Could my PSU be on the verge of death? Or is my vid card dying?

[valden83]

Ok first off, a bit about my system.

I am running an Intel Quad Core with 6 gigs ram and a 560 ti for video. I bought this video card about 6 months ago, so I really doubt it is the card, but could be... Temps while gaming hover between 45-50 in league of legends up to the low to mid 80s playing more demanding games like SWTOR for example. I know that temps in the 80s are pretty high, but that alot of people say these geforce cards are capable of handling temps in the mid to upper 90s, and the 80 degree temps are not constant and those reading were middle of the day so the room was warmer.

Video card is running stock speeds, system has a slight overclock but has been stable for a long while. I also have a Burner, two SSDs, a mechanical drive, and 4 case fans along with a handful of usb devices. This is all being powered by a Thermaltake purepower 500 watt psu that I bought FOUR years+ ago. Therein lies why I think my PSU might be in trouble.

About two months ago I noticed that while playing League of Legends, I would get occasional graphic artifacts and screen tearing. Playing with settings, vsynch, etc. did nothing to fix it, and it just seemed to get worse as time passed. At first I thought it was just LoL that was doing it, but realized shortly after that most of my games were having issues with screen tears and the occasional random sparkly or green pixels. All while doing this as the card sits at 50 degrees.

If I restart the computer, it actually seems to correct the issue for a while, but eventually the artifacts just start to come back.

I was trying to find solutions and came across the topic of voltage drop in a power supply when the 12 volt rail is overused, or if the psu is just deteriorating. I noticed that my voltages when doing nothing was around 12.03-12.16 but as soon as I would do everyday functions in windows the voltage would drop to 11.78 and when gaming it dropped as low as 11.36 at one point, often staying around 11.46-11.52 most of the time while gaming (any game in general does this). Also, at one point today i was in skype talking to someone and my computer suddenly just went into slow motion, like it suddenly was running at 300mhz and my friend was talking in slow motion. After a while of waiting, it finally froze for about 15 seconds, and then came back. Coincidentally skype crashed, my display driver crashed, and windows had a power error message. I checked voltages for when that happened and that was when I got the low reading of 11.36 volts. Compared to my friends multimeter, it seems that my systems software monitoring is pretty accurate, which I was told to verify before taking any of this seriously.

Anyhow, I am strongly considering getting a new power supply, but I really hope that it is the issue. If anyone has any insight to this, and if you think I am nuts or not to think it is the PSU, let me know

[Sephiracle]

*snip*

Typically, drives, SSDs, HDDs, and fans, aren't really something we need to consider when talking about PSU. In your situation, we're looking at a 500W PSU(with no details), a CPU(again, no real details), and a 560ti, which will eat somewhere around 170W, depending on the brand. If you could provide a few more details, like the actual model of the CPU, PSU, and the make of the 560ti maybe we can gather a bit more information.

[kidsafe]

I wouldn't trust the software voltage monitor, and probably wouldn't even put much stock into a basic multimeter's readout. I highly suspect the video card itself rather than the Thermaltake PSU you have.

[valden83]

CPU is a Q6600, PSU is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052, video card is a PNY Verto 560 ti.

[Deleted]

had the same problem with my card (also a 560ti) so i contacted the manufacturer and they sent me a new bios for it, its been good as gold since, its a known problem with the card, hope this helps

[DeltrusDisc]

Honestly, it might be a classic case of GPU not sitting in the PCIe lane properly and consistently. One I've had to deal with. Pushing it back in has worked every time for me. However I saw what PSU you have.... PLEASE replace that. That one just screams shoddy and low quality, I don't like Thermaltake's stuff as it is, and they have a record for faulty power supplies that blow up, so regardless if it is a dying PSU or not causing this (I actually don't think it is) I would still replace it. Also, SWTOR isn't very demanding, though I would definitely turn VSync on, no reason to run with it off, because that game will try and draw like 110~ fps (I think that is its cap) and that will pull more wattage and power through your GPU than needs to be.

[valden83]

Well I reset my overclock on my cpu to stock and turned everything to stock, as well as disconnected all usb devices, two fans, and my mechanical drive. Since doing that I have been playing League of Legends for about four hours with zero issues. I really think its just that my PSU is at capacity and no longer is running efficiently.

[DeltrusDisc]

Certainly possible. I'd suggest getting a nice 80+ (at least) certified power supply closer to the 550-650 watt range, as that'll do better for your system. Though I'm not really sure how much the Q6600 tends to drain, I'll look it up. :P

[kidsafe]

B3 Q6600 = 105w max
G0 Q6600 = 95w max

560 Ti = 170w max
Everything else in the computer = probably 70w max

If he's not overclocking CPU/GPU and/org running synthetic loads, I doubt his system ever uses more than 300W, HOWEVER...

According to Gabe Torres in his Hardware Secrets review, your PSU is actually a 405W unit in disguise. As it's group regulated, it can probably only pull about 350-380W from its 12V rails at best. In Gabe's tests he put a 375W load on the unit (355W on the 12V rail) and it failed. 12V voltage regulation also went way out of spec with just a 280W load on the 12V rails.

In hindsight you were probably right about the 12V readings. I think you need to replace your PSU anyway even if it turns out not to be the problem with your system

[DeltrusDisc]

In case you're on a really tight budget or so, here's a decent Antec 520 watt 80+ Cert. PSU for only about $60. It actually has 2x6 pin PCIE connectors, where I noticed your Thermaltake PSU only has one (so really it probably shouldn't be powering today's graphics cards, which is what a 560 Ti obviously is). A motto a lot of us tend to go by, is if you need to use the dual molex to PCIE 6 pin adapter to power a graphics card because your PSU doesn't have enough of them, you probably should not be using that PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371030

[valden83]

Just got this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371031

[DeltrusDisc]

Be sure to get the MIR. $40 is a steal!

[valden83]

Yeah I was debating between whether I should spend an extra 30 bucks for a modular or just stick with a 60-70 dollar one, and then noticed this one. Couldn't say no

Found lots of good reviews and someone said that they are pretty sure this Antec uses Seasonic internals, and went on to explain why Seasonic internals are so good.