Troubleshooting. Is it the power supply or the gpu?

audiophillia · Mar 28, 2014

Hello, My name is Grant I built my first rig I about a year and I haven't had any issues until this month when my computer started to black screen, sound loop then shut down while playing Counter Strike. The first couple of crashes I pasted off as random events. However as time went on the crash became more frequent to the point where 10-15mins in an video game will cause my computer to black screen and shut off. I have also noticed that after a crash and reboot it will crash again in about 15-20mins regardless of what I am doing(Web browsing, skype, even in the bios screen it crashed).

I did a memtest for 4 hours no errors.
I stress tested my CPU using Prime95 the temp maxed out at 61C.
I stress test my GPU using Heaven Benchmark on high and my temp reached 72C and held.
I under clocked by card using MSI afterburner still crashed.
I formated my HDD and did a clean install of Windows 8. Install latest Nvidia driver still crashes 15mins of gaming.

I removed my graphic card and ran on onboard graphics crashes and I have has zero crashes since. Even while gaming using onboard(Haswell has suprisingly good IGP). So I have to assume either my gpu is bad and removing it from my computer has fixed the issue. Or my powersupply is bad and removing the gpu brought my power needs low enough that it can handle it.

If you guys need any more information to help diagnose my problem I will try my best to accommodate.

Thank you to everyone in advance.

My system:
OS: Windows 8
CPU: i5-4430
MOBO: Asrock H87 Performance
RAM: 4GBx2 Corsair Vengeance
GPU: Evga 660 ti SC
HDD: WD Black 500GB
Case: Corsair 200r
PSU: Corsair CX600
Case Fan: 120mm intake & 120 outtake

HiTechObsessed · Mar 28, 2014

My gut is leaning towards the power supply, as the CX series uses cheap capacitors, so it could be failing. You don't happen to have access to another power supply do you?

ram1009 · Mar 28, 2014

Your rational seems plausible. Unfortunately there's only one way for folks without access to a lab to test things and that's to replace them with something known to work. That's what I would do with the PSU if I were you. Don't let anybody convince you that checking PSU voltages is any indication of PSU health unless you can apply a load while testing. In fact, unless you're electrically knowledgeable don't even try it.

audiophillia · Mar 28, 2014

HiTechObsessed :

Sadly I do not have access to another power supply. The close store that sells might would be a Best Buy that 45 min away.

audiophillia · Mar 28, 2014

So the consensus is that I should get a new power supply and see if that works?

If you could recommend a good power supply for me. I prefer to buy from Newegg then risk something from best buy which is my only local option.

ram1009 · Mar 28, 2014

Well, I can't recommend anything to you that I wouldn't buy in your situation but you might not like the price of this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151107

Price is the last thing I consider when buying a PSU. I never run mine past 50% of rated wattage so I always pay a little more up front but I consider it an insurance policy. Anyway, you can't beat Seasonic for quality.

HiTechObsessed · Mar 28, 2014

You can get the same quality for half that price, 750w is WAY EXTREME overkill. This build will run maybe 300w at full load, tops. And that's even with a cushion, since you aren't running overclocked. This would be perfect for you, and is fully able to handle any single GPU you could put into it, even a 780 Ti.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

ram1009 · Mar 28, 2014

HiTechObsessed :

You're right, its overkill. That's exactly my intent and it's worth every penny. I wish I could over design every component I spec out so easily and cheaply.

HiTechObsessed · Mar 29, 2014

The point of overkill is it is overkill lol The 520w SeaSonic has PLENTY of 'overspec' built in. In the OP's situation, spending $110 is pointless, and definitely not worth every penny, as it won't perform any better than the $60 one.

ram1009 · Mar 29, 2014

HiTechObsessed :

I'm sorry but your ignorance is showing. You really shouldn't get into an argument about power supplies with someone who specifies them for a living. The term "better" doesn't appear on a spec sheet however for the sake of this discussion I'll agree that a smaller PSU will likely perform adequately for a while. My contention is that the more stress applied to any electrical component the sooner it will fail. So, although the cheaper supply may perform as well as the more expensive one it will almost certainly fail sooner. Maybe you don't care about that but I do.

HiTechObsessed · Mar 31, 2014

There is no ignorance at all. He is running a locked CPU with a pretty low power GPU. His setup will be running about 50% at full load, which is right around peak efficiency for the power supply.

This is MORE THAN PLENTY of headroom for degradation. At any rate, it includes a 5 year warranty. Going with too much 'safety net' would actually make the power supply degrade faster anyway.

Yes, it will fail sooner, but that's not the point. Unless this computer is going to be running at max load 24/7, it's not going to fail anytime soon. My dads 450w power supply is still running perfectly fine on his computer built back in 2009.

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Troubleshooting. Is it the power supply or the gpu?

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