New PSU and Graphics card. PC Crashing.

sanma · Apr 19, 2013

Hello,

I've run into a little problem. I bought today a PSU (Sentey BRP700) and a Sapphire Radeon HD 7870. I installed everything, browsed the web for a while and played BF3 for a few minutes and my pc crashed, some fan was going really fast though i'm not so sure which one, and the monitor went black like when the computer's off (flashing light). Hoping it'd be a one time occurrence, i rebooted the PC and everything worked fine again. Started playing for a bit longer and the same thing happened again.

Where/how should i check for problems? This kind of thing never happened before and i don't know if it could be the PSU or the graphics card. My old card (HD 5670) doesn't use 2 6-pin connectors like this one, so i don't think it's going to use nearly as much as the new one and even if it were the PSU i probably wouldn't know anyway.

I'd appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks!

Nick.

smeezekitty · Apr 19, 2013

How are your CPU and GPU temps?

Jake Wenta · Apr 19, 2013

sanma :

What's your build? Did you try using a calculator to see if your PSU is enough, are you overclocking-making it unstable or is your computer overheating?
Use this.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

sanma · Apr 19, 2013

@smeezekitty - what's the best way to check the temp while running the game and such? - I have seen an answer on another thread saying to manually change the fan speed of the card to 60%. I'll give that a try in a while.

@Jake - When i press calculate it's not giving me anything after changing the settings, maybe it's the browser. In any case, it's a 700w PSU and i've seen people run it with 600w without a problem. I have an Athlon II x4 2.8Ghz and 8 GB RAM DDR3 at 1333.
Nothing's overclocked.

smeezekitty · Apr 19, 2013

Watch either CCC or MSI afterburner and run the game in windowed mode at less then your monitors resolution.

sanma · Apr 19, 2013

Ok, i'll do that right now.

In the meantime, right now the temps can be seen in this screenshot:
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5413/tempax.png

GPU 31°C
CPU 36-40°C

sanma · Apr 19, 2013

So far the fan's going from 20 to 41% and temperature up to 60°C by now, though i'm playing campaign, which may be a little easier on the GPU. The CPU is at 53% right now.

Jake Wenta · Apr 19, 2013

sanma :

Is that with BF3 open? Try playing for a little and go back and check you temperatures.
And for the previous reply, it is possible it is your browser. I checked you requirements, no drives, HDD, or fans, usb or anything. Just CPU, Graphics Card, Motherboard, Memory. 305w Recommended, so you have plenty of wattage.

Jake Wenta · Apr 19, 2013

sanma :

Forgot to ask, what reso and settings are you running on, maybe you can not handle the current settings. Not until you install some liquid cooling or high end air coolers. Because it seems to me your crashes are from over heating.

sanma · Apr 19, 2013

So far the temperature stays around 60°C with the fan at ~40%. CPU at 55°C. I'm currently running at 1280x720 on high (windowed) so i can check. I was running at 1920x1080 High before. I checked and i could run ultra, but put it on high just in case. I manually put the fan at 60% (a bit noisy) and that lowered the temp a little.

Jake Wenta · Apr 19, 2013

sanma :

Yea, so from what it sounds like, it was most likely caused from overheating. So I would recommend not using higher resolutions or settings until you upgrade your cooling. Preferably watercooling to keep you temps as low as possible (stay away from closed loops

)

sanma · Apr 20, 2013

Well after more and more testing, it comes down to this:

After playing for about 20 minutes BF3 on High at 1920x1080 no AA. (Which i could do with my previous card before, though it'd be a little choppy), the black screen happened again. Both the CPU and GPU averaged 56~60°C under load the whole time, never going over 60°C. As far as i could read, that temperature shouldn't be enough to cause that crash, especially so often.

Do you still think it could be because of the temp? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

sanma · Apr 20, 2013

Trying again BF3 with the only change made to the GPU fan running at 55% and keeping the temp at 52°C max, after around 20 minutes again, the black screen appeared and the loss of signal from the monitor too.

EDIT: Also tried with Catalyst beta drivers, no luck.

Jake Wenta · Apr 20, 2013

sanma :

What model video card do you have? Is ita regular, oc or what? And how much vram does it have? 1 , or 2, or 3gb?

sanma · Apr 20, 2013

Hey Jake, first of all, thanks for sticking with me on this one, i really appreciate your help!

It's a Sapphire HD7870 2gb. It's not the OC edition, just the regular.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1160&pid=1700&psn=&lid=1&leg=0#

I also decided to try with a different game just in case the problem could be with BF3, but with Crysis the problem remains. In fact, it happened faster.

Thanks!

jacknhut · Apr 20, 2013

sanma :

Do you have a spare PSU ? Computer crashing underload can be caused by faulted PSU not providing enough current needed and that PSU you bought is not exactly made from a reliable brand either. In fact I have never heard of it before. I'm about 70% certain that the PSU is the cause of the problem, not the cards because HD 7k can operate normally at 80C (within manufacturer spec).

sanma · Apr 20, 2013

Unfortunately i don't; this one is faily new and is supposed to be relatively good and provide really 700w. I bought it for the card while i was waiting for it to arrive since it requires two 6-pin connectors. Is there any way i can test the PSU to see if it performs as it should?

Jake Wenta · Apr 20, 2013

sanma :

You're welcome, and as jack stated, it can be a PSU failure. Which is what I was getting to

. I was going to ask if you uninstalled previous drivers before installing this video card. Couyld be driver conflicts as well.
Now if this is not the case, the PSU is what I was going to look at.

I am a Corsair - Seasonic only guy haha. Most reliable brands in my honest opinion. I too have never heard of that brand, remember saving money on a cd drive is one thing, saving money on something that will be powering your PC continuously is another. Always better to chip in a few extra bucks.
But I do not know how to test power supply units, so I think I am done with this thread and maybe someone else on here who knows more on PSU's can help you

.
Hope your situation gets resolved.

sanma · Apr 21, 2013

Thanks again Jake!

Checking at least on the power, i downloaded HWMonitor and this is the result:

12v seems a bit low, however upon checking on the BIOS this is what i get:

I really don't know what else to check on the PSU. I tried running 3dmark and the black screen appeared shortly after the demo as well.

If the voltages are ok (from what i can see in the BIOS) and assuming it provides enough power being a 700w PSU, i really don't know what else it could be. The only recent changes on the PC are those 2 things.

Thanks for you help.

Isaiah4110 · Apr 23, 2013

What are the make and model of your PSU? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see it posted yet in the thread.

EDIT: Scratch that, I see it is in the first post. Sentey BRP700 has no online reviews listed in this PSU reviews database.

Ok, here are my initial observations:
■2-year warranty on a PSU is the first red flag for me
■No 80Plus certifications is another red flag
The on PSU specs are posted below:

■Two 12V rails that only output 510 total watts according to the printed specs but seem even worse (I calculate 480 W total output) is another red flag.

I'm going to do a little more research into your GPUs specified requirements, but my initial guess here is that you need a new PSU. If you are lucky then you will still be able to return the Sentey BRP700 and get your money back.

Isaiah4110 · Apr 23, 2013

I'm not finding the exact info I'm looking for regarding the GPU you purchased, but I remember reading on another 7870 GHz Edition card that the requirement was for a minimum of 24A rating on the 12V rail that it gets connected to. Your PSU obviously has two 20A 12V rails, which would mean it wouldn't meet this spec requirement (if it is the same for your card) and it is likely pushing the limit even if it doesn't have that specific requirement.

Looking at the brands and models I would trust, The lowest priced (on Newegg) PSU I'm seeing that I would recommend is coming in at $59.99 after MIR. I'm guessing that is significantly more expensive (Double?) than what you paid for the Sentey PSU, but this one will actually provide its rated wattage.

Take a look at the SeaSonic M12II 650 SS-650AM. I was able to get a good quality 550W PSU, the XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) when it was on sale for $40, but right now that one is coming in (again, on Newegg, not sure where you shop) at a higher price than the Seasonic PSU, so there is no reason not to get the Seasonic model right now.

sanma · Apr 24, 2013

Hey guys, thanks a TON for the answers!

I was able to return that PSU and got a Coolermaster GX650, which was one of the nicest things they had in a well-known brand i think. I've been playing BF3 in ultra settings for about 3 hours now (while it used to crash after 20-45 mins max), and no problems so far. Hopefully this will be the end of it.

By the way, i tried both, the 6pin, the 6+2pin and the adapter that came with the card.

Once again, THANK YOU!
Nick.

Isaiah4110 · Apr 24, 2013

sanma :

Excellent! I'm glad the problem is now resolved.

Is this Cooler Master GX Series RS650-ACAAD3-US the one you got? If so then it looks like it was manufactured by Enhance. It wouldn't be one that I would expect to see recommended by anyone on this forum, but I definitely think it should be ok for your usage. It also definitely seems to be running your PC alright at this point. It sounds like your options were limited, but the choice you made should continue to work for a few years.

Happy to hear everything is resolved!

sanma · Apr 24, 2013

That's the one i have, that's correct. Yeah, i didn't have many options, there was one other 700w coolermaster (extreme maybe) that was cheaper and didn't look any better, though i wouldn't know for sure.

Thanks!

New PSU and Graphics card. PC Crashing.

Distinguished

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Honorable

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Share this page