PSU issues?

[SageOfSpice]

Hi there. 

 

About 6 months or so ago, I had decided to undergo the task of building up my very first computer. It's nothing fantastic, pretty budget, but I didn't have a computer, and it's something I'd wanted to do for quite a while. For the most part, it's been pretty cool. I have noticed some weird issues though, but I wasn't really sure if they were significant enough to warrant any concern.

 

To start off with, I'll post a list of the components I'm using:

 

PSU-> Thermaltake SMART 750W

MOBO-> Gigabyte 970A-UD3P R2

CPU-> FX-6300

RAM-> Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4Gb

GPU-> Sapphire HD 7950 Boost

HDD-> WD Blue 7200rpm 500Gb

SDD-> SanDisk SSD Plus 120Gb

 

Now the issues.

 

First issue I'd noticed was a strange phenomenon when powering on the computer from a powered off state. Upon depressing the power button, the computer will spin up the fans and hard drive very briefly before returning to a powered off state for a moment before it finally powers on fully and begins to boot. This issue is not present when restarting the computer from a powered on state, only when the computer is powered on from a powered off state. This issue persists irregardless of bios settings.

 

The second issue I've noticed, is some odd system instability. It doesn't happen often, but very rarely my computer will completely lock up and go unresponsive while performing a mundane task such as watching a video online. When this occurs, the computer is unresponsive to all input, and will not power down unless the power button is held down. Again, this is a very rare occurrence, to the point where I've only had it happen a handful of times since I'd first got the computer. Initially, I'd chalked this up to an unstable clock configuration, but I've observed this even at default settings and clock speeds. The only program that I can get to recreate this issue with some frequency is a game by the name of Space Engineers. I'm not sure what it is about this particular game, but it's the only program that will almost reliably cause the computer to crash given that it's run for long enough (Read: 1-10 hours). 

 

So, it kind of feels like a PSU issue to me. The strange boot phenomenon feels almost like the PSU is triggering some overload protection safety measure, and that specific changes in load render the PSU unable to supply ample power to the system resulting in a lock-up or freeze.

 

Am I correct in assuming this? Is there any real way I can test this? Does anybody have any input, or suggestions for tests?

 

I can usually headbutt my way through a lot of problems, but an intermittent issue like this with no real apparent cause is a bit beyond my skill level. I'd really appreciate any input you'd be willing to offer. Thanks in advance.

[Starelementpoke]

6 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

Hi there. 

 

About 6 months or so ago, I had decided to undergo the task of building up my very first computer. It's nothing fantastic, pretty budget, but I didn't have a computer, and it's something I'd wanted to do for quite a while. For the most part, it's been pretty cool. I have noticed some weird issues though, but I wasn't really sure if they were significant enough to warrant any concern.

 

To start off with, I'll post a list of the components I'm using:

 

PSU-> Thermaltake SMART 750W

MOBO-> Gigabyte 970A-UD3P R2

CPU-> FX-6300

RAM-> Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4Gb

GPU-> Sapphire HD 7950 Boost

HDD-> WD Blue 7200rpm 500Gb

SDD-> SanDisk SSD Plus 120Gb

 

Now the issues.

 

First issue I'd noticed was a strange phenomenon when powering on the computer from a powered off state. Upon depressing the power button, the computer will spin up the fans and hard drive very briefly before returning to a powered off state for a moment before it finally powers on fully and begins to boot. This issue is not present when restarting the computer from a powered on state, only when the computer is powered on from a powered off state. This issue persists irregardless of bios settings.

 

The second issue I've noticed, is some odd system instability. It doesn't happen often, but very rarely my computer will completely lock up and go unresponsive while performing a mundane task such as watching a video online. When this occurs, the computer is unresponsive to all input, and will not power down unless the power button is held down. Again, this is a very rare occurrence, to the point where I've only had it happen a handful of times since I'd first got the computer. Initially, I'd chalked this up to an unstable clock configuration, but I've observed this even at default settings and clock speeds. The only program that I can get to recreate this issue with some frequency is a game by the name of Space Engineers. I'm not sure what it is about this particular game, but it's the only program that will almost reliably cause the computer to crash given that it's run for long enough (Read: 1-10 hours). 

 

So, it kind of feels like a PSU issue to me. The strange boot phenomenon feels almost like the PSU is triggering some overload protection safety measure, and that specific changes in load render the PSU unable to supply ample power to the system resulting in a lock-up or freeze.

 

Am I correct in assuming this? Is there any real way I can test this? Does anybody have any input, or suggestions for tests?

 

I can usually headbutt my way through a lot of problems, but an intermittent issue like this with no real apparent cause is a bit beyond my skill level. I'd really appreciate any input you'd be willing to offer. Thanks in advance.

I want to say it is a PSU issue just because it's a Thermaltake SMART PSU, and those things are horrendous, but I'm not certain. @STRMfrmXMN PSU Guru Sensei, is it a PSU issue?

[quan289]

30 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

I want to say it is a PSU issue just because it's a Thermaltake SMART PSU, and those things are horrendous, but I'm not certain. @STRMfrmXMN PSU Guru Sensei, is it a PSU issue?

The Smart series consist of a few different platforms. The Thermaltake Smart 750w in question is a CWT PUQ-B unit internally which is indeed a good mainstream unit.

[Starelementpoke]

2 minutes ago, quan289 said:

The Smart series consist of a few different platforms. The Thermaltake Smart 750w in question is a CWT PUQ-B unit internally which is indeed a good mainstream unit.

Huh.

[SageOfSpice]

32 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

I want to say it is a PSU issue just because it's a Thermaltake SMART PSU, and those things are horrendous, but I'm not certain. @STRMfrmXMN PSU Guru Sensei, is it a PSU issue?

Well, if there's anyway to check that, I wouldn't mind verifying. 

I don't know a whole lot about PSUs.

[STRMfrmXMN]

40 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

Well, if there's anyway to check that, I wouldn't mind verifying. 

I don't know a whole lot about PSUs.

 

43 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

Huh.

It's a good unit. What you have screams "OVERCLOCKING ISSUE!" Have you overclocked ANY components?

[SageOfSpice]

6 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

 

It's a good unit. What you have screams "OVERCLOCKING ISSUE!" Have you overclocked ANY components?

I have in the past, which I had initially thought was the cause of the instability. Resetting the defaults in the bios hasn't prevented these issues though. I've even gone and ramped the voltage above stock spec to 1.4v, but the issue was still persisting. At the moment, I'm not running an active OC.

[STRMfrmXMN]

39 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

I have in the past, which I had initially thought was the cause of the instability. Resetting the defaults in the bios hasn't prevented these issues though. I've even gone and ramped the voltage above stock spec to 1.4v, but the issue was still persisting. At the moment, I'm not running an active OC.

Do a Memtest and see if your RAM is good.

http://www.memtest86.com/