Lockup: Is this a psu issue?

[mcirillo]

Recently my rig has been locking up during bouts of intense gaming. I get the its-a-lockup noise and my video dies.

Originally I thought the problem was video related. Turned out to be a bad cable. Now I believe the issue is with my Cougar CMX1000. I ran some tests with OCCT to narrow it down.

The GPU test ran solidly. No errors.

A power supply test reproduces the crash. Voltage readings seem low. The 12v sits around 11.7, the 3.3v around 2.91, and the 5v around 4.36. Are the on-board readings biased? I've heard claims they read .2v too low compared to a multimeter. I haven't tested with a multimeter.

My psu is currently powering an i7 950 at stock voltage and 2 GTX 580s as well as the water pump that cools the both. I think I was cutting it close with the wattage when I built the pc. Could the psu have aged to the point where it can no longer do its job?

 

[ko888]

The Cougar CMX Series are known to have poor voltage regulation. That seems to be a common problem with PSUs made by HEC/COMPUCASE the OEM for all of Cougar's PSUs.

 

[mcirillo]

Any recommendations for a new one? I have had good luck with Seasonic in the past. I was considering this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151105&nm_mc=ExtBanner&cm_mmc=BAC-Criteo-_-Power+Supplies-_-SeaSonic+USA-_-17151105

 

[ko888]

For a system using two nVIDIA reference design GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in 2-way SLI mode NVIDIA specifies a minimum of a 900 Watt or greater power supply that has a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 68 Amps or greater and that has at least two 6-pin and two 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Total Continuous Amperage Available on the +12V Rail(s) is the most important factor.

Overclocking (i.e. factory or manual) of the CPU and/or GPU(s) will require an additional increase to the 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 you are trying to achieve.

The Seasonic Platinum Series 1000W (SS-1000XP), with its combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 83 Amps and with six (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is sufficient to power your system configuration with two GeForce GTX 580 in 2-way SLI mode.

 

[mcirillo]

Best answer selected by mcirillo.

 

[mcirillo]

Fantastic. Thanks!