PSU Deterioration

[tomtor900]

I been having a problem where my PC reboots when I'm gaming, due to ASUS Anti Surge. The problem started a couple months ago. I used to play rocket league on the standard gaming mode of ASUS GPU Tweak and everything was fine. Suddenly the game would cause the reboots as mentioned. I counteracted this by turning the fans up on GPU Tweak, which fixed it. I recently got Overwatch and had been playing it with the fans up which was fine for a few days. After a couple days i needed to turn the power target and clock speed down as well as the fans up in order to prevent surges, now even that doesn't work and i can't play the game at all without it rebooting randomly.

 

I have

GTX 970

2500K

ACE 750W PSU

ASUS B75M Motherboard

 

What strikes me as odd is that this problem has developed over time and got worse, despite the fact there were no hardware changes. I have read turning anti surge off is a way to go however I am scared that this puts the safety of my components at risk.

[manikyath]

asus anti surge is hyperactive as all hell, but i'd defenately suggest looking into a new power supply soon-ish.

[xentropa]

Unless you are in an area prone to lightning striking power lines, severe cosmic radiation, or unreliable power with frequent blackouts, the chances a power surge will damage your components is nil to none.

 

Most power strips have some sort of surge protection anyways

[manikyath]

4 minutes ago, xentropa said:

 

Most power strips have some sort of surge protection anyways

just an FYI: most of those are absolutely terrible.

[quan289]

Asus Anti-Surge is an overly sensitive feature that is notorious for given false reports, and as such, it is typically useless for diagnosis and can be disabled.

 

However, the ACE 750w is an inefficient, passive PFC unit that isn't even a 550w unit. It has a low lifespan due to poor components selection in which it will degrade overtime (much faster than a quality build unit), which in turn its electrical performance will too suffer. This can cause stability issue as well as negatively affect the lifespan of your PSU.

 

I would too suggest getting a proper, modern day power supply for your system.

[tomtor900]

So, I should turn off ASUS anti surge and it isn't a risk to the safety of the rest of my PC?

[aisle9]

11 minutes ago, tomtor900 said:

So, I should turn off ASUS anti surge and it isn't a risk to the safety of the rest of my PC?

Get a decent UPS with good surge protection on it and it won't be a concern. I have an APC unit that has survived plenty of Florida summer thunderstorms--oh, and the crazy power delivery during a hurricane in the hours before everything goes black--without ever harming Senketsu or any other PC it's been connected to.

[quan289]

5 minutes ago, tomtor900 said:

So, I should turn off ASUS anti surge and it isn't a risk to the safety of the rest of my PC?

 

I'll just keep it on for the time being, as whether it is on or off, it doesn't change the fact that you have poor quality PSU that I would recommend replacing. Once you have a proper, quality PSU, then feel free to disabled it.

 

If you need help in finding a replacement, can you provide a link to stores you can buy from as well as a budget?

[tomtor900]

Quan, I used the CoolerMaster PSU calculator that spat out i should use a 600W PSU. I am willing to pay up to £45 from reputable shops and of course good manufacturers.

 

amazon.co.uk

ebay.co.uk

newegg.com

aria.co.uk

 

but I'm open to suggestion

 

[quan289]

Power supply calculators typically overestimate. A quality 450w PSU is capable of powering a GTX 970 + i5 2500k setup. If you want to go for a larger unit for piece of mind, have a look at the Corsair CX550M (not to be confused with the CX500/600 M units), Cooler Master G550M, Fractal Design Integra M 550w, or Antec VPF550. It should be in the £50 on top of my head.

[tomtor900]

Those are a little high for my price range, however they are worth consideration. The calculator gave this recommendation 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MV5YA08/?tag=cmcalc-uk-21&th=1

This is from Cooler Master (who are decent i think) and is a higher wattage and lower price (since it is on pretty good offer,)

In addition to this the 700W version is on offer for the same price, also on sale. Meaning i get £75 PSUs for £50

Could you give me your opinion on those please?

[rip]

11 minutes ago, tomtor900 said:

Those are a little high for my price range, however they are worth consideration. The calculator gave this recommendation 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MV5YA08/?tag=cmcalc-uk-21&th=1

This is from Cooler Master (who are decent i think) and is a higher wattage and lower price (since it is on pretty good offer,)

In addition to this the 700W version is on offer for the same price, also on sale. Meaning i get £75 PSUs for £50

Could you give me your opinion on those please?

Corsair CX450M is 50 pounds https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-9020101-UK-CX450M-Bronze-Certified/dp/B01C3FFOHS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1493565543&sr=8-3&keywords=corsair+cx

 

and is way better than CM B v2 I think since it's on the very end of PSU tier list

 

[tomtor900]

I think that is too low wattage, but cheers pal

[rip]

11 minutes ago, tomtor900 said:

I think that is too low wattage, but cheers pal

it's not

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, rip said:

it's not

backing this with some slightly more recent data: GTX970, 4790k, and other specs as listed on my profile, putting load on every part of my system a benchmark exists for barely surpasses 300 watts pulled from the wall.

[tomtor900]

You lost me mate

[quan289]

29 minutes ago, tomtor900 said:

You lost me mate

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8568/the-geforce-gtx-970-review-feat-evga/15

 

A system with an EVGA GTX 970 FTW and an i7-4960X @ 4.2GHz had shown to have a power draw of 306wAC at the wall. You said that a 450w is "too low wattage", but that benchmark shows that a 450w is indeed plenty for your system.

 

The problem here isn't about the rated wattage but rather the quality of the unit. The Corsair CX450M is a superior unit, as it based on a more modern design with DC-DC, along with it having a 5 year warranty and is semi-modular. To put it into perspective, the internal design of the Cooler Master B600v2 you had linked to is identical to the older Corsair VS550/650 model - which is a lower-end model than the CXM.

 

It's certainly better than your Ace 750w and will power your system if you do decide to get it; however, if you are going to invest in a new power supply, you should get the highest quality unit you can within your budget rather than going for a power supply that's simply higher rated.

[STRMfrmXMN]

3 hours ago, tomtor900 said:

You lost me mate

Everything here has been explained pretty nicely..?

 

A 970 + 4790K drew 300W DC. A CX450M would be fine. It's also not expensive. You should not have trouble affording a decent PSU if you bought a nice GPU in the first place.

[tomtor900]

Okay, well i havent got the cash at the moment but if the PSU is the problem then i'll buy the CX450M