PSU Died, Replaced with Old One, but having issues with games.

[Sethisto]

My current specs:

570gtx
core i5 2500k
8gb ram

Earlier, I walked into my room and saw my computer was off, and wouldn't start up. I built this thing about a month ago, and everything has been fine.

After messing around with cables, i figured i'd test the power supply out. I grabbed my 750w Coolermaster PSU from my old computer and tossed it in, and all was good.

I ran it for about 5 hours, then decided to play some battlefield 3. When I launched the game, I could hear grinding sounds coming from the comp. I checked it out, and it sounded like it was coming from my 750w power supply.

I powered down and turned it on it's side to check if the fan was ok, booted up, launched the game again, heard the grinding, and the fan was still spinning fine.

It is off now until I can figure this out. Is 750w just not enough to power this thing under load? I'm still not even sure why my 850w died, It didn't smell like smoke or anything. I've had two die in the past, and they always had a smell to them.

I'm going to RMA the 850, but should I worry about this 750 for normal tasks until then? It doesn't make any noise unless I launch battlefield 3. This laptop is neat, but I work from my computer, and it's much faster.

 

[Toxxyc]

The 750 should handle it fine, unless it's also damaged due to some reason. If you say you've had two PSU's die on you before, maybe you need to look at the quality of the power line in your house, and a UPS or surge/dip protected plug may not be a bad idea to prevent it from happening again.

 

[Sethisto]

Could it possibly be coil whine? I doubt this thing was ever under stress with it's old build (8800 gt / q6600). Maybe now that it has to power a 570gtx and my i5 its actually getting a workout?

 

[Toxxyc]

I don't know. Coil noise is fairly uncommon, specially in the more high quality coils found in decent PSU's. It can easily be that though, and it can be fans and in some cases caps as well. I've had caps whizzing like a bird before, specially when you exceed the rated voltage and you load it up high. I've also had a few explode before, but that's a different story.

 

[Sethisto]

Hmm... It's just odd that I've never heard it make this sound before. It could very well be that I wasn't really using its potential.

Is there any extreme danger in testing it out a bit more in games?

 

[Toxxyc]

I wouldn't use it at all if it's making noises, to be honest. If it pops it can take all your equipment with it, including motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, everything. You need to ask yourself if it's worth the risk.