Power surges. is my PSU bad?

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GeneralMeatball

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Feb 24, 2014
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My computer shut down 3 times today because of power surges. When the computer boots up i get a message kinda like: "ASUS anti surge was activated to prevent harm to the computer" after that it boots normally and the PC runs fine for maybe 30 minutes and then it shuts down.
This is a fairly new build and these are the components: ASUS Z87-A
i7 4770k
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
Corsair CX600M 600w
1 TB HDD (not sure about model)
120 GB Kingston SSD
I have a feeling that the PSU might be a bit too weak but I have also read that ASUS anti surge triggers on false alarms.
Any help is appreciated!
 
Solution
ko888


You don't see Anti Surge on any other brands of motherboards other than ASUS'.

I find that Anti Surge is more of a gimmick than something that is inherently useful. I found that it was easily triggered on my own ASUS motherboard when overclocking the CPU if I got too aggressive with some of the overclocking settings even with a super stable PSU.

PSUs that are Haswell compatible and have acceptable transient response and within your budget limit:
Corsair CS650M...
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Leeoku

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Dec 25, 2013
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I had the exact same issue today/yesterday for the following specs. I really don't know if it's the PSU or I need to buy a UPS...

i5 4670
asus h87plus
seasonic 550w gold
nvidia gtx 770
240 gb ssd
1tb hdd
 
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westom

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At 600 watts, that supply is about twice the necessary wattage. Since your computer obviously is not so hot as to toast bread.

Wattage does not properly select a supply. Current for each DC voltage is relevant. We simply tell computers assemblers that they need double the wattage so that enough current should be available on every DC voltage.

To say what is defective can be determined in minutes with a meter. Numbers from six wires will say without doubt what is good and what is defective. The power 'system' has many components. A PSU is only one.

Two choices exist. Just keep replacing good parts until something works. Also called shotgunning. Then either cure the problem or only symptoms.

Or use a meter and one minute labor to get numbers so that the fewer who know this stuff can say what is wrong. To actually learn how the computer works (from the analysis of those numbers). To only buy one replacment part. AND so that a defective replacement part can be identified months before it starts causing failures after its warranty expires.

Two choices.
 
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ko888

ko888

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Feb 18, 2009
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PSUs with poor transient response are more likely to trigger Anti Surge Support.

The Corsair CX600M has poor transient response on its +3.3V rail and will even go out of spec (i.e. drops below the minimum allowed 3.14 Volts) and trigger the PSU's under-voltage protection circuit. Being unable to follow load changes quickly enough will be detected as surges.

For a system using a single AMD Reference Design Radeon R9 290 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 750 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Sufficient Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) is the most critical factor.

Overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU(s) may require an additional increase to the maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current ratings, recommended above, to meet the increase in power required for the overclock. The additional amount required will depend on the magnitude of the overclock being attempted.

Corsair CX600M (SKU# 75-002018 / CP-9020060)
• OEM: CWT (Channel Well Technology)
• maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 46 Amps
• two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors
• Haswell Compatible: No

Maybe a better quality PSU that can handle transient load changes properly will solve your problem.
 
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GeneralMeatball

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Feb 24, 2014
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Ok, could you link a PSU that is good quality? I don't want to buy the wrong stuff again :p
You also mentioned that my PSU is not Haswell compatible. I believe that my CPU is a haswell. Could that be the problem?
 
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ko888

ko888

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Feb 18, 2009
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Firstly, have you tried disabling Anti Surge Support in the UEFI BIOS?

If you have disabled that option and the problem still happens then you can be sure that the PSU is the likely culprit.

Where you would run into problems with Haswell compatibility is when the Haswell CPU enters C6 or C7 low power sleep state. Incompatible PSUs will run into a problem where the +3.3V or +5V rails will go out of ATX12V specifications when the power draw on the +12V rail is near zero and trigger one of the PSU's protection circuits causing the system to not be able to wake up.

What is your new PSU budget amount? What PSU brands and models are available where you live?
 
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GeneralMeatball

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Feb 24, 2014
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I can spend around 150 dollars on a PSU. I live in a rather large city in Sweden so pretty much all brands should be available since there are many shops deticated to PC parts. If I disable the anti surge and I get another surge. Will my components be harmed in some way?
 
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ko888

ko888

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Feb 18, 2009
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You don't see Anti Surge on any other brands of motherboards other than ASUS'.

I find that Anti Surge is more of a gimmick than something that is inherently useful. I found that it was easily triggered on my own ASUS motherboard when overclocking the CPU if I got too aggressive with some of the overclocking settings even with a super stable PSU.

PSUs that are Haswell compatible and have acceptable transient response and within your budget limit:
Corsair CS650M (SKU# 75-010708 / CP-9020077-EU)
XFX ProSeries XXX Edition 650W (P1-650X-XXB9)

I didn't see any Seasonic models on inet.se or komplett.se but all of the XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic.

I left out the Corsair RM650 (SKU# 75-001936 / CP-9020054-EU) because that model fails transient response testing.
 
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westom

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Normal is for a defective supply to boot and run a computer even for a year. And maybe eventually degrade enough to eventually crash the computer.

Because a computer does not or rarely locks, then its power 'system' is good? Of course not. That 'system' is more than just a PSU.

A surge alarm reports a defect. Now way around that. Many also cure a fire threat by removing batteries from a smoke detector.

No reason exists to believe a supply is defective. Since a power 'system' is many components; more than just a PSU. Better is to identify a problem (ie numbers from a meter) rather than replace good parts only on speculation.
 
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