Plug PC directly into wall outlet instead of power strip?

[Whateverchan]

I'm thinking of plugging my PC directly to the wall outlet instead of using power strip. The outlet is closer to my bed so I use it to plug in my phone and tablet's charger. Used to plug my laptop in it, too. I'm suspecting that my power strip might not be working properly. Just a guess, of course, so I want to test it.

I've had a few random PC restarts over the years, not blue screen, and I had no clue what caused it. Last time it happened, my PC stopped booting. I bought it to a repair shop and they determined that the CPU was the culprit. AMD said it was defective and processed the return. Last night, I put the new CPU in, after 10 minutes, it restarted again, 2-3 times. I powered down my PC, waited a few minutes, then turned it back on. No more restarts happened after that. I'm wondering if perhaps it's the motherboard or power issue. Power strip is quite old already. So I'm thinking of using the wall outlet instead. At least to see if anything else will happen again.

 

I'm aware that it's recommended to have surge protector and UPS instead. But I don't have them right now. And I want to know if this is power issue or other hardware issue. So, if I can only use either power strip or wall outlet, which one is safer to use?

[gamagama69]

I really doubt it's the power strip unless it has visible damage. However, you ain't gonna kill your pc by it begin connected to wall power. It jut protects against power surges.

[uzivkovic97]

@WhateverchanI've never used UPS in my life and I had few Computers. I only had one problem when it comes to plugging power adapter to the outlet and it was when lightning struck near my house. Luckily, only power adapter was dead (it came on fire)
After that, I've never experienced any problem. 

 

You can use wall outlet. 

 

As for your problem, I'd test power outlet first, and if PC restarts again, I'd take it to another room and plug it in wall outlet there just to be sure what's the problem.

Btw, are there any errors in Event viewer?

[Whateverchan]

12 minutes ago, uzivkovic97 said:

@Whateverchan

Btw, are there any errors in Event viewer?

 

Nope. Nothing. Even WhoCrashed didn't report anything, either. At least now I can test the wall outlet without worrying about anything.

[uzivkovic97]

13 minutes ago, Whateverchan said:

 

Nope. Nothing. Even WhoCrashed didn't report anything, either. At least now I can test the wall outlet without worrying about anything.

Try it. If this still happens, I'd check PSU first instead of Motherboard. 

I'm surprised though that there aren't any errors when the PC restarts. Never seen something similar.

[OddOod]

I will always suspect PSU before wall power, but that might be my American bias

[Whateverchan]

Uh... Problem is that the power cable is too short so while it does reach the wall outlet, it's gonna be hanging out on the wall. I plugged it into another socket on the power strip instead (hope it wasn't the same one I used to plug it into). 

 

I actually paid extra for the PSU. It was platinum something, $120 or so. God hates me if it turns out the culprit is the PSU. Not that the random restarts happened often enough for me to find out. Happened only twice in a week or so last year. I'm not looking forward to seeing it happens again. If it does, maybe I'll buy a new power strip, or plug it into the wall and test again, or check the PSU (not like I can tell if anything's wrong with it, though...).

 

So that means the CPU malfunctioned because of some power related issue?

I have a PS4 plugged into this same power strip, too, lol.

 

Update: it just happened again, lol. Onto the wall outlet, it is. XD

 

Edit: this is the PSU I bought in 2020. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017WL5UIG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Uh, I never noticed any fan noise issue, though.

[Whateverchan]

Again. Two more times. I think I need to start looking for a new PSU.

 

Can anything else be the cause...? Guess this also means I wasted $110? Too late for refund, huh? And... what if this continues after I switch the PSU?

[SavageNeo]

2 hours ago, Whateverchan said:

this is the PSU I bought in 2020. 

not the best psu but not the worst either. Effiency like 80+ platinum is just marketing adn doesn ot affect the quality of the psu in anyway.

[Whateverchan]

I checked the PSU. Unplugged the cables and plugged them back in. No loose cables. Well, except the mobo cable, because that thing is too damn tight I couldn't even take it out, lol, so no chance of it being loose for sure. Anyway, no visible external damage/issue. Of course, no idea what internal problems there are. Can only hope and pray for everything to work well now...

 

Is it possible for the CPU (or other parts) to malfunction because of these random restarts? I'd hate to have to RMA the CPU again.

 

4 hours ago, SavageNeo said:

not the best psu but not the worst either. Effiency like 80+ platinum is just marketing adn doesn ot affect the quality of the psu in anyway.

 

So... any idea what the culprit is? Did I get another defective CPU again? Or is it simply the PSU's turn to malfunction this time? Or perhaps the issue lies somewhere else? Getting a new PSU isn't a big problem; it's determining the correct cause of this.

 

I'm at a loss at what to do here. Appreciate any advice or suggestion.

 

Edit: OK. I found another weird issue. I shut down the PC, but instead of powering down, the PC turns itself on again, as if I chose to restart it instead. What in the world!? Should I make a new thread for this in the troubleshoot section?

[Whateverchan]

55 minutes ago, Caroline said:

It's the kind of thing that's easy to diagnose when I have the PSU in front of me but almost impossible to put into words, in short: try another power supply, and another outlet, and another power cord if you have, you never know.

Yeah, plugging it into the wall didn't help, unfortunately... Still happens.

Power cord, too? Yikes. Hope it doesn't turn out to be the cord after replacing the whole PSU.

 

Would you recommend me a PSU? Heard good things about Seasonic since they are a manufacturer, unlike Corsair or Thermalake.

How's this? https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-SSR-650FX-Modular-Warranty-Compact/dp/B073H33X7R/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1SYIM42S1JNB2&keywords=seasonic+650w+power+supply&qid=1646951458&s=electronics&sprefix=seasonic+650w%2Celectronics%2C120&sr=1-5

And this, I'm not sure what the difference is https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-GX-650-Full-Modular-Application-SSR-650FX/dp/B077J9QTDR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1SYIM42S1JNB2&keywords=seasonic%2B650w%2Bpower%2Bsupply&qid=1646951458&s=electronics&sprefix=seasonic%2B650w%2Celectronics%2C120&sr=1-3&th=1

 

Edit: I came across this thread https://linustechtips.com/topic/1093286-why-you-shouldnt-buy-a-seasonic-focus-plus-goldplatinum/

 

 

Is there anything else I need to watch out for or check?

[Whateverchan]

1 hour ago, Caroline said:

The Focus GX (second link) is basically an improved design of the old Focus Plus (first link) so in terms of quality it's better. Brand tho is mostly irrelevant when it comes to decent units, Seasonic has good PSUs but also terrible ones that should be vanished from all stores at this point, Corsair and TT both have units that are on par or better than these two Seasonics.

 

What about the rest of your components? Will 650W be enough? Any particular reason for a compact design besides looks?

 

If you do replace it make sure you remove all of the cables from the old PSU, they won't be compatible, oh and about that, can't you make a warranty claim? to at least get a working PSU you can resell or put in another computer, SilverStone has a good RMA processing afaik and the unit comes with a 5-year warranty.

https://www.silverstonetek.com/warranty.php?area=en

 

Try using your monitor's cable, it should be the same, unless it's one of those fancy gaming monitors that use an external power supply with a cloverleaf connector.

 

 

Well, if you have one that you want to recommend me, I'm all ears. I've looked at the list of best CPUs and I see mainly Corsair or EVGA. And then I see other people saying Seasonic is better. I just hope, whatever I end up getting, won't be defective.

 

My componets: 3600 Ryzen, 1660 Super MSI, G.Skill 16GB, 1 CPU fan, 3 other fans, B550 MSI Edge. PSU calculator says my PSU wattage is 288. I thought getting 650W will be good for the long term, since future GPUs will likely use more power. Right? Compact PSU...? I don't care about that. I just need one that fits inside the case and works.

 

My god... Replacing those cables will be another pain... So all the cables that connect the PSU to the GPU, mobo, etc. all came from the PSU and not the parts? It's been a long time so I don't remember.

 

I can make a warranty claim, yeah, but Silverstone made it clear I will have to pay for the shipping cost of sending it back. I don't know if the other manufacturers do this, too? At this point I am no longer patient enough to spend another two weeks waiting for RMA. And I don't feel like trusting them anymore. I might do it later on to have an extra PSU around, but now I just want this resolved. And again, worst case scenario this continues even after replacing PSU, I can return the new PSU back, instead of waiting for two weeks in vain.

 

Let me check the monitor's cable tonight. It's an old ASUS one.

 

My current PC cable looks like this. https://www.target.com/p/tripp-lite-power-cord-extension-cable-standard-16-awg-5-15p-5-15r-13a-25-120-v-ac-voltage-rating-13-a-current-rating-black/-/A-78449495#lnk=sametab

Not exactly cheap.

And here's one from Bestbuy. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-6-ac-power-cable-black/5884334.p?skuId=5884334&ref=NS&loc=101

Now that's... quite a price difference.

 

Let me ask this, too: should I continue to use my PC or stop for now (only to buy the PSU)? I mean, is this going to cause the CPU to malfunction again, unless it's another defect this time?

[Whateverchan]

@CarolineOK. I tried using another power cord to connect the PSU to the power strip. Still got a restart after 10-15 minutes. Well, except that this time it showed a recovery screen instead of just going straight to the desktop. Not sure if that matters. So I guess there's nothing left to test?

[Whateverchan]

3 minutes ago, Caroline said:

OCCT stress test

OK. I'm running it now. What do you want to see, or what should I be looking at?

[Whateverchan]

2 minutes ago, Caroline said:

If it shuts off and after how long basically, and if doing it again makes a pattern, say every 9 minutes exactly. As far as I know it could be a PSU protection being tripped, just a theory of course.

Pretty random. Could be 10-15 minutes. Could be over one hour. Or could be 2-3 hours. I tried to keep track of how long it takes to restart, but couldn't find any pattern.

[Whateverchan]

@Caroline See anything strange? Test result of OCCT: https://i.ibb.co/Lvz1HdC/aas.png

Strangely enough, PC didn't restart during the test. Maybe I didn't have enough Youtube tabs opened? Lol.

[Whateverchan]

3 hours ago, Caroline said:

Temps are normal but it seems like it only tested the CPU, does it has any option to test both? it used to be called "power supply" back in version 4.5.1 which is the one I use. There are better ways to put load on a power supply but they involve tools and other gadgets.

 

Could try memtest as well if you've noticed it crashing with multiple tabs open.

https://www.memtest86.com/

 

 

 

Well, having many tabs opened might or might not guarantee it restarting... Sometimes, it'd do so shortly after I turn on the computer. I didn't try the psu test, if there was one. I did run a test on vram, I believe it's called, and there was a Whea warning (something to do with voltage?), but it took a few hours after the test to restart.

 

I had to move a few things around today, so my PC is unplugged right now. I was also afraid to damage other components leaving it on... My psu is on the way today. If it doesn't solve the problem, I'm tossing it to a repair shop. Anything I need to watch out when changing the psu? 

[IkeaGnome]

1 hour ago, Whateverchan said:

watch out when changing the psu? 

Don't mix modular cables as a rule of thumb. Especially from different brands. If it was on the old PSU, it doesn't go on the new. Unless you know for 100% fact that the PSU side is pinned the same. 

[Whateverchan]

Hey, just wanna make sure of something: is the fan inside the psu supposed to be running at all time or only when the PC is hot? I am taking it out, and plugged it in one last time to see if the fan works, and it's not spinning. Pc is not connected to a monitor, if that matters. Asking in case my new psu will stay still like that, too.

 

Edit: did some research. So it depends, huh...? Can't tell with this model.

 

Update:

So it's normal.

Quote

incredibly quiet with the ability to run in fanless mode. If the loading condition is below 20%, the fan in the power supply can remain off for silent operation during idle or low powered computing activities. 

[Whateverchan]

OK. New PSU installed. Now just pray that nothing else happens...

[Whateverchan]

I got a restart again!!!! Holy fuck! There goes all the time and effort installing the new PSU. And now I gotta switch back to the old PSU to return the new one because the it's not the cause of the issue. Yay!

 

Goddamn well hope the repair shop can do that for me

[dilpickle]

If I saw this thread earlier I could have told you random restarts is usually a bad mobo.

 

[Whateverchan]

4 hours ago, dilpickle said:

If I saw this thread earlier I could have told you random restarts is usually a bad mobo.

 

 

It could be anything at this point. Ram? Cpu? Mobo? I don't know. No one can tell for sure and I'm too exhausted right now to keep playing the guessing game. Whatever is broken I just hope rma process can be quick.

[dilpickle]

3 hours ago, Whateverchan said:

 

It could be anything at this point. Ram? Cpu? Mobo? I don't know. No one can tell for sure and I'm too exhausted right now to keep playing the guessing game. Whatever is broken I just hope rma process can be quick.

RAM and CPU don't really go bad over time and you said you already replaced the CPU anyway. RAM is very easy to test.

[Whateverchan]

7 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

RAM and CPU don't really go bad over time and you said you already replaced the CPU anyway. RAM is very easy to test.

You think it's possible that I am so unlucky that AMD sent me another defective Cpu?