Is my 700w PSU the culprit?

[j2xtee]

hi,

i would kindly like to ask for assistance from the experts in troubleshooting my problem.

i bought my rig about 8 months ago, played graphic intensive games like mass effect 3 and witcher 2 without any problems with my gtx550 ti in high settings. only recently did it start to reboot everytime i played witcher 2, and even on idle mode after a couple of minutes my screen turns checkered pink and green then hangs up . brought it to a service center and diagnosed the video card to be defective so they replaced it with a gtx560ti. so i tested it by playing modern warfare 3 and battlefield 3, but still, my pc reboots or hangs up with a pink screen. would this be because my psu is insuffecient?

my specs:

i7-2600 (3.4ghz)
foxconn H67A-S v2.0
zotac gtx560ti
8gb ram
3pcs 7200rpm HDD
coolermaster x6
huntkey HK700-52PP (600w continuous power)

i stopped playing games for the meantime to avoid damage to my components due to constant hangups and reboot.

any help and suggestions would highly be appreciated. thank you very much in advance

 

[GhislainG]

A quality 500W PSU should be enough, but I know nothing about Huntkey PSUs. Can't you try another PSU?

 

[inzone]

You have a curious combination of cpu and motherboard in that with the cpu you have a top quality powerfull i7-2600 cpu matched with a low end budget motherboard.
Since the problem is the same after replacing the video card you can saftly rule out the new card being the problem. as far as what's causing the problem My guess would be the motherboard.
Can you upgrade the bios of the MB?

 

[cgner]

What is the amperage on that card? I had a 730w, 25 amp PSU that failed to even overclock my CPU and mid range card. 40+ amps is the safe zone for gaming PCs. For high end, dual GPUs, 60+ amps.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I think it's very unlikely to be the motherboard, and very likely to be the PSU.

 

[j2xtee]

thank you all for the replies.

@GhislainG: worse comes to worst and if the PSU is the problem then i have no choice but to buy a new one, would you have any suggestions? i'll be buying from our local supplier http://dynaquestpc.com/index.php/components-2/power-supplies.html but there are so many brands and models, i'm only looking for the cheapest but sufficient for my system as i'm working on a very tight budget thank you.

@inzone: i bought the cpu-mobo as a bundle from our local supplier. i've never tried to upgrade my BIOS coz i'm afraid i might mess something up and i'm clueless as to the process of installation how do i do it? is it the same like a video card driver with a simple single installer? thank you.

@cgner: i did a search and it says in the forums "combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of at least 36 Amps"

 

[inzone]

The upgradeing of the bios can be a scary thing the first time you go to do it and I do understand that , but once you do it you will see that it isn't that hard at all.
Most motherboards have a feature in the bio for a bios update to be done and it involves a usb stick.
The process is this , you take a usb stick and plug it into the computer and go to the web site of the motherboard and look for the downloads section or update sedtion , and download the bios file onto the usband make sure it is a newer one than the one that you have.
If the file is zipped then you have to unzip it to the usb stick and par attention to the file name or write it down. Then you go into the MB bios and look for the bios update utility and then you start it. You are asked to select the place where the file is and then select the file and select update.
It's a little harder than updating the driver of say a video card because your not in Windows your in the bios and there is no OS to help.
If you have the owners manual of the MB or can download it you would get some instructions from the manual.

 

[GhislainG]

thank you all for the replies.

@GhislainG: worse comes to worst and if the PSU is the problem then i have no choice but to buy a new one, would you have any suggestions? i'll be buying from our local supplier http://dynaquestpc.com/index.php/components-2/power-supplies.html but there are so many brands and models, i'm only looking for the cheapest but sufficient for my system as i'm working on a very tight budget thank you.

@inzone: i bought the cpu-mobo as a bundle from our local supplier. i've never tried to upgrade my BIOS coz i'm afraid i might mess something up and i'm clueless as to the process of installation how do i do it? is it the same like a video card driver with a simple single installer? thank you.

@cgner: i did a search and it says in the forums "combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of at least 36 Amps"

The Seasonic 520W S12II-520 (₱2,700.00) is a very good choice: http://dynaquestpc.com/index.php/components-2/power-supplies/seasonic-520w-s12ii520-s12ii-620-80plus-bronze-psu-power-supply-watts.html Review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=185

For the price (₱2,950.00 cash), the Corsair VX550W would also be a good choice: http://dynaquestpc.com/index.php/components-2/power-supplies/corsair-vx550w-watts-80plus-true-rated-psu-power-supply-enthusiast-series.html Review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=62

 

[Rugger]

What is your max comfortable budget? Don't cheap out on your PSU...Huntkeys are notoriously low quality and have a tendency to fail and take out other components when they do fail. Your HK700-52PP is the APFC 700; a 700W PSU with a single 6-Pin PCIe power connector. It is junk and the 700W rating is likely a MAX rating and not a continuous rating...in other words it might deliver 700W for short periods of time but not on a continuous basis. A decent 700W PSU will have at LEAST two 6-pin PCIe power connectors and really good ones have 4 or a combination of 8-pin and 6-pin connectors. A good 400W PSU will even have two 6-pin PCIe power connectors like the Silverstone ST40 F-ES. I don't recommend a 400W PSU for your system...just making anobservation.

A system with a single GTX560ti requires a 500W PSU with at least two75W 6-pin PCIe power connectors and it should hae at least 32A on the 12V rails. The Seasonic M12II-520 is an oustanding PSU; with 40A on the 12V rails and two PCIe power ocnnectors it is more than sufficient for your PC.

 

[cgner]

^Agreed. Get an antec/seasonic/cooler master/corsair PSU. Aim at 750+ watts to be safe even with dual gpu setup.