Hey,
I need some help/advice on how to solve an issue that just seems wierd to me. I might lack understanding of possible differences between PSUs but this issue just leaves me at a loss.
About me: I've built all my own PCs during the last ~15 years. I work as IT Support and Hardware is usually my specialty. I will not claim to be an expert but I am also not completely clueless.
Region is Denmark/EU if that makes any difference to the below HW.
HW setup:
What I have are a few PCs to test with:
2x HP xw4600
1x Dell Optiplex 640
Then there is the "new" PSUs:
3x MS-Tech MS-N950-VAL
1x MS-Tech MS-N750-VAL
1x Corsair GS800 2013 Edition 800W ATX23
Before I go any further - Yes, I am fully aware that the MS-Tech PSUs are very cheap(around 40-50 euro - 50-60 $) and the expectations to quality follows that price.
And finally the reasons for the upgrade of PSU - "new" and shiny gfx-cards:
1x Radeon 5970 (max tdp: 296 watt)
2x Radeon 5870 (max tdp: 228 watt)
1x Radeon 5770 (max tdp: 108 watt) (Thx Eli!
)
These TDP-values are only for the gfx-cards - obviously I need to add wattage for cpu, mobo, ram, hdd and a few case fans.
Then the short story made long...
Started out with the MS-N750. Worked fine with 1x gfx-card (the Radeon 5970 - max tdp: 296). Then I added 1x Radeon 5770 for a total of max 404 watt(on gfx), and things started to go really wrong...
The PC booted fine, then I started a program with full load on the gfx-cards - 5 min later, a funny smell of burning plastic filled the room, and the PC shut down. This is definetly my own fault - 400+ watts and the rest of the PC was more than the 458 watt which could be pulled on the 12v rail. Fair enough, I'll just try the 950w - those 200w should give me enough power to add the 5770(108 watt). Wrong again Mr. Hvid... 5 min with load, a smell of burning plastic and a dead PSU.
Both where newly bought so RMA and back to the seller. No problem, they switched both of them (and I added a few $ to get 2x 950w instead of 750w/950w).
New PSU and only the Radeon 5970 - ran with full load for maybe half an hour, then dead PSU. Threw in the other new PSU and that has actually been running since (a week or so). 1 in 4 is a good succes-rate?
So... f*ck those MS-Tech and their cheap PSUs. RMA the dead PSU and throw in some more $ to get the Corsair 800w instead. It arrived today and I happily started installing. And now comes the thing I don't understand (wall of text to get to the actual point/question).
New Corsair 800w plugged into the HP xw4600 - no gfx (only onboard), no hdd, no nothing. Only cpu, mobo, memory. And then.. nothing. A green diode on the mobo indicates voltage. When I try to power the PC, the power-diode on the front flashes red four times (according to HP this is the code for PSU Overload - the same error I recieved when the MS-Tech PSUs stopped working).
I switch the Corsair to the other HP xw4600 - same result. Four red flashes.
I take the remaining and functional MS-Tech 950w - both machines power up fine. Then the original OEM PSUs (around 450w) and both PCs power fine. Then I dig out the old Dell Optiplex 640 - and all the PSUs work fine - including the new from Corsair.
TL-DR: So.. the question is this:
Why does the Corsair GS800 work fine with the Dell Optiplex yet fails to boot the HP xw4600, when all the hardware works fine with original PSU? And is there any kind of work-around to actually get it to work?
PS: I've previously updated the Bios on one of the HP xw4600 PCs. The other one still have the original Bios.
I need some help/advice on how to solve an issue that just seems wierd to me. I might lack understanding of possible differences between PSUs but this issue just leaves me at a loss.
About me: I've built all my own PCs during the last ~15 years. I work as IT Support and Hardware is usually my specialty. I will not claim to be an expert but I am also not completely clueless.
Region is Denmark/EU if that makes any difference to the below HW.
HW setup:
What I have are a few PCs to test with:
2x HP xw4600
1x Dell Optiplex 640
Then there is the "new" PSUs:
3x MS-Tech MS-N950-VAL
1x MS-Tech MS-N750-VAL
1x Corsair GS800 2013 Edition 800W ATX23
Before I go any further - Yes, I am fully aware that the MS-Tech PSUs are very cheap(around 40-50 euro - 50-60 $) and the expectations to quality follows that price.
And finally the reasons for the upgrade of PSU - "new" and shiny gfx-cards:
1x Radeon 5970 (max tdp: 296 watt)
2x Radeon 5870 (max tdp: 228 watt)
1x Radeon 5770 (max tdp: 108 watt) (Thx Eli!
)These TDP-values are only for the gfx-cards - obviously I need to add wattage for cpu, mobo, ram, hdd and a few case fans.
Then the short story made long...
Started out with the MS-N750. Worked fine with 1x gfx-card (the Radeon 5970 - max tdp: 296). Then I added 1x Radeon 5770 for a total of max 404 watt(on gfx), and things started to go really wrong...
The PC booted fine, then I started a program with full load on the gfx-cards - 5 min later, a funny smell of burning plastic filled the room, and the PC shut down. This is definetly my own fault - 400+ watts and the rest of the PC was more than the 458 watt which could be pulled on the 12v rail. Fair enough, I'll just try the 950w - those 200w should give me enough power to add the 5770(108 watt). Wrong again Mr. Hvid... 5 min with load, a smell of burning plastic and a dead PSU.
Both where newly bought so RMA and back to the seller. No problem, they switched both of them (and I added a few $ to get 2x 950w instead of 750w/950w).
New PSU and only the Radeon 5970 - ran with full load for maybe half an hour, then dead PSU. Threw in the other new PSU and that has actually been running since (a week or so). 1 in 4 is a good succes-rate?
So... f*ck those MS-Tech and their cheap PSUs. RMA the dead PSU and throw in some more $ to get the Corsair 800w instead. It arrived today and I happily started installing. And now comes the thing I don't understand (wall of text to get to the actual point/question).
New Corsair 800w plugged into the HP xw4600 - no gfx (only onboard), no hdd, no nothing. Only cpu, mobo, memory. And then.. nothing. A green diode on the mobo indicates voltage. When I try to power the PC, the power-diode on the front flashes red four times (according to HP this is the code for PSU Overload - the same error I recieved when the MS-Tech PSUs stopped working).
I switch the Corsair to the other HP xw4600 - same result. Four red flashes.
I take the remaining and functional MS-Tech 950w - both machines power up fine. Then the original OEM PSUs (around 450w) and both PCs power fine. Then I dig out the old Dell Optiplex 640 - and all the PSUs work fine - including the new from Corsair.
TL-DR: So.. the question is this:
Why does the Corsair GS800 work fine with the Dell Optiplex yet fails to boot the HP xw4600, when all the hardware works fine with original PSU? And is there any kind of work-around to actually get it to work?
PS: I've previously updated the Bios on one of the HP xw4600 PCs. The other one still have the original Bios.
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