I’ve been experiencing instability with my system, and I’m beginning to suspect that the PSU is either faulty or under-provisioned. I’ll get random crashes (reboots, more specifically), mostly when doing something intensive on the system like starting up a game. Looking at all the crash logs, I can’t really find any errors that make sense to me. When the system goes down, all the lights & fans all die at the same time as the screen, then after a couple of seconds it comes back on and reboots.
I have a Corsair SF600 SFX PSU which is only 600W, and I’m powering a Ryzen 3700x, a AMD 5700XT GPU, a 1TB M.2 SSD, 32G ddr4 memory, 2 case fans, and a water-cooling pump. Plugging all of that into a calculator says that 600W is exactly enough, but is that right? Or could power-usage spikes be pushing things over the edge?
Edit: Sorry, CPU is a 3800X not 3700X. Just FYI
Try limiting the speeds of your CPU then the GPU and see if the crashing still happens. If you drop the CPU speed and it goes away then something is with your CPU (or memory). If dropping just the GPU stops it then it’s probably the GPU. If you have to drop both and then it’s stable, or dropping either CPU or GPU then it could be the power supply.
Interesting, it’s a bit hard to test as the crashes are super un-reproducable. (I don’t think I’ve ever been able to produce a crash with a synthetic benchmark or the like). Any recommendations for testing? Or do I just have to run the system for a while in each state and keep track myself?
RAM instability can cause exactly what you’re describing, especially at load. Run some tests to see if that’s the culprit.
How old is your PSU? 600W should be plenty, since your CPU has a power limit of 88W, and your GPU averages 185W (worst spike I read about was 202W). Those two parts are pulling ≈300W at worst, and they’re the bulk of your energy consumption.
An old PSU, though, will have failing capacitors and resistors, and it may not function correctly. It’s usually recommended to replace them eventually, though I don’t know at what frequency.
ETA: is your PSU getting enough airflow? Could it be overheating?
It’s about 4 years old, so not new but not crazy old. I’m also in a SFF case so I’m using a PCIE riser, which could also be the issue. Do you know, is there a way to tell if it’s the riser or the PSU? I can run memtest to check the memory.
I imagine it’s getting enough airflow. It’s a sff case, but the fans blow right over the PSU so it’s probably fine… Would there be a way to tell if it’s overheating?
I also have an SFF build, but as long as it’s getting cool airflow, should be fine. Only way to test temps is to get a laser thermometer. PSUs unfortunately lack much in the way of readable sensors.
I have heard riser cables sometimes causing problems. Only way I know to test is try a different one or pull everything out, plug the GPU directly into the slot, and run some bench tests that way.
And speaking of temps, what about your RAM? Is it getting enough airflow? As heat goes up, RAM stability goes down, so make sure it’s getting at least a little airflow. I’m paranoid, so I have a downdraft CPU cooler and exhaust fans right above that I know are giving mine some air.
Yeah. I’ve been desperately avoiding trying the GPU directly in the slot since the whole thing is water cooled w/ a custom loop and I don’t want to drain & re-plumb it. I might have to though, ugh. Next PC I build is going to be 100% air cooled haha
Yeah, maybe do that as a last resort…
all my PCs have voltage sensors i can monitor/log. maybe that could help you. like on linux i used lm_sensors to check their values.
I’ve heard this in passing and haven’t really been able to verify myself, but I gather that SFF PSUs are less resilient to transient power spikes (I.e. from GPUs), which can manifest as system instability under load.
There are several PSU tier lists floating around online (which I have also been meaning to consult for my own systems).
I’ve never heard this, but OP specified an SFX PSU, not just an SFF PSU. I can see that weakness being a thing for Flex PSUs, since they’re often designed to fit in server racks or other tight spaces, but in all the time I’ve spent in SFF communities, I’ve never heard people complain about inferiority to ATX PSUs.
Would be curious if anyone knows anything definitive about this.
ah, I saw SFF in the model name and got mixed up. Reading comprehension fail on my part
To my understanding you want some headroom for your PSU for spikes of power draw or moments like when large appliances start up. Ive certainly had psu’s as the cause of failures like that so it seems like it could be the case. Maybe you could get a 750w with return policy and try it out. Worse case you can just return it within that period!
Yeah seems like a good move, Corsair makes a 750W version of this PSU that’s comparable with the same cables - so I could swap without even having to re-do my cable runs! Seems like it’s worth a try. Hopefully I can get it somewhere local though, as I hate returning stuff in the mail. Thanks!
