Recommend me a quality PSU for a college budget?

A2TheRizzo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
282
Hey guys and gals.

I want to apologize if this has been covered but I am in a pinch. In October I upgraded my PC to my signature specs, and I have been having issues with it cutting off on me randomly.

I stupidly purchased a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139051 and I'm starting to think this was a mistake. I had the coil whine issue especially under load playing BL2 on max and WoW on Ultra. I am running dual monitors and twice now the PC has cut out on me when playing youtube on one screen and gaming on the other.

Randomly I would come home and my PC would be off, or I would wake up and it would be unresponsive with the case fans running. Last time, I disconnected the power cord and held the power button for 30 seconds and that worked, but now it doesn't. The PC boots up but wont POST, no beeps- nothing. The GPU fan doesn't spin either. I disconnected the GPU and tried using the mobo's onboard HDMI port with the same result. I could get this PSU replaced under warranty but I believe it's shit and would rather get something else if it is the power supply. I am going home this weekend so I should be able to test a different PSU to confirm my theory.

After the first time this happened I ran speed fan for about a week and monitored my CPU and GPU temps. CPU never rose above 40*C and GPU never rose above 75*C.

Any recommendations would be great. Much appreciated.
 
Seasonic units, cant go wrong with them. Even their cable quality is better than anything I have tried out there (enermax, lepa, corsair)
 
2nd on Seasonic although their sata power cables can be quite stiff to work with.
Also note they tend to be designed for bottom mount cases with their sata configuration.
 
Update: I returned the PSU to microcenter and they gave me store credit with no questions asked. I picked up a corsair hx750 this time because it was the best they had and installed it- everything was fixed. I just got back after a week of not using the computer and was running a dungeon in WoW. Nothing crazy and the computer just died like it did before. Now when I go to start it up the GPU fan is spinning at 100% and the computer wont post. I hope it's the PSU again and not my graphics cards. I'll never recommend corsair PSUs to anyone..
 
Update: I returned the PSU to microcenter and they gave me store credit with no questions asked. I picked up a corsair hx750 this time because it was the best they had and installed it- everything was fixed. I just got back after a week of not using the computer and was running a dungeon in WoW. Nothing crazy and the computer just died like it did before. Now when I go to start it up the GPU fan is spinning at 100% and the computer wont post. I hope it's the PSU again and not my graphics cards. I'll never recommend corsair PSUs to anyone..

It could possibly be an power socket issue at your end and not necessarily bad Corsair PSUs. It's odd to see two different PSUs die like that.
 
I'm at a loss here. The house is brand new built in September and I'm running it off a power strip. Actually a different socket from when the first incident happened. Microcenter is currently 3 hours away from where I am at too.
 
Try a different PSU like this Seasonic:
$86 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

If it dies, then you have an electrical issue. Or just really really shitty luck. Or maybe you're doing something with the PSU that's causing it to die.

I mean short of extremely bad luck, it is odd to see two different PSUs die like that. Even though CWT built both PSUs, the HX is based on a higher-end CWT platform than the CX series.
 
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Try a different PSU like this Seasonic:
$86 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

If it dies, then you have an electrical issue. Or just really really shitty luck. Or maybe you're doing something with the PSU that's causing it to die.

I mean short of extremely bad luck, it is odd to see two different PSUs die like that. Even though CWT built both PSUs, the HX is based on a higher-end CWT platform than the CX series.

I'm going to test my GPU in my roommates computer to see if it's working to rule that out. Other than that, it may be just shitty luck or its my motherboard. I have a 2 year warranty on the mobo through microcenter so if all else fails I can swap that out.

Another thing to note is my computer was randomly dying at my parent's house on the first PSU over winter break before I ever brought it down to this house I'm in currently. It always shuts down under some sort of load but the temps are never anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't ever get a stable OC out of it either. This isn't my first rodeo either so I'm not sure what I could be doing wrong to kill PSUs now out of the 10 years I've been building PCs.
 
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You are using a power strip?

You should be using a surge protector.

Is there anything else plug in the outlets in the room or close by? Like a laser printer?
 
I'm going to test my GPU in my roommates computer to see if it's working to rule that out. Other than that, it may be just shitty luck or its my motherboard. I have a 2 year warranty on the mobo through microcenter so if all else fails I can swap that out.
.

That was my thinking as well.
You have to test as many hardware parts you can, starting -like you said- from the GPU, in order to reach some solid conclusions.
I think that the most likely suspects for this problem is psu-gpu-motherboard. I don't think that you are so unlucky to buy 2 fault PSUs, so we are left with only 2 suspects: gpu-motherboard.
 
I'm at a loss here. The house is brand new built in September and I'm running it off a power strip. Actually a different socket from when the first incident happened. Microcenter is currently 3 hours away from where I am at too.

Do you have a battery backup?
 
Doubt it's the PSU since Corsair HX series is basically a Seasonic...
 
It is just a power strip no battery backup or surge protector. The only other things running off of it is my two monitors- that's it. The only other thing plugged into an outlet in my room is my phone charger.

Will post back with findings when my roommate gets off work.
 
So I pulled the graphics card out and it fired right up no problem on onboard video. I think the graphics card is the problem here. I put it back in and it went right back to not posting and spinning at 100%. Now I wonder if the card was just dying or if there is something that is killing it.
 
So I pulled the graphics card out and it fired right up no problem on onboard video. I think the graphics card is the problem here. I put it back in and it went right back to not posting and spinning at 100%. Now I wonder if the card was just dying or if there is something that is killing it.

I'd say it was the card. The CX series may not be high end, but they aren't shitty. They put out clean power within its advertised rating. The HX even more so. I bet your card was bum from the get go.
 
Well I've owned the card since December 2012. Luckily it's still under EVGA's warranty so hopefully I can get it replaced without hassle and grab a surge protector and you guys will never hear from me again. Thanks for the help everybody.
 
With the HX750 you would be able to run all of that and a 2nd GTX670.

You have more than enough power. :p
 
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