Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com - Horse Racing Message Board

Go Back   Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com - Horse Racing Message Board > Off Topic > Off Topic - Computers


Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
Old 11-27-2022, 01:11 PM   #1
PaceAdvantage
PA Steward
 
PaceAdvantage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Del Boca Vista
Posts: 88,183
PSU went bad after less than two years...

So, about a month ago, my system just rebooted on its own when I wasn't around...and I thought...that's odd...lol

I didn't have windows set to reboot after a BSOD, so it wasn't a BSOD that caused it to reboot...it just rebooted for whatever reason...

I brushed it aside as a one-off...

But then, a couple of weeks later, while playing demanding video games like Call of Duty and Fortnite, it would suddenly freeze to a relatively black screen with a few remnants of color...needing me to press the power button to shut down as everything else was non-responsive.

It would then go on to do this about every other day....

Then on Thanksgiving, it started to just turn off completely on its own while on the desktop and not playing any games or doing anything demanding...the motherboard LED would still be lit and the power button LED would remain lit, but everything else was off...no fans...no nothing...it just appeared as if it was turned off except for those few LED lights.

I would reboot the machine via pressing the power button...and about 5 minutes into it being back up and running, it would simply shut off abruptly again like someone pulled the plug...with the exception of those two aforementioned LEDs...

So, I hoped it was a bad PSU, bought a new one, threw it in there (not an entirely easy task in a small form factor case) and it's been up and running with no hiccups since Friday evening.

I won't be entirely sure this has fixed the problem until it goes at least a week without crashing again, but seeing how it was shutting itself off within a few minutes of rebooting the last two times I tried before switching out the PSU, I am pretty confident that is what the problem was.

I didn't cheap out on the original PSU either...it was a Seasonic, and most people have good things to say about that brand...it's certainly not considered "cheaping out" if you go with Seasonic.

I wanted a Corsair PSU, but I built this rig during the pandemic (late 2020) and there weren't any Corsair PSUs available that fit what I needed at the time.

I am now running the Corsair PSU I wanted originally....

So a word to anyone out there that builds your own PCs...even if it's been a year or two, a PSU can go bad on you...good thing as far as PCs go, this was a very easy fix (way easier than having to replace the motherboard or CPU, which was the only other thing it could be, as a GPU would not shut down an entire system like I was experiencing).
__________________
@paceadvantage | Support the site and become a today!

Last edited by PaceAdvantage; 11-27-2022 at 01:18 PM.
PaceAdvantage is online now   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-27-2022, 01:22 PM   #2
PaceAdvantage
PA Steward
 
PaceAdvantage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Del Boca Vista
Posts: 88,183
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering if the PSU I originally bought was powerful enough for my system...I am running an AMD 5600x CPU which has peak demand of about 142W...and a 3080RTX GPU that has about 250W-350W peak demand.

My original PSU was 700W, so this should have been plenty to run the PC without stressing out the power supply unit (PSU).

The new Corsair is 750W, so a little more overhead....
__________________
@paceadvantage | Support the site and become a today!
PaceAdvantage is online now   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-27-2022, 11:01 PM   #3
JustRalph
Just another Facist
 
JustRalph's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Now in Houston
Posts: 52,619
Saw this a million times when I worked in tech support

Always power supply or overheating processor.

Lots of times you could see the box “poll” the cd drive checking for files etc and the system would shut off due to the power draw from the CD unit. Power supply always fixed that ……..
__________________
WE ARE THE DUMBEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET!
JustRalph is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-28-2022, 10:48 AM   #4
davew
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 22,461
I have a laptop that reboots periodically (every few months). It is because of a Microsoft 'update'.
davew is online now   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-28-2022, 11:48 AM   #5
Longshot6977
Registered User
 
Longshot6977's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Central New Jersey
Posts: 1,467
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustRalph View Post
Always power supply or overheating processor.
Agree 100%. Sometimes it is just tons of dust and debris on the cooling fins of the CPU causing the overheating. Wouldn't hurt (for future readers that are reading this) to vacuum out the innards of your system and to unplug and reconnect the PSU cables before installing a new PSU.
Longshot6977 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-28-2022, 12:07 PM   #6
headhawg
crusty old guy
 
headhawg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Snarkytown USA
Posts: 3,909
Never ever skimp on the power supply. Don't cheap out. More wattage is better than less, stick with reliable name brands (Corsair being one), and Gold or better efficiency rating. If you are unsure of how much wattage is needed there are plenty of PSU wattage calculators available online.
__________________
"Don't believe everything that you read on the Internet." -- Abraham Lincoln
headhawg is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-28-2022, 09:08 PM   #7
Inner Dirt
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Beaverdam Virginia
Posts: 12,405
Also make sure to vacuum cat hair out of all the fan intakes to prevent overheating.
Inner Dirt is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 12-02-2022, 07:58 AM   #8
rastajenk
Just Deplorable
 
rastajenk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Lebanon, Ohio
Posts: 8,034
This was all above my pay grade before the last submission.

But I read through it because I have experienced similar, but not as drastic, blackouts recently on our nearly-10-year-old Lenovo all-in-one unit, and I sort of remember our host saying he uses a similar unit. I also get color-cast changes once in a while; from normal to a decidedly yellowish tint.

Probably time for a new one anyway, but in the meantime I'll check for cat hairs.
rastajenk is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 12-02-2022, 08:54 AM   #9
PaceAdvantage
PA Steward
 
PaceAdvantage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Del Boca Vista
Posts: 88,183
I've never used an all-in-one personally although family members have.

I've built all my own PCs except for two (well three, actually...my very first was Tandy pre-built...lol)

This one currently I also built myself...small form factor (NR200 case).

https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog...terbox-nr200p/

AMD 5600x CPU and Nvidia 3080RTX GPU
__________________
@paceadvantage | Support the site and become a today!
PaceAdvantage is online now   Reply With Quote Reply
Reply




Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

» Advertisement
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 1999 - 2023 -- PaceAdvantage.Com -- All Rights Reserved
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program
designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.