Power issues ASUS P8P67 Pro & Corsair 850HX

[GamingRig]

I recently finished building a new gaming rig for my son. Everything seems to be running smoothly except for power issues I'm having since the beginning of the build.

Occasionally when I disconnect, move the computer to another area and try to reconnect, the system would not power on. I can see that the mobo power led is on, but the computer would not power on. I have to unplug and re-plug the 24 pin connector to the mobo and then the system would power on. We also had few incidents when the computer would power off, and then I disconnected and reconnected the 24 pin connector in powered on.

The system ran fine for 3 days and yesterday I took it apart, reseated the motherboard, reapplied the thermal paste and the computer runs cool on idle 30c, while gaming 45c-50c and under stress test using IBT and Prime95 would go up to 63c - 65c.

The issue is intermittent and I'm trying to figure out if I should RMA the power supply or the mobo. Unfortunately I don't have another 'beefy' power supply to test with nor do I have a multimeter to test the PSU.

- Antec Mid-Tower Gaming Case Nine Hundred Two V3
- ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps
- Intel Core i5-2500K
- G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
- Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850-Watt HX Professional Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply
- Palit Geforce GTX 560 Ti 2048 MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x 16
- Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet Cpu Cooler
- Intel X25M 80 GB Solid State Drive
- Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA 7200

 

[ubercake]

You have plenty of power for that system. The problem could be with the supply or you may be shorting out the board somehow.

Assuming the power problem is not with the power supply, one thing to check is the front panel audio setting.

Is it set to HD or AC'97? Do you know if your case can facilitate HD audio if it is set to HD?

If this setting is not correct, you will experience shorts causing your PC to shut down or reboot sometimes while just touching the case, plugging in a USB device or through any method by which even the slightest static charge reaches the PC.

The V3 Black Edition spec page shows it using HD audio through the front panel. Make sure this setting is correct in the BIOS.

The problem could still be you got a bad power supply, but it's worth a try?

 

[GamingRig]

Thanks for your response.

The case comes with support for HD and AC'97 (both cables) and the mobo supports both. It currently runs with HD audio, I tried to run with no front audio and USB for a while with same symptoms. The computer has been running for the last 24 hours with no issues. Meanwhile, I ordered the Antec power supply tester www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LBCUTK and will check the voltage on all connections.

You have plenty of power for that system. The problem could be with the supply or you may be shorting out the board somehow.

Is it set to HD or AC'97? Do you know if your case can facilitate HD audio if it is set to HD?

If this setting is not correct, you will experience shorts causing your PC to shut down or reboot sometimes while just touching the case, plugging in a USB device or through any method by which even the slightest static charge reaches the PC.

The V3 Black Edition spec page shows it using HD audio through the front panel. Make sure this setting is correct in the BIOS.

The problem could still be you got a bad power supply, but it's worth a try?

 

[ubercake]

Thanks for your response.

The case comes with support for HD and AC'97 (both cables) and the mobo supports both. It currently runs with HD audio, I tried to run with no front audio and USB for a while with same symptoms. The computer has been running for the last 24 hours with no issues. Meanwhile, I ordered the Antec power supply tester www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LBCUTK and will check the voltage on all connections.

Did you run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool?

 

[GamingRig]

I ran the memtest86 with no errors. I believe that the problem is unrelated to Windows, since occassionaly I cannot power on the computer without repluging the 24-pin power connector.

Did you run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool?

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

I ran the memtest86 with no errors. I believe that the problem is unrelated to Windows, since occassionaly I cannot power on the computer without repluging the 24-pin power connector.

Windows is not present at the time you initially power the system so I don't think the OS is the issue. This could be something as simple as a bad power switch on your case, a faulty MOBO, or a faulty PSU.

If the problem continues, try clearing your CMOS and see if the problem persists.

 

[jaquith]

The most common explanation is a short {incl as mentioned bad switch}. If you used the OEM {stock} CPU Fan then I wouldn't be concerned about metal to MOBO contact {backplate}; if the backplate is plastic then a HSF short is ruled-out. Otherwise that too can cause a short regardless of the 'instructions.'

I assume that all of the standoffs line-up properly {i.e. no extras poking at the MOBO} and Front Panel is properly wired.

To check, unscrew all of the MOBO and PCIe screws and dangle the MOBO supported by a towel and meanwhile pull-out all of the Front Panel connections. Use a screw driver or wire to close/short the PWR+ & PWR-{ground}.

 

[GamingRig]

Windows is not present at the time you initially power the system so I don't think the OS is the issue. This could be something as simple as a bad power switch on your case, a faulty MOBO, or a faulty PSU.

If the problem continues, try clearing your CMOS and see if the problem persists.

Thanks for your reply. It might not be the power switch, since the computer powered off several times while running, but I'll try to power it on with a screwdriver next time it happens, so far It's up and running for three days without power issues, but I didn't move the computer. I'll try to check the PSU with the power supply tester this weekend, to see if there is any drop in voltage, and try to clear the CMOS as well.

 

[GamingRig]

The most common explanation is a short {incl as mentioned bad switch}. If you used the OEM {stock} CPU Fan then I wouldn't be concerned about metal to MOBO contact {backplate}; if the backplate is plastic then a HSF short is ruled-out. Otherwise that too can cause a short regardless of the 'instructions.'

I assume that all of the standoffs line-up properly {i.e. no extras poking at the MOBO} and Front Panel is properly wired.

To check, unscrew all of the MOBO and PCIe screws and dangle the MOBO supported by a towel and meanwhile pull-out all of the Front Panel connections. Use a screw driver or wire to close/short the PWR+ & PWR-{ground}.

Thanks for your reply. I have the Zalman CNPS9700LED CPU fan, which comes with washers and nuts, no backplate. I might try a different CPU fan next week (cooler master 212+). I reinstalled the motherboard and verified that it is well seated, I'll check again this weekend, when I get to test the power supply.

 

[philmurray]

I would seem to be in the same situation as yourself. I have just upgraded my sons system with this board and CPU, Zalman 500w power supply etc etc (mobo,ram,cpu,cooler supplied by overclockers.co.uk). Initially it would fail to start up first time power was applied, disconnect, wait for green light to go out, reconnect, power button now works. Very repeatable.

Having seen the previous posts I disconnected all the front panel connections and this seemed to cure the problem. However, 3 days later and its come back again.

I have no solution as yet, just wanted you to know you are not the only one!

 

[ubercake]

I would seem to be in the same situation as yourself. I have just upgraded my sons system with this board and CPU, Zalman 500w power supply etc etc (mobo,ram,cpu,cooler supplied by overclockers.co.uk). Initially it would fail to start up first time power was applied, disconnect, wait for green light to go out, reconnect, power button now works. Very repeatable.

Having seen the previous posts I disconnected all the front panel connections and this seemed to cure the problem. However, 3 days later and its come back again.

I have no solution as yet, just wanted you to know you are not the only one!

You shouldn't have to go without you case connections. This is a similar situation to OP.

Even though the case documentation says it supports HD audio out the front, I am not always sure the case manufacturers include the connections. Both of you should try switching to AC'97 for the front audio. I've seen people clear up the shorting problem by doing this in the past.

 

[GamingRig]

Thank you all for your help.

Just wanted to get back with a solution, in case somebody views this thread in the archive.

I ordered an Antec power supply tester and requested advance RMA for the power supply from Amazon (since it was still within the time frame of the first 30 days).

The tester showed similar good voltage values on all cables on both power supplies. I decided to install the new power supply anyway, and it has been working flawlessly for the past two weeks.

I also tested it extensively on several occasions with multiple power on/off to see whether moving the computer to another location, performing cable management or any other computer management tasks would cause the problem to reappear, and it has not.

So it was the brand new Corsair 850HX power supply after all, which caused these intermittent power problems.

 

[ubercake]

Thank you all for your help.

Just wanted to get back with a solution, in case somebody views this thread in the archive.

I ordered an Antec power supply tester and requested advance RMA for the power supply from Amazon (since it was still within the time frame of the first 30 days).

The tester showed similar good voltage values on all cables on both power supplies. I decided to install the new power supply anyway, and it has been working flawlessly for the past two weeks.

I also tested it extensively on several occasions with multiple power on/off to see whether moving the computer to another location, performing cable management or any other computer management tasks would cause the problem to reappear, and it has not.

So it was the brand new Corsair 850HX power supply after all, which caused these intermittent power problems.

Glad you got it worked out!

But I'd like to know what model of Antec power supply tester you bought so I can avoid buying one that won't tell me the difference between a good and bad supply?

 

[GamingRig]

Glad you got it worked out!

But I'd like to know what model of Antec power supply tester you bought so I can avoid buying one that won't tell me the difference between a good and bad supply?

Digital PC Power Tester SKU: 0-761345-77204-4
http://store.antec.com/Product/accessories-other/digital-pc-power-tester/0-761345-77204-4.aspx

I decided to keep the tester, since it's still better than the paper clip test to check if the power supply is completly dead, or voltage values of certain cables are out of range.

 

[GamingRig]

Best answer selected by GamingRig.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey