Do I need PSU upgrade?

[MrSycyS]

Lately I've run in some problems with my pc while gaming. Under load it tends to freeze for a second. After that everything runs ok. No matter if the game is pirated or not.

My knowledge of PC's is based on LTT videos and some forums. I mostly experiment knowing little about the subject. 

 

System:

CPU - Ryzen 5 1600X (@4.095 Ghz; @1.4V)

CPU fan - Antec A40 PRO

Mobo - Asrock AB350 Pro4

RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB 2400MHz DDR4 CL16 DIMM CMK8GX4M1A2400C16 (@2666MHz)

GPU - Zotac 1060 3GB (OC +130 core clock; +500 memory clock with afterburner) [OC'd monitor from 60Hz to 75Hz]

SSD - A-Data Ultimate SU650 480GB SATAIII 2.5" ASU650SS-480GT-C (for OS and most programs)

HDD - 500GB HGST HTS545050A7E380 (for games, movies & other large files)

PSU - FSP FSP500 60APN 85+ 500W (oldest piece of hardware - around 6-8yo)

...plus x3 case fans with LEDs, LED strip and Disk drive.

Case - Zalman Z1 NEO

 

When I checked cooler masters psu calculator with everything I have Load Wattage is around 480W. Recommended is over 500W.

I OC'd pc months ago, but just in the past weeks got hold of games from this decade (BF1, BF5, DIRT4, Project cars 2). Which is the time when freezing started.

Tested PC with UserBenchmark - SSD - average; HDD - around 90 percentile, everything else 95+ percentile.

 

When OC, I used Afterburner and Kombustor side by side. Kombustor runs stress test with no artifacts (at least 10 min usually). So I doubt if GPU is at fault.

Highest temperature that I've seen was 65°C for GPU in stress test. As I understand GPU is the bottleneck of my system.

 

I just don't want to waste money if that is not the cause.

Fell free to help me understand what to do!

Thank you in advance!

[BobVonBob]

It's not unlikely that your PSU will need to be replaced, over time PSUs get less efficient as the components in them age, most notably the capacitors. Try running a combined GPU and CPU load (e.g. Kombustor and Prime95) and see if you experience the same hitches. If so, it's probably the PSU.

 

Looking at some info about your power supply, it seems to have a split 12v rail, which could also be causing a problem if you're running both the CPU and GPU off the same rail. You might want to see if you still have a manual or datasheet that came with your PSU or can find one online to check that they aren't on the same rail.

[KarathKasun]

Pirated software, check for internet venereal diseases.

[seon123]

The problem can not be caused by the PSU, and your load wattage is going to be closer to 200W. 

Try stock settings. 

[NunoLava1998]

It's probably the PSU, as it's 6-8 years old.

A TX650M would be a nice replacement

 

However, the AB350 Pro4 also has freezing issues that get worse over time, so replace the mobo asap (B450M Pro4 is a nice alternative)

[MrSycyS]

22 minutes ago, BobVonBob said:

It's not unlikely that your PSU will need to be replaced, over time PSUs get less efficient as the components in them age, most notably the capacitors. Try running a combined GPU and CPU load (e.g. Kombustor and Prime95) and see if you experience the same hitches. If so, it's probably the PSU.

 

Looking at some info about your power supply, it seems to have a split 12v rail, which could also be causing a problem if you're running both the CPU and GPU off the same rail. You might want to see if you still have a manual or datasheet that came with your PSU or can find one online to check that they aren't on the same rail.

Ran Kombustor with Prime95. Froze like 30 seconds in the test.

Ran Prime 95 on its own. Almost stopped test, but PC froze 9-10 minutes in the test. 

I guess I have OCed a bit too much.

Maybe even though GPU is bottleneck at some points CPU has too much on its plate and make a stutter?

 

I'll now dial down the CPU frequency and run tests and games. 

 

I hope there is only one problem here, if both CPU is too OCed and PSU not capable, then I'll need a day or two just to figure this out.

[Stefan Payne]

9 hours ago, MrSycyS said:

PSU - FSP FSP500 60APN 85+ 500W (oldest piece of hardware - around 6-8yo)

 

i'd still replace the PSU as its an older, rather low quality PSU.

That design is around for more than 10 years, highly posible that it isn't able to keep up with modern components.

[MrSycyS]

On 1/22/2019 at 10:02 AM, NunoLava1998 said:

It's probably the PSU, as it's 6-8 years old.

A TX650M would be a nice replacement

 

However, the AB350 Pro4 also has freezing issues that get worse over time, so replace the mobo asap (B450M Pro4 is a nice alternative)

Well that's just great news. Mobo is not even 6 months old.
But as far as freezing goes, others reported freeze even in idle, which hasn't been my issue yet. I guess I will have to keep an eye on that too.

 

On 1/22/2019 at 9:59 AM, BobVonBob said:

It's not unlikely that your PSU will need to be replaced, over time PSUs get less efficient as the components in them age, most notably the capacitors. Try running a combined GPU and CPU load (e.g. Kombustor and Prime95) and see if you experience the same hitches. If so, it's probably the PSU.

 

Looking at some info about your power supply, it seems to have a split 12v rail, which could also be causing a problem if you're running both the CPU and GPU off the same rail. You might want to see if you still have a manual or datasheet that came with your PSU or can find one online to check that they aren't on the same rail.

About testing. 

lowered clock speed and voltage for CPU to 4.0 GHz and 1.375V, then ran Prime95 for almost half an hour - no problems, everything runs ok. Then as soon as I opened Afterburner (while Prime95 was working) it froze.

Same happened when opened Ryzen master while prime95 working.

Lowered clock speed to 3.9 - then no freezes at all.

 

Then I remembered that my psu has 4 pin connector for mobo, but mobo has 8 pin slot. Is that bad? Could it somehow limit my cpu?

[17030644]

22 hours ago, MrSycyS said:

 

When I checked cooler masters psu calculator with everything I have Load Wattage is around 480W. Recommended is over 500W.

 

1

Don't use psu calc, they're useless.

 

22 hours ago, BobVonBob said:

It's not unlikely that your PSU will need to be replaced, over time PSUs get less efficient as the components in them age, most notably the capacitors. Try running a combined GPU and CPU load (e.g. Kombustor and Prime95) and see if you experience the same hitches. If so, it's probably the PSU.

 

Looking at some info about your power supply, it seems to have a split 12v rail, which could also be causing a problem if you're running both the CPU and GPU off the same rail. You might want to see if you still have a manual or datasheet that came with your PSU or can find one online to check that they aren't on the same rail.

Are you sure PSUs get "less efficient" as they age?

 

or did you mean PSUs "degrade" over time?

[BobVonBob]

Just now, 17030644 said:

Are you sure PSUs get "less efficient" as they age?

 

or did you mean PSUs "degrade" over time?

Basically the same thing, possibly not worded as well as I could have. The components are less efficient at turning wall power into the DC the computer uses, but the unit can still only handle the same amount from the wall. Effectively component degradation leads to lowered efficiency.

[17030644]

1 minute ago, BobVonBob said:

 Effectively component degradation leads to lowered efficiency.

 

Not necessarily, hence I asked you if you actually refer to efficiency, which stands for how many resources are turned into usable stuff (in this case how much AC is converted into DC)

 

3 minutes ago, BobVonBob said:

The components are less efficient at turning wall power into the DC the computer uses, but the unit can still only handle the same amount from the wall. 

 

Not really, because not all the components on the power supply are employed to convert from AC to DC, some of them handle protection, some of them do the switching, etc.

[BobVonBob]

6 minutes ago, 17030644 said:

Not necessarily, hence I asked you if you actually refer to efficiency, which stands for how many resources are turned into usable stuff (in this case how much AC is converted into DC)

 

Not really, because not all the components on the power supply are employed to convert from AC to DC, some of them handle protection, some of them do the switching, etc.

The electrolytic capacitors used to smooth out the ripple on the power rails degrade over time, increasing their ESR, reducing their efficiency, and increasing the ripple on the rails, making them worse at powering things.

[17030644]

9 minutes ago, BobVonBob said:

The electrolytic capacitors used to smooth out the ripple on the power rails degrade over time, increasing their ESR, reducing their efficiency, and increasing the ripple on the rails, making them worse at powering things.

 

ok fair enough, now I get what you were trying to say

 

 

[Stefan Payne]

10 hours ago, BobVonBob said:

Basically the same thing, possibly not worded as well as I could have. The components are less efficient at turning wall power into the DC the computer uses, but the unit can still only handle the same amount from the wall. Effectively component degradation leads to lowered efficiency.

Still not true.

There are reviews:

https://www.computerbase.de/2013-11/alte-netzteile-test/

And Hard OCP did a couple of 10 year revisit articles about PSU that do not prove that claim, on the contrary.