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PSU died suddenly - why????

N

nexium

Junior Member
Trying to get to the bottom of this .. would appreciate advice b4 I blow everything up not just the PSU.

Anyway I decided last week to oc my aging socket A system to get some more fps out of Quake 4. Upped the CPU from 15x133FSB to 15x150FSB (multiplier locked grr..), vcore from 1.65v to 1.8v. Stable in Prime torture test for over 4 hours. Everything looked sweet.

So then getting cocky I decided to oc the 9800Pro, checking with Quake 4 in intro screen. Turned oc down a little until no artifacts visible, ending up with just a total 2-3% oc.

Anyway started up the game and lo <5 seconds of purple haze all over the screen and vmmph dead pc. Turned out it was all too much for el cheapo 350W PSU. Lucky I had a spare not-quite-so-cheapo 500W PSU. Switching that in and everything was back again.

Question is, after all the careful upping, totally stable under stress test in WinXP, why does it suddenly die when Q4 engine started? Is it cos running everything suddenly at 100% overloaded the PSU (but wouldnt Prime cause this?)? Or does DX9 invocation require extra power? Or maybe it was just a sh1t PSU waiting to die? Am a bit worried as the PSU I replaced it with has 17A @ 12V, compared with 16A on the old one?

Suggestions?
 
I suggest you invest in a great bang for buck PSU. Atleast for your primary rig. Brand name DOES matter. You probably just ran into a little bit of bad luck, because most everyone who owns an old athlon is running on a generic PSU quite well. Least everyone I know is. 2 cent ^^
 
You're probably right. I've always used cheap sh1t PSUs. Could never quite understand the price differential between a generic and even the bottom of the line Enermax one. I mean am I really paying 8x as much for something which is night and day compared to the generic ones?
 
Originally posted by: nexium
You're probably right. I've always used cheap sh1t PSUs. Could never quite understand the price differential between a generic and even the bottom of the line Enermax one. I mean am I really paying 8x as much for something which is night and day compared to the generic ones?
Click to expand...

To a point, yes. Some of the super-high-end stuff is just jacked up WAY too much (*cough*PCP&C*cough*), but there's no way you can get a reasonably good 400+W PSU for less than $40-50 or so. The parts to build them just cost more. They ARE really cutting corners on the cheap models.

Question is, after all the careful upping, totally stable under stress test in WinXP, why does it suddenly die when Q4 engine started? Is it cos running everything suddenly at 100% overloaded the PSU (but wouldnt Prime cause this?)? Or does DX9 invocation require extra power?
Click to expand...

Prime95 doesn't use your graphics card at all (and running just the intro screen of Q4 probably isn't running it at anywhere near 100%). OCing it ups its power draw considerably, possibly to 100W or more. I would guess that the sudden increase in power draw from the video card starting to run full tilt killed it.

Or maybe it was just a sh1t PSU waiting to die?
Click to expand...

Also possible. I've seen really cheap ones go out for almost no reason.

Am a bit worried as the PSU I replaced it with has 17A @ 12V, compared with 16A on the old one?
Click to expand...

You have a "500W" PSU with only 17A on the 12V line? That sounds just as bad as the "350W" one.
 
You can get a 400-450w Fortron for like $40, thats what I would recomend. A 500w PSU with only 17A on the 12v rail is either really old, or generic. My 350w enermax had 26A on the 12v rail..
 
Originally posted by: stevty2889
You can get a 400-450w Fortron for like $40, thats what I would recomend. A 500w PSU with only 17A on the 12v rail is either really old, or generic. My 350w enermax had 26A on the 12v rail..
Click to expand...

i second that notion
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I think that backup psu will stay backup. Snagged a good deal on an Antec 450w Smartpower 2 with dual 12v rails off Ebay...
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
don't thinkpower usage is linear... 5% clock increase doesn't use just 5% more power...
Click to expand...

It's pretty close. Power usage is basically proportional to (clockspeed * voltage^2) for CMOS chips.

Not sure what this has to do with this thread, though. 😕
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
don't thinkpower usage is linear... 5% clock increase doesn't use just 5% more power...
Click to expand...

Could be. I only oc'ed about 2% and all hell broke loose, Q4 turned into a psychedelic vortex and psu blew. Almost as bad as when I went out leaving the pc on next to an open window with rain blowing in .. go figure.
 
Originally posted by: nexium
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
don't thinkpower usage is linear... 5% clock increase doesn't use just 5% more power...
Click to expand...

Could be. I only oc'ed about 2% and all hell broke loose, Q4 turned into a psychedelic vortex and psu blew. Almost as bad as when I went out leaving the pc on next to an open window with rain blowing in .. go figure.
Click to expand...
OpenGL rules! 😉
 
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