Power supply problem?

[Ike0069]

Sorry, hit the wrong button.

EDIT:
I installed ny X1900XT last night and had some issues that seemed to be fixed. So tonight I was playing BF2 when my PC just shut off after 10-15 minutes of playing. I don't believe heat is the cause as my system and CPU temp are always good. I'm not sure of the exact GPU temp, but I don't believe it was excessive either (card was/is at stock speed/volts).

I let it sit for a minute and it restarted without issue. So I try and load BF2 again, and this time I plan to monitor the temps closely. As soon as I hit the icon to start, something is making an odd sound much like when a fan is nicking a wire. I take off the case door and all fans are fine and the sound appears to becoming from the PSU. I quit BF2 and the sound goes away. I restart BF2, the sounds returns, quit BF2, sound stops...WTF?

So I get out my DMM and check the +12V. At idle, steady at 12.05, start BF2 and it falls to 11.98 steady while noise returns. So the PSU seesm to be putting out good voltage even with the odd sound, but maybe it drops off as the load increase more while there is heavy actionon the screen?

Anyways, what is the odd sound coming from my PSU? It sound like it's coming not from the fan, but somewhere else in side the housing. Does this mean I need a new PSU? Is this a sufficient reason to RMA it back to Fortron?

 

[DARQ MX]

Describe the sound...

 

[Ike0069]

I tried.

It sounds as if there is a fan blade nicking a loose wire. I really don't know any other way to describe it. It's definitely not that though. I'm afraid to paly any games because if it is a PSU problem, I don't want ti to take anything else out, but I'd hat to replce it if the noise is not a concern and my shutoff problem has a different cause.

So I guess I'm just looking for ideas on what to do next.

 

[Ike0069]

bump

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If you have a spare PSU, hook it up and see what happens. Then RMA the Blue Storm.

*IF* a capacitor has gone out of spec the lack of filtration can cause toroidal coil whine,
but you stated it's a ticking noise, so IDK.

I have seen ferrite coils on the wiring to video cards. If you happen to have some of the
clip-on type of ferrites, give it a try. I have no idea about ratings of these coils.
http://www.allelectronics.com/ has several and they are inexpensive. http://www.bgmicro.com/
might have some too.

Some people solve coil whine with large dots of hot glue.

Will it harm anything to keep using it with the noise present...IDK.


...Galvanized

 

[Ike0069]

Thanks Galvanized.

I believe I have read that these AX version Fortron's use caps that are not of the best quality, right? That could be the issue. I don't plan to actually open it up and look at what the problem might be because that's just not something I feel real comfortable doing. I'd rather just RMA it.

I do have a spare 500W PSU (Turbolink PSU), but I'm not sure I trust it enough to run my X1900XT on it. I think at this point I'm just going to buy a new PSU for peace of mind, then RMA my Fortron.

After buying this VC, my wife is not too happy with the idea of buying something else immediately, so I need a solid yet decent priced PSU. Suggestions?

I don't really care if it's modular or not, but I would definitely prefer the cables are sleeved. I did that myself one time, and it was just way too tedious. I'd rather pay an extra $10 or $15 for a PSU that is already sleeved.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Yeah Ike, some of the AX series have been opened to find Fuhjyyu caps, the same as used in the Smart and True Power Antecs...Not good stuff. The Epsilons have OST on thier output side and they are not on the recommended list. The Epsilons go out of ripple spec at full load, a very good unit other wise.

If you MUST have sleeving, buy an Enermax Liberty or Seasonic. Both are not considered inexpensive. The 520W Corsair is worth considering, it's built by Seasonic. I'd get the Corsair if sleeving were a must. It's semi-modular, the main harness is hard wired.
jonnyGURU reviewed the Corsairs very well.

No sleeving and not modulare but the best bargain at this time are the Enhance GH series of PSUs. The are 80Plus certed and come in 300, 360, 400 and 500W flavors. The 400 has 28A combined on the 12V and the 500 is 35A combined.

SPCR reviewed the 360 and http://jonnyguru.com/ gave the 400 very high praise. I replaced my sister's hand me down six year old Fortron with an Enhance ENP-5140GH.

Look around http://www.80plus.org and http://www.enhanceusa.com/

You can sleeve the easy way with split or spiral loom. Read the stickied how to in the Cases & Cooling Forum.


...Galvanized

 

[Ike0069]

Ok, so I have already been looking at teh enhance PSU's because it's been mentioned several times here lately. The price is great, but I really would like the cables pre-sleeved.

So I was really looking at the S-12 500W, Liberty 500W, and the Corsair 520W. They seem to all be very solid, but the Corsair kind of stand out IMO.

Then I checked prices and found this:
Enermax ELT500AWT Liberty 500W $99.99 ***Free Shipping***
Plus it has a $15 rebate. So for $100 shipped, ($15 rebate is a nice bonus), that's hard to pass up. Especially since I don't need this PSU to last for many years. I'm sure when I decide to build an entire new system in a year or so using VISTA and a DX10 card, I'll need to get a new 800W PSU -- or what ever is the "ideal" wattage then. Cheapest I found the Corsair is $120 shipped, no rebates.

Anyways, I guess I'll pull the trigger on this Liberty, unless someone has a reason I should not. I'm always open to suggestions. But money is defintiely an issues for this particaular (unplanned) purchase.

 

[n7]

If you were willing to go w/o sleeved, then i too would go with one of the many inexpensive yet excellent Enhance units.

But since sleeved is a concern for you, that Liberty is worth snapping up.

 

[Ike0069]

According to this drawing:
http://www.enhanceusa.com/file/115_specification.pdf

The Enhane 5150GH comes with only four 4-pin molex connectors, but six SATA connectors. Uhh.... I have exactly zero SATA components in my case and I need six 4-pin molex's at a minium.

I realize SATA is the future, but isn't it a little too soon to be making PSU's with only 4 molexes? Before I changed my VC just this weekend to a PCI-e card, I needed another molex for my AGP card. And I certainly do not need six SATA connectors just hanging out in my case.

Anyways, since apparently this is the way they are built, I won't even bother considering it anymore.

 

[maluckey]

Yeah Ike, some of the AX series have been opened to find Fuhjyyu caps, the same as used in the Smart and True Power Antecs...Not good stuff

Some of the SPI, FSP units as well. I recently found an FSP460 60PFN with Fuhjyyu crap caps all through it. I recapped it with Nichicon and Panasonic and now all's well.. I got the thing dead, with leaking caps. It failed safely, and the rig in question was not harmed.

That is at least a testament to good design, though bad choices in caps.

 

[Navid]

To confirm that the problem is what you suspect it is, put the old graphics card in and see if the noise goes away. I understand that this noise issue came up after you installed your new graphics card and you did not experience it with the old card. If nothing has changed and the problem manifests itself only when the new card is installed, it should go away if you switch back to the old card.

This is just to gain more confidence. It would be a shame if you bought a new PSU and the noise did not go away.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Navid
To confirm that the problem is what you suspect it is, put the old graphics card in and see if the noise goes away. I understand that this noise issue came up after you installed your new graphics card and you did not experience it with the old card. If nothing has changed and the problem manifests itself only when the new card is installed, it should go away if you switch back to the old card.

This is just to gain more confidence. It would be a shame if you bought a new PSU and the noise did not go away.

That is actually a concern, but something inside my case made odd noises before, just not as loud. It wasn't really audible unless I had my head down next to my case when I was gaming, and that didn't happen too often. I never really checked into too much because these Fortrons are known to make a slight whine under that doesn't affect performance, and I never had any issues with power.

I'm thinking the significant increase in power required by my X1900XT over my old card (6800GT AGP) is the reason. I didn't worry about the increased noise either until my PC suddenly shut off during gaming. Right now, as I sit here search for PSU reviews and read these forums, it makes no noise at all. Only when I start up a game. I'm not absolutley convinced my PSU is failing, but there is something definitely out of the ordinary with it.

 

[Baked]

Buy the Enhance ENP-5140GH or -5150GH and braid the cables yourself.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Ike, Sister's ENP-5140GH has 4 SATA and 'had' 4x4 pin Molex. You know me
Cut, solder slice and heat shrink = 6x4 pin Molex I really don't like adapters, although
there is one modular unit here.

Your call but the ENP-5150GH, it's a real bargain for the spec it offers. All Enhance SMPSs
are filled with Teapo caps, to include the bulk cap.

maluckey, the FSP Group was having supply problems and was using what they
could get..for a short time. A real shame they used Fuhjyyu in thier better units.
Word was that demand was high enough at one time, that FSP was sub-contracting the
building of thier lower tier units.


...Galvanized

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Baked
Buy the Enhance ENP-5140GH or -5150GH and braid the cables yourself.

I'd rather not sleeve it myself this time. I've dont that before and it's jst too much of a PITA. I would consider take on that project if I were doing a complete new build, but right now I just want to put a new PSU in, make it look decent, and get back to serious gaming.

Also, both those PSU's only have four 4-pin molex's and I need six. I could make it work, but for only a few more $$ I think I'll just go with the Liberty.

 

[Ike0069]

I wanted to test the system or CPU temps and see if that could be causing my sudden shutoff problem. I played some BF2 for about 30-40 minutes running the ATITT graphs and it showed a max card temp of 71.5C and CPU temp of 46C. No way that should cause any problems. A littel later I fired it up again and it shut off during a game after aboput 30 minutes or so. Still not sure exactly why, but I think it's a thermal overload in the PSU. As soon as it shut off, I hit the case pwr button and nothing. I then unplugged and turned off the PSU, let it set for about 1 minute, then plugged it back in and restarted it. Started up fine. So at this point, no more gaming until I get a new PSU.

 

[Ike0069]

Ok, so I made a compromise on my PSU choice. I wanted sleeved cables, but I also wanted a good, solid PSU at a decent price. The Enhance model seems keeps getting pushed, and I must admit it's a very good deal.

My issues with the Enhance model were:
No cables were sleeved, not even the 20/4-pin ATX cable.
Only has four 4-pin molex connectors.
Not many places to buy from, and I'd rather not get anything from Ewiz. (Not sold at Newegg, ZZF, etc.)

I was all set to purchase the Enermax Liberty 500W, but I kept reading and there are quite a few unhappy Liberty owners. I also kept going back to johnnyguru's reviews and then checked prices. I noticed the Silverstone ST50EF was actually cheaper than the 500W Liberty and it was reviewed as excellent. In fact, it appears to be just a rebadged Enhance.

Now not all the ST50EF's cables are sleeved (but at least the main 20/4 is), but it's cheaper than the Liberty and is available at Newegg (which I'm always willing to pay afew extra $$ for). So I went ahead and got the Silverstone.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If you ever need to add a Molex, consider using some of these.Text

Yes, the ST50EF is built by Enhance.


...Galvanized