the display is lit up from behind but it is all black). There is
no error message, no control no nothing. The same happens if I restart
and boot into Windows. I’ve got grub-uefi and win 8. I kept restarting
with no success, and had no clue what to scout for first. Bios was
working fine, all params looked ok, no overclocking done, nothing to
hint on this.

I then, unplugged the rig all together, gave it about 1 minute and
restarted. Everything booted up properly now. I haven’t made any kind of
overclock to the GPU. The CPU is AMD fx8320 and has turbo enabled in
bios and activates in windows as well when starting. It goes to a max of
4.0Ghz from the default 3.5. Other than that, everything is default.

GPU is Sapphire 7850 OC edition, with Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 edition. The
RAM is a cheap Kingston 8.0GB 1333Mhz.

I am suspecting the PSU for being at fault with the startup issue,
considering the way it gets resolved(unplugging everything). I believe
if the ram, CPU or GPU was at fault, I couldn’t start it at all nor
would have any stability in games or otherwise.

I want to know if anybody else shares my opinion regarding the PSU, or
if you have any other suggestions. Should I change the PSU? Is there any
fast inexpensive way I can put the PSU to a test?
If it needs changing, what else should I buy? The price of the psu was
60$ or 220 lei(Romanian currency). Shouldn’t this be decent? The rated
output is 650(or at least so the label says).

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi
It could be RAM with incorrect voltage, in the BIOS can you adjust the
RAM voltages? You need to check the manufacturers spec for the RAM
before adjusting!

Fire up the openSUSE DVD and do a memory check.

650 Watts may be low, but you would need to check the hardware specs
for your M/B, RAM, CPU, GPU and drives to confirm.

Does the GPU require an addition power connector, if so is it plugged
in from the power supply to the M/B.

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 12.3 (x86_64) GNOME 3.8.4 Kernel 3.7.10-1.16-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

3

Have you run a memory test?? There is one on the DVD you installed from. run overnight. Any error is bad

Also make sure all the cards and cables a well seated. Something lose can cause odd problems.

4

I will perform the memory test as soon as I get the chance. I was thinking though that I should see stability issues if the RAM was at fault, such as random crashes, BSOD in windows, or random reboots when using VM’s in suse.

Sursa Inter-Tech Combat Power CPM 650W Modular

This is where I bought it(not of much relevance I think)

Inter-Tech GmbH - CPM 650W modular

This is it on their website.

When I chose this, I did so because of the rated power. Corsair or Antec at this output were waay out of budget.

The ram is Memorie Kingston 8GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, CL9, Non-ECC

Kingston Technology Company - Kingston Memory Search - Search Results for: KVR1333D3N9/8G It’s not a high end but seems durable.

I will let you know as soon as I get the chance to perform the RAM test. Also, after starting the thread, I went ahead and overclocked the GPU and CPU. GPU was at 1100(920default speed) and cpu at 4.5(3.5 default speed), hoping that if the PSU is at fault, the system wouldn’t start at those clocks and I then would have something to go on. Everything worked well, and tested the cpu with prime95 for about 30 minutes - didn’t crash and no error was reported(was only looking to see if the PSU can sustain output, not if the CPU is stable at that clock). Should I let it run more?

Thanks for your help :slight_smile:

5

Not necessarily.

It could be that you have any of a dozen+ different problems that might cause your symptoms. Either bad RAM or the wrong RAM is the usual culprit. Kingston is generally a pretty good brand (IMHO), but if you are inexperienced it’s very easy to buy RAM that is not compatible with your specific motherboard. The differences between module part #'s can be very subtle. i.e. timing, voltage, ECC vs. non-ECC, etc, etc. The Kingston website has excellent tools for selecting specific modules that are certified as compatible with particular motherboards and/or systems.

It’s also possible that one or more RAM modules is defective… not common with branded RAM, but it does happen. In that case a memory test as suggested by others will uncover that. Tip: Let the test run a long time. A quick test might pass but prove little.

Another simple test: If you have two or more RAM modules installed remove them and put each one in the socket you took another out of. If one is bad the failure might either be different or sometimes disappear altogether. (Remember that this test is not comprehensive by any means, so if you make the switch, and it makes no difference that does not rule out bad RAM.)

And, lastly: It’s almost impossible to diagnose any problem if you constantly introduce new multiple variables as you go along. That means get your system stable using stock parameters first and then, and ONLY then, begin to introduce new variables like overclocking one variable at a time. Make one and only one change then check for stability before making one other change. Otherwise you’ll never know if your stability issues are due to bad hardware or simple overclocking issues. I know that sounds very time consuming, but it’s actually the fastest way to get a stable system.

6

Rechecked the specs on mb and ram and they match. Also confirmed it with the compatibility list on kingston’s site. I let the PC run through the day with the memtest and see what happens. I’m thinnking if it is the PSU, I might be able to change it next month. Besides stability, I don’t think the RAM could cause any permanent damage to other stuff right? I think I can rule out the GPU as part of the problem, because those usually crash in games if something wrong (tested with crysis 2 at max and no crash for two hours). If PSU, is it too late changing it next month? As in, is there any high risk for permanent damage? If RAM, is there any risk for permanent damage if I change it next month?

Thank you kindly.

7

I suggest you only change one thing at a time. Introducing overclocking before your system is proven stable doesn’t sound like the best idea.

Faulty memory should not cause any problems other than possible data corruption. I also don’t think a faulty PSU would cause damage to other components unless it actually caught fire.

For the components you have a 350 or 400 W PSU should have been plenty, perhaps you bought the 650 W one to allow a second graphics card later?

First step is memory test, second step is reseat all components, check all cables secure. From what you say faulty grapics card is as likely as PSU. Does the motherboard have integrated graphics so you can test without the graphics card?

8

Didn’t check the cables yet. I bought it so because the gpu had a minimum req of 500 and the calcs I used were all recommening 550 or 500 minimum

9

Perhaps you missed this part of my post. :wink:

10

Good point on that, sorry.:slight_smile: