Brownout/voltage problems?

Quantum_Weirdness · October 24, 2021

So a couple of months ago I moved to a new apartment, and started using my gaming rig there. In less than two months, I noticed my computer would hit a black screen of death when playing video games or sometimes watching YouTube videos (but it's an odd crash --the sound will keep on playing, but the m/kb and screen were totally frozen). Eventually my graphics card died, and so I assumed that that my GPU (even though it was only 2 years old) was faulty.

So I put in an older video card, and it died after a few weeks of usage with the exact same problems. So then I assumed my PSU was dying or damaged, and it bricked two GPU's. But, then I bought a new pre-built and after a month of owning it, it just did the same type of crash where I was watching a YouTube video and the sound kept on playing but the m/kb and monitors were froze. While I bought a warranty for it that covers brownouts, I'm not plugging this multi-thousand dollar machine back into a wall until I can figure out WTF is going on. This seems so absolutely crazy to me. All other electronic equipment is okay, including my laptop, TV, monitors, etc. I literally don't understand what could be happening.

Has anyone had a problem like this? Is there any recommended devices that can detect if I have bad wiring in my apartment or are there devices that can protect my PC from a problem like this?

EDIT: Two computers specs:

First computer was a 9900k core i9 / 2080 TI / 850 W EVGA Supernova PSU

Second computer was 10900F / 3090 / 800 W PSU (further specs are here: Cobratype Venom Gaming Desktop PC - Intel Core i9 10900F, NVIDIA RTX 3090, 64GB DDR4, 2TB NVMe, Windows 10 Pro - Free AIO Liquid Cooler While Supplies Last - Newegg.com).

Quantum_Weirdness · October 24, 2021

17 minutes ago, Caroline said:

We're missing some info here.

Specs of the computer.

Oh yeah, sorry:

First computer was a 9900k core i9 / RTX 2080 TI / Gigabyte Aorus Motherboard / 850 W EVGA Supernova PSU

Second computer was 10900F / RTX 3090 / 800 W PSU (further specs are here: Cobratype Venom Gaming Desktop PC - Intel Core i9 10900F, NVIDIA RTX 3090, 64GB DDR4, 2TB NVMe, Windows 10 Pro - Free AIO Liquid Cooler While Supplies Last - Newegg.com).

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Are you using a power bar, surge protector or UPS?

I am using a surge protector.

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What's the voltage? as far as I know could be whatever between 100 and 240V depending on where you live.

Does this happen when using any wall socket?

I live in the US, so in principle it's supposed to be 120 V. I haven't tried on another socket, it's hard to move my whole setup, but I suppose it's worth a try.

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There are tools to measure voltage, current and frequency but those won't detect say a defective joint, a cut/damaged wire, or a current leak (unless done with 2 ammeters)

An AVR or UPS could help if your voltage is basically a rollercoaster but it's hard to tell without being there.

I guess I'd just like to know if there's some local brownout/surging that's going on in my building. I've done some research and having blackouts for nvidia cards happening while watching YouTube or playing games has been reported since the 9xx series, but I've just never heard of it bricking cards.