Is it a power supply problem or just some other thing?
Is it a power supply problem or just some other thing?
Hey guys, I wanted to check if anyone else thinks this is happening too. So I tried turning my computer off and on again for a Windows update, but it never shut down. No matter what I did, the system wouldn't even turn on. At first I thought the board was dead, but after connecting the board to an older power supply unit (PSU), it finally came alive. The back-up PSUs I have are both 550W and 650W with them being relatively recent models (about 5 or more years old). Neither of these units would let the system start up if I put two sticks of RAM in my computer or installed my graphics card. My setup has a 3060ti, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 7900x processor. I'm pretty sure that since the 650W PSU would let the system boot to the BIOS screen even with one stick of RAM in there, but not two sticks or my GPU plugged in, neither unit is giving enough power to fully start this whole setup. I have a third unit coming soon, but I'm not really an expert at tech stuff. I just know that my original PSU wouldn't be able to handle the new board or an older one I had before. And neither of my back-up PSUs could get the old computer started either. Thanks for any advice!
I think it's really possible if the stronger part lets us keep no graphics card and just one piece of RAM. But the real important thing to know right now is which specific models and brands all those power supplies are, plus exactly what model and brand that machine we're talking about has on its way.
The highest power of the 2 working is an EVGA 650w RM Bronze, I suspect this one to be too old to power the 3060ti due to the connector type. The weaker of the 2 is a Corsair 550W Gold rating I believe. The one that died was a RM750e Corsair Gold rating. The one on the way is Cooler Master MWE 850w Gold. Someone suggested that the card may be dead but this seems unlikely to me, my thought process being that, if the card had died, surely the system would still get power just not display or would boot with the card out of the system with both sticks. The behavior of not booting with both sticks and/or the GPU seated is leading me to the power issue
EVGA never made an RM series power supply. Those RM supplies are actually Corsair products. How old is that RM750e because it has been around for a long time and might still be under warranty if it's less than seven years old. Not to get rude at all, but the wattage or efficiency rating (like Gold or Titanium) doesn't really tell us much about how good a PSU actually is. You need the model or the correct series name like Corsair RMx or EVGA G2, and knowing exactly how long each unit has been in service would help too. Honestly though, if you think a PSU is too old and weak to work at all then it probably isn't worth using anymore. The RMe should definitely not be failing already, and since I mentioned it, it's likely still under warranty if you have the original purchase info like an invoice or receipt. What I'm not sure about here though is whether you mean that with just one stick of RAM and no graphics card installed, a 550w unit would NOT allow the system to POST while a 650w unit WOULD? Have you tried to POST with the RM750e and no graphics card installed yet?
The RM750e looked dead. It didn't even light up the debug LEDs on the motherboard. The EVGA 650 BQ is what worked; that one gave me the lights and eventually booted to BIOS right after I put it in without a card or RAM stick. The 550 CX550M was my main power supply from 2017 all the way until 2023 when I swapped it out for the RM750e. I never tested just the RM750e with nothing plugged in because no lights came on and fans didn't spin, so I assumed that made it useless. If you want to try putting just power supply in, sure, but right now, only the EVGA 650 BQ is showing any signs of life. The EVGA was even gone after just one month when my brother started building his setup.
I don't think you really need a 750W power supply for this setup. When my computers turn on, they use between 100 and 150 watts, then drop down to about 90 to 120 watts when they're not doing anything. My 7950X with an RTX 4070 only goes up to 430 watts while watching videos, which involves turning on five hard drives and three M.2 SSDs. One link says you should buy a 550W PSU for an Nvidia 3060Ti because its power usage is listed at 200 watts when idle. I thought your graphics card would use less than 50 watts while it's not running. The default wattage setting for the 7900X is 170 watts (with PBO turned off), but again, I think your processor uses less than 50 watts when it's just sitting there. I don't disagree that you're having trouble turning everything on from all three power sources and it's hard to figure out which one is broken. Removing the graphics card will lower the load on the PSU and remove a big problem. I thought you were using your main card while your iGPU, inside the 7900X, was connected to your monitor. That's the best test when you think something is wrong with the main card. The CX550M is a light unit (I have two of them in normal PCs). I wouldn't recommend this model for this setup, but 550 watts should be enough to run the motherboard and turn on Windows if your graphics card is unplugged. This card comes with a five-year warranty, so your 2017 old version might not work right now. I was sad that it felt really light in my hands and I don't have very high expectations for how well designed this model is. In comparison, my RM750/850X power supplies are much heavier (hopefully) better built. Best of luck when the new power supply comes out, but you might need to change your RAM, CPU, or motherboard to make it work properly.
If those three are actually bad, they all have a chance to be fixed by returning them before the five-day limit starts. I hope it's just about getting the BIOS right on that EVGA, so maybe we only need to replace two old parts and one completely dead power supply. Can just one broken part take out a GPU or make sure both sticks of RAM work?
If your power supply dies, it can ruin everything, but there are safety checks to stop damage if possible. Let's say your Corsair RM750e PSU died and broke things apart. If that happened while you were still under warranty, the company might cover some of the repair costs if they think the problem was with their part. To start this process, you need to contact Corsair and tell them what went wrong. Since your items are still within the return window, I would suggest sending everything back for a fresh set. This way, it takes less time than trying to find a specific broken piece of hardware by yourself. On top of that, it feels like something big might be going on with your motherboard or CPU because the PSU died. Motherboards get hurt easily when there are too many parts sticking together and many layers of copper traces inside can accidentally connect (short out) during a sudden power surge. Also, if you only boot up once instead of using two sticks of RAM at the same time, that points to a motherboard or CPU problem. To be sure, look closely at the pins in the CPU socket. If any are bent or broken, it could explain why your PC won't recognize either stick of RAM and fails to post correctly. If you see scorch marks on the bottom of the CPU, then both things are likely bad. You should check that those contact pads are all there when you try to boot up with one or two sticks of RAM. Make sure each stick is in the right slots (A2 or B2) and follow this order: CPU 0/1/0/1 for a dual setup, or just A2 for a single stick. If it's only one stick, check if you have it in slot A2 or at least one of the others on the board.
I should have explained before I took the board out that I thought it was dead. This is how I figured out the PSU had failed because I used an old board with a CPU and RAM that ran on a 750e for years. It wouldn't even start, not to mention the new board. While I checked everything while holding the new board to make sure there wasn't any obvious damage to the CPU or RAM, I'll keep troubleshooting if I can avoid sending it back. If taking it apart is the only choice, then so be it.
Is that the original MWE Gold you have coming or an updated model? It makes a huge difference if it's a good buy. Also, how much did you pay for this one because depending on your location, you might easily get a cheaper and better power supply. Today's MWE units are honestly not very worth their current price tag.