[Divey]

I have a corsair 850TX psu and I think it is not enough power for my components. I have recently flashed my gpu's with a modded bios unlocking voltage to 1.21v and during some games the computer would crash. Not a driver crash but a hard lockup requiring a restart. This last crash really scared me, locked the pc then rebooted but only picked up one card. Plus it wouldn't read past 324mhz on the core. Restarted several times and it was the same. Next I shut the pc down and turned the psu off seeing if that would possibly reset it. Sure enough it did but both cards stuck at 324mhz. Re-flashed both bios back to stock and re-installed the drivers and it came all back to normal. Now I have no clue how to test the psu other than some kind of wattage meter at the wall (I don't have one) but I am starting to think I am pushing it to the max. Cpu is a 3930k at 4.3 @ 1.28v, 4hdd's, 2 ssd's, 14 fans, pump, etc... The bummer part is I just finished sleeving the whole thing which took nearly 4 days. Is there anyway to check if the psu is to the max? If it's not one thing wrong, it's another thing wrong.

Thanks

 

[TwoCables]

I'm more than 50% sure that your PSU has enough power and that it's just that the video cards aren't stable with that modded BIOS.

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

I'm more than 50% sure that your PSU has enough power and that it's just that the video cards aren't stable with that modded BIOS.

I thought if the heat was maintained I would be ok with those voltages. Hmm, that makes me think of something now. I guess I can try different voltages and test but dam that will take awhile. But what about powering the psu off/on and both cards coming back. What would cause that to happen.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

I thought if the heat was maintained I would be ok with those voltages. Hmm, that makes me think of something now. I guess I can try different voltages and test but dam that will take awhile. But what about powering the psu off/on and both cards coming back. What would cause that to happen.

Not sure. However, overclocking isn't for impatient people.

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

Not sure. However, overclocking isn't for impatient people.

I didn't mean it like that. I understand that it will take some time. Also, why is it that I can pass several benchamrk test including the cpu and there is no issue. Do you know of a way to test the psu? I do have a spare 500w, can I hook one gpu to that and everything else to the main one. Will that hurt anything and if I was to try that when would I turn on the other psu?

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

I didn't mean it like that. I understand that it will take some time. Also, why is it that I can pass several benchamrk test including the cpu and there is no issue. Do you know of a way to test the psu? I do have a spare 500w, can I hook one gpu to that and everything else to the main one. Will that hurt anything and if I was to try that when would I turn on the other psu?

If you don't turn on the PSU, then how would it provide power?

Anyway, I think that you'd need to use the "paper clip trick" in order to get that to work. So yeah, it should be ok just as a brief experiment.

I don't know the answers to the questions you raised though. :/

 

[Divey]

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. I know how to jump start the psu, I was concerned with when I should turn it on. Like do I do it once the computer is booted or before.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. I know how to jump start the psu, I was concerned with when I should turn it on. Like do I do it once the computer is booted or before.

Omg that's a good question...

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

Omg that's a good question...

I'm going to buy a wall meter and check it from there. Tired of trying to see if it's this or that. It will be a huge relief to find out that the psu is not the issue. Thanks for the help.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

I'm going to buy a wall meter and check it from there. Tired of trying to see if it's this or that. It will be a huge relief to find out that the psu is not the issue. Thanks for the help.

Ok cool. Get the Kill A Watt and only plug your PSU into it. Then, multiply any reading you see by .85 to estimate 85% efficiency. The result of your calculation will be the amount of power that the computer is pulling out of the PSU.

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

Ok cool. Get the Kill A Watt and only plug your PSU into it. Then, multiply any reading you see by .85 to estimate 85% efficiency. The result of your calculation will be the amount of power that the computer is pulling out of the PSU.

Just looked it up and 20$ is not to bad. + rep for the help and I will report back with my findings.

Thanks

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

Just looked it up and 20$ is not to bad. + rep for the help and I will report back with my findings.

Thanks

Nice. I wasn't concerned about getting a Rep.

Anyway, you're very welcome.

 

[larymoencurly]

I don't see how a Kill-A-Watt will help because if the computer turns on and operates normally, the PSU is at least partially OK. It's much safer to do the paperclip test and measure all the voltages without the PSU connected to anything in the computer. Then if the voltages check out OK, turn off, connect everything, and measure voltages again while the computer runs.

A way to see if a PSU can put enough power is by comparing the output voltages at idle and at full load. No positive voltage should change by more than 5%. It's best to do this with a meter because the motherboard's measurement hardware can be inaccurate.

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by larymoencurly

I don't see how a Kill-A-Watt will help because if the computer turns on and operates normally, the PSU is at least partially OK. It's much safer to do the paperclip test and measure all the voltages without the PSU connected to anything in the computer. Then if the voltages check out OK, turn off, connect everything, and measure voltages again while the computer runs.

A way to see if a PSU can put enough power is by comparing the output voltages at idle and at full load. No positive voltage should change by more than 5%. It's best to do this with a meter because the motherboard's measurement hardware can be inaccurate.

I just sleeved the whole thing and before I hooked it up I checked every line with a volt meter. I'm not worried that it maybe failling but maybe I drew to much power at one point and tripped the psu. I also would like to know how much total power is being drawn as I am having a feeling that my oc may have not been stable.

 

[larymoencurly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

I just sleeved the whole thing and before I hooked it up I checked every line with a volt meter. I'm not worried that it maybe failling but maybe I drew to much power at one point and tripped the psu. I also would like to know how much total power is being drawn as I am having a feeling that my oc may have not been stable.

That's not how you're supposed to think about it.

A Kill-A-Watt is a poor indicator for PSU problems related to overclocking stability, and it's much better to measure the droops in output voltages between idle and full load.

When you checked your sleeving, what voltages did you measure for each PSU pin, and how did they compare to the voltages you measured for each corresponding pin of an unmodified PSU, preferrably when you held identical connectors from each, right next to one another and in the same orientation (held together with tape or a rubber band)?

 

[Divey]

So I just did a few test and I do not think the psu was ever overloaded. Running 3dmark 11 the max was 720w x .85=612w. I then tested the gpu's alone with msi kombuster and the max was 875w x .85=743w. I tested the cpu alone with intel burn test and the max was 480w x .85=408w. Now I tested both test at the same time. Max was 980w x .85=833w. I chose these test because of how much load they can put out so it's same to assume I would really never get that high in gaming. Does this sound right?

Thanks

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by larymoencurly

That's not how you're supposed to think about it.

A Kill-A-Watt is a poor indicator for PSU problems related to overclocking stability, and it's much better to measure the droops in output voltages between idle and full load.

When you checked your sleeving, what voltages did you measure for each PSU pin, and how did they compare to the voltages you measured for each corresponding pin of an unmodified PSU, preferrably when you held identical connectors from each, right next to one another and in the same orientation (held together with tape or a rubber band)?

I just wanted to see if I was overloading the psu and if not then I know for sure it's the oc. When I sleeved the cables I have a semi modular psu so I didn't do anything that could have messed with voltages. And I used my extra psu to compare from.

 

[TwoCables]

See larymoencurly, this is why I supported the purchase of the Kill A Watt.

Divey: Yep! You did those calculations correctly. So, it's just as we suspected: the PSU was not being overloaded at all. I don't know where that leaves us, but at least we found that out.

 

[Divey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

See larymoencurly, this is why I supported the purchase of the Kill A Watt.

Divey: Yep! You did those calculations correctly. So, it's just as we suspected: the PSU was not being overloaded at all. I don't know where that leaves us, but at least we found that out.

Thanks for all the help. This meter comes in handy for other household things as well.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divey

Thanks for all the help. This meter comes in handy for other household things as well.

Yeah, it's a fun toy!