Is my PSU dying?

[Guest]

22 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I have just installed a new 3080 GPU and was playing Watch Dogs Legion and my PC suddenly starts switching itself off. It happened 2-3 times and I assumed it might have been my GPU overclock being too aggressive.

Are you using extension cables?

 

Do you have two separate cables plugged into your graphics card or are you using a pig-tail cable (two connectors on one cable)?

 

10 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I don’t see why people would leave one star ratings and descriptions of fried components for no reason. 

Because it is rare for people to leave positive reviews when something works properly.  But the rare occasion that something fails, the first thing they do is leave a negative review.

 

Failures of RMx are < 1%, and I'm not convinced yours is a failure either.

 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

If the PC shut itself off multiple times, there's probably something wrong with the PSU. That PSU is powerful enough to handle a 3080, but it's possible you got a bad unit. I'd probably try to RMA it if I were you.

Why is this shot in the dark reply marked as the solution?

 

22 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I have just installed a new 3080 GPU and was playing Watch Dogs Legion and my PC suddenly starts switching itself off.

When it shuts off, do you have to cycle the power switch on the back of the PSU to get it to come back on again, or can you turn it back on by just pressing the power button on the front of the case.

 

[GuiltySpark_]

10 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

When it shuts off, do you have to cycle the power switch on the back of the PSU to get it to come back on again, or can you turn it back on by just pressing the power button on the front of the case.

 

This critical point is overlooked by so many people that immediately jump to a PSU problem when a computer reboots. 

[Bobbysixjp]

49 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Why is this shot in the dark reply marked as the solution?

 

When it shuts off, do you have to cycle the power switch on the back of the PSU to get it to come back on again, or can you turn it back on by just pressing the power button on the front of the case.

 

At the end of the day would you risk a brand new 3080 that cost 1200 USD plus other components if the PSU was to fail? And seeing as it shut down multiple times in succession and now it works just fine with a new PSU is a strong indication that the RM 850x was faulty. 
The GPU was plugged into two separate cables (not pig-tailed). I was using cable extensions but I was also using them with my 6800 XT with no problems and they now work fine with the new PSU. 

[Bobbysixjp]

38 minutes ago, rickeo said:

This critical point is overlooked by so many people that immediately jump to a PSU problem when a computer reboots. 

It turned back on with the power switch on the front the case.

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

It turned back on with the power switch on the front the case.

Ok. Then it's not the PSU.

 

Also, DO NOT use extensions.  You know how Ohm's law works, right?   Longer the cable and higher the current, the more the voltage drops.  The extensions worked with your 6800XT because it uses A HELL OF A LOT less power than your 3080.

 

First step:  Remove the cable extensions and see if it works properly.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

and they now work fine with the new PSU. 

For now.

 

You were able to turn the PC on with the front button.  If a PSU latches for any reason, it requires a power cycle at the back and you didn't have to do that.

 

There's nothing wrong with your RM850x.

 

[Guest]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:10 PM, Bobbysixjp said:

I have another one on the way (ASUS ROG STRIX 850g) so I will try it out and see what happens. 

Wait... Doesn't this PSU come with CableMod cables?  And you're ALSO using extensions?

 

[Bobbysixjp]

13 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Wait... Doesn't this PSU come with CableMod cables?  And you're ALSO using extensions?

 

No I’m using the supplied cables with braided extensions. And I’m pretty sure my 6800 XT was pulling quite a lot of power (Red Devil Limited Edition running at 2.5 GHz). How much more does the 3080 need? Anyway regardless of whether the RM 850x was faulty or not I wasn’t taking any chances. Especially considering the strange noise it started making after the shutdowns. 

[Juular]

3 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I was using cable extensions

Damn, cable extensions strike back. I still assume that a sensible person would mention that when asking why their PSU doesn't work, i'm wrong again ...

3 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I was using cable extensions but I was also using them with my 6800 XT with no problems and they now work fine with the new PSU. 

Because you've reseated them when changing the PSU, give it another couple of months and the problem will be back.

3 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

It turned back on with the power switch on the front the case.

Hmm, i kept asking you about that too, you didn't answer either, it's not a PSU, it's probably GPU latching off due to UVP after voltage dropped under load due to cable extensions.

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

No I’m using the supplied cables with braided extensions.

Wait ... Are you using supplied ASUS cables or are you also using extensions with it ? If the latter - of course there wouldn't be this problem anymore. If the latter ... why ?

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

How much more does the 3080 need?

More than RX6800XT, maybe not by much, but still.

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Especially considering the strange noise it started making after the shutdowns. 

Which again, doesn't mean that the fan has failed, it might be just the fan hitting something, doesn't even has to be PSU fan actually.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, Juular said:

Which again, doesn't mean that the fan has failed, it might be just the fan hitting something, doesn't even has to be PSU fan actually.

Well, he said that there was a fan ramping up sound, but never really said that it was the PSU fan or some other fan.

 

Sometimes when I have a motherboard power, but fail to post, the fans plugged into the motherboard tend to go full RPM.

 

[Bobbysixjp]

Ok, so here goes:

1. I have been using the same cable extensions for nearly a year with my 6800XT and my 6800 before that and my 3070 before that (yes I have actually had all of these cards). There has been no problem with using them in a year so I just assumed that they’d been fine with my 3080.

2. I have never experienced any kind of shutdown like the one I experienced this time. I’ve had drivers crash because of various reasons and crashes caused by too high an overclock on both my CPU and GPU. But nothing like this - it’s as if someone pulled the power cable out of the wall.

3. Having just paid 1200 USD for a new GPU I was cautious having heard stories of a bad PSU taking out various components. Perhaps these stories are over reported but there you go. 
4. After the 3rd or 4th crash I plugged the monitor directly into my motherboard (I thought it might be the GPU causing the crashes) and heard a noise that was unlike any ‘normal’ fan noise. I’m not exactly a PC expert but I definitely know the difference between a case fan noise and something that doesn’t sound like a case fan noise. And this didn’t sound like a case fan (or PSU fan) noise.

5. I went online and ordered an ASUS Rog Strix 850g which arrived yesterday. I installed the new PSU and since then everything has worked absolutely fine. 
 

At the end of the day, it is working just fine now and I will try and RMA the old PSU (the RM 850x). If anyone cares I will post back when (if) I get any news about the RMA. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

1. I have been using the same cable extensions for nearly a year with my 6800XT and my 6800 before that and my 3070 before that (yes I have actually

had all of these cards). There has been no problem with using them in a year so I just assumed that they’d been fine with my 3080.

If you haven't had an issue until now, I would say that you're lucky.

 

I'm going to stick to my guns in telling you this is a bad idea regardless of what PSU you're using.  Again:  Ohm's Law.  Yes... "they" sell cable extensions, but they also sell giant useless wings and negative wheel camber kits for cars.  Just because you can buy them, doesn't make them a good idea.

 

[Bobbysixjp]

24 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

If you haven't had an issue until now, I would say that you're lucky.

 

I'm going to stick to my guns in telling you this is a bad idea regardless of what PSU you're using.  Again:  Ohm's Law.  Yes... "they" sell cable extensions, but they also sell giant useless wings and negative wheel camber kits for cars.  Just because you can buy them, doesn't make them a good idea.

 

You are probably right but then I see many ‘high-end’ builds with them installed (mine included). 

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

You are probably right but then I see many ‘high-end’ builds with them installed (mine included). 

They weren't built by people that know better, then.  You sure you're seeing extensions and not custom cables?

 

Most "high end builds" use proper individually sleeved cables made for the particular PSU they're using.  Not extensions that make their cables 2 feet long with 18g wire.

 

[Juular]

5 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

I have been using the same cable extensions for nearly a year with my 6800XT and my 6800 before that and my 3070 before that (yes I have actually had all of these cards). There has been no problem with using them in a year so I just assumed that they’d been fine with my 3080.

These GPUs with the exception of 6800XT are fairly conservative in power draw, but 3080 is especially unhinged to the point where cable extensions do matter. Your PC shutdown because the GPU detected too low voltage on 12V rail which dropped past limits the PSU was designed to provide due to all the addition resistance you've introduced with extensions. The PSU actually has a mechanism to compensate the voltage drop by sense wires going back to it from the far end of the cable but with extensions you're not having the benefit of that.

5 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

3. Having just paid 1200 USD for a new GPU I was cautious having heard stories of a bad PSU taking out various components. Perhaps these stories are over reported but there you go.

I mean, it's a normal reaction if you don't know better, but you now do, it's not a PSU to blame.

5 hours ago, Bobbysixjp said:

You are probably right but then I see many ‘high-end’ builds with them installed (mine included). 

And as evident by your case, it doesn't always manifest right away, but eventually it will, even just stock cables resistance increases over time due to corrosion and oxidation on terminals and contacts and overall aging of the cables, extensions add another chunk of wire and one additional point of contact. If you're lucky or use cable extensions in a case with good ventilation and low ambient temperature (which affects resistance) you might end up being just above the failure point, where the voltage is still low but not low enough for GPU to not work properly, but still. But being in Japan you probably have increased humidity which doesn't help in the slightest.