Discrete Signs of a Failing PSU

Fizban · August 4, 2019

Just last week my +10 y/o Zalman ZM750-HP failed. The PC restarted after I loaded a game and BIOS presented a power surge notice on boot. The system loaded back into windows, into the game menu, then shutdown - this time there was no power, and no turning it back on.

I replaced the PSU with an EVGA Sn 850-G3 and noticed immediate system stability improvement.

Here's what changed:

USB power Output: Wireless Headset charge and battery life improvement - I was hating on the Corsair Void wireless RGB battery life (it's still not amazing but much better than it was)
CPU/RAM/GPU Stability: Discord voice stutter when CPU under load, games minimizing at random or interval timings (more so when certain launchers were open at the same time), game freeze (seconds) from time to time, Video Editing software crashes - ALL GONE
General software stability improvement - system more responsive
PSU stability: This system would restart on first shutdown, no longer have this issue.

To knowledgeable folks these symptoms might be obvious signs, however, myself, never having a failing PSU had no idea. I always thought software conflict was causing my system issues and after seeing these changes I searched online to see if anyone had shared the same. In the results I found symptoms described more severe or telling of power issues and so wanted to share what I consider are more discrete symptoms of failing PSU. Of course if you have these symptoms of similar, they might not be caused by your PSU. But keep in mind while troubleshooting especially if yours is pushing it's life expectancy.