PSU buzzing and Black Screen Reboots

causticspill

Limp Gawd
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Mar 28, 2010
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I recently developed a problem where my PC will black screen and reboot while under load. Along with this issue is an audible buzzing from the PC. Initially I blamed the Vega 56 I installed last October, as upon restart I would get an error message that my Radeon settings had been returned to default due to an "unexpected system error". But after pulling my case door off and laying the PC sideways on the desk while gaming I've determined that the buzzing is from the PSU, a Corsair HX850.

The problem was random for a while, but eventually got so bad that I couldn't even game. Upon reaching the menu/splash screen for AC:Odyssey, the game would attempt to get into the main menu and instantly black screen. No buzzing was audible until it began to load the main menu. I thought it was an issue with AC:O (it wasn't; while I could load and play other games, they would crash within 5-10 min as well) and after a lot of troubleshooting I was pointed towards limiting the FPS via the in game menu, and later on via the Radeon drivers itself. That basically solved my problem- limiting FPS to 60 or 75 (max refresh for HP Omen) allowed me to play AC:O again. However, I still have an audible buzzing while under GPU load, and continue to have a surprise reboot once every week or two. I'm assuming the buzzing is coil whine, and it doesn't bother me as it isn't that loud, but the reboots do.

Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try out at the moment. I'm not opposed to buying a new one for testing purposes, but at the same time I still have 3 years of warranty on the HX850. I'm living with things as-is for now, but getting closer to contacting Corsair and attempting to take advantage of their cross-ship RMA option. Before I did that though, I wanted to ask [H] to see if I've missed anything.

I was operating with a mild overclock on my 1700X and fiddling with overclock/undervolt on the Vega56, but reverted to stock for both when AC:O became unplayable. Using a power meter I'm seeing about 400W during gaming so should be well within parameters for the HX850. I run a Cyberpower 1500 UPS between the wall and the PC, but that's bypassed for now with the power meter.

Is it time to contact Corsair- or is there something else I need to consider?
 
start a rma. if you dont have a spare or cant get one thats about all you can do.
 
Submitted a ticket. After typing all that out, it really was the obvious answer.

To satisfy my curiosity, does anyone have any insight into what is going on electronically where the PSU can no longer seem to handle high fps (the AC:O main menu would run at > 100 fps) but is able to operate at 60-75 fps?
 
The problem was random for a while, but eventually got so bad that I couldn't even game. Upon reaching the menu/splash screen for AC:Odyssey, the game would attempt to get into the main menu and instantly black screen. No buzzing was audible until it began to load the main menu. I thought it was an issue with AC:O (it wasn't; while I could load and play other games, they would crash within 5-10 min as well) and after a lot of troubleshooting I was pointed towards limiting the FPS via the in game menu, and later on via the Radeon drivers itself. That basically solved my problem- limiting FPS to 60 or 75 (max refresh for HP Omen) allowed me to play AC:O again. However, I still have an audible buzzing while under GPU load, and continue to have a surprise reboot once every week or two. I'm assuming the buzzing is coil whine, and it doesn't bother me as it isn't that loud, but the reboots do.

Define: Crash

You said you get a black screen, but can you still exit to the desktop? Or does the whole PC need a reboot?

Which HX?

What label color? Is it the newer Platinum HX with the gray label or one of the older ones (Blue and white accents or the really old one with the sails logo on the side?)

What Radeon graphics card?
 
I recently developed a problem where my PC will black screen and reboot while under load. Along with this issue is an audible buzzing from the PC. Initially I blamed the Vega 56 I installed last October, as upon restart I would get an error message that my Radeon settings had been returned to default due to an "unexpected system error". But after pulling my case door off and laying the PC sideways on the desk while gaming I've determined that the buzzing is from the PSU, a Corsair HX850.

The problem was random for a while, but eventually got so bad that I couldn't even game. Upon reaching the menu/splash screen for AC:Odyssey, the game would attempt to get into the main menu and instantly black screen. No buzzing was audible until it began to load the main menu. I thought it was an issue with AC:O (it wasn't; while I could load and play other games, they would crash within 5-10 min as well) and after a lot of troubleshooting I was pointed towards limiting the FPS via the in game menu, and later on via the Radeon drivers itself. That basically solved my problem- limiting FPS to 60 or 75 (max refresh for HP Omen) allowed me to play AC:O again. However, I still have an audible buzzing while under GPU load, and continue to have a surprise reboot once every week or two. I'm assuming the buzzing is coil whine, and it doesn't bother me as it isn't that loud, but the reboots do.

Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try out at the moment. I'm not opposed to buying a new one for testing purposes, but at the same time I still have 3 years of warranty on the HX850. I'm living with things as-is for now, but getting closer to contacting Corsair and attempting to take advantage of their cross-ship RMA option. Before I did that though, I wanted to ask [H] to see if I've missed anything.

I was operating with a mild overclock on my 1700X and fiddling with overclock/undervolt on the Vega56, but reverted to stock for both when AC:O became unplayable. Using a power meter I'm seeing about 400W during gaming so should be well within parameters for the HX850. I run a Cyberpower 1500 UPS between the wall and the PC, but that's bypassed for now with the power meter.

Is it time to contact Corsair- or is there something else I need to consider?
Why even wait? I wouldn’t bother with the headache. I’d be RMA’ing already.
 
Why even wait? I wouldn’t bother with the headache. I’d be RMA’ing already.

Because it might not be the PSU.

If a PSU is overloaded, detects a short, has a voltage drop, etc. it shuts off. It doesn't "make your game go to a black screen". That's why I asked for more information.
 
JG does have a point, and this isn't the first time I've heard Vega and black screen in the same sentence.

OT: What up JG? LTNS. It's been a min.
 
OT: What up JG? LTNS. It's been a min.

Yeah. Been gone pretty much since Kyle changed my title to "Technical Marketing Manager at Corsair Memory" so even stuff I posted BEFORE I worked for Corsair said "Technical Marketing Manager at Corsair Memory".

Make me look like a shill no matter who I worked for at the time.
 
Yeah. Been gone pretty much since Kyle changed my title to "Technical Marketing Manager at Corsair Memory" so even stuff I posted BEFORE I worked for Corsair said "Technical Marketing Manager at Corsair Memory".

Make me look like a shill no matter who I worked for at the time.

Lol, yeah I saw your forum title and did an about face thinking; "I thought he was in the PSU division?!?"
BTW still have the ST85ZF I bought from you in my main rig and it's still chugging. Best $90 I ever spent!
 
Define: Crash

You said you get a black screen, but can you still exit to the desktop? Or does the whole PC need a reboot?

Which HX?

What label color? Is it the newer Platinum HX with the gray label or one of the older ones (Blue and white accents or the really old one with the sails logo on the side?)

What Radeon graphics card?

Time for a little update I guess- thanks for the interest Jonny.

Crash: As soon as I would get into the splash/menu screen of AC:Odyssey an audible buzzing from the PC would start (I want to clarify that it was at this point in AC:O that the FPS takes off to > 60 according to the in-game meter and that's what seemed to trigger the hardware issue/restart) and the PC display would go dark and then the PC would reboot itself. No freezing, no ability to alt-tab, just a brief pause until a POST beep as the PC started up again right away. Then I'd be back at my windows login. This problem was intermittent at first, maybe once every few weeks or so beginning late last year. Then over a period of months it steadily began to occur more and more until AC:O and other games were unplayable and always resulted in the reboot as described. I was careful to do troubleshooting to the best of my ability (I have a word document I used as a bit of a problem "diary") prior to finally contacting Corsair.

The PSU I RMA'd was the old version of the HX850, as I understand, with the blue and white label. 80Plus Gold, not Platinum. Vega56 is a Sapphire Pulse purchased and installed in October 2018.

The Corsair RMA experience was relatively painless and after contacting them on Feb 17th I received a new HX850i via cross-ship on March 2nd. I installed the new PSU that night, removed the FPS limit in the Radeon settings and haven't had a reboot issue since.

That said, I still have a slight audible buzzing that probably was the Vega56 all along. That annoys me, not the sound- it's not bad, but I spent a lot of time doing my best with the case on its side and the door off to be sure that it was the PSU that was buzzing. At this point it is likely coil whine from the graphics card, but that doesn't change the fact that a new PSU has remedied my previous problem.

Jonny, if it's useful in any way, my ticket numbers were 856016 (standard RMA) and 860325 (advanced RMA).
 
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