mgttr Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I'm trying to pin down a problem with my Asus P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 system with Corsair HX850 power supply that I built around two and a half years ago. The problem is that the system will suddenly shut off and reboot, usually when the GPU is pulling extra power (during gaming (Diablo 3), running Windows Experience Index refresh, or when initiating a GPU stress test with FurMark). The system will shut off completely (power light on case goes off), and then will reboot by itself several seconds later. I've run MemTest86+ and Prime95 extensively which would seem to rule out the RAM and CPU. I have gone into the case and reseated all cables, including the modular cables on the power supply. I've run thorough OEM diagnostics on the SSD and HDDs. Power supply voltages in BIOS look normal. I've even tried reverting to the previous NVIDIA driver with no luck. With the current GPU (MSI GTX 760), it will occasionally shut off when I click the Burn-In Test button in FurMark. If it doesn't crash initially, then it will run FurMark ok with the GTX 760. If I replace the GTX 760 with the card I originally built the system with (an EVGA GTX 580), it will shut off every time I attempt to run the Burn-In Test in FurMark. Obviously the GTX 580 is a much more power hungry card than the GTX 760, so it's looking like current draw has something to do with the problem. This was a totally stable system until just a couple weeks ago. When I first put it together, the system ran 24/7 doing distributed computer projects including CUDA, so the CPU and GPU (the GTX 580) were running full power all the time, and I never had a problem with that. At this point I'm suspecting either the motherboard or the power supply (Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850 watt Silver series) - the question is, is there any way to further determine what the problem is without throwing new parts at it? If I could narrow it down to the power supply, that would be a lot easier fix than the motherboard. Unfortunately I'd have to cannibalize another system in order to get another power supply to test it with. Thanks for any help and suggestions. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees jonnyguru Posted August 11, 2014 Corsair Employees Share Posted August 11, 2014 Under "advanced system settings", go to "startup and recovery" and make sure "automatically restart" is unchecked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgttr Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Under "advanced system settings", go to "startup and recovery" and make sure "automatically restart" is unchecked. I checked on that setting and it is already unchecked as you suggest. However, after some folks on Usenet suggested overheating as a good possibility, I did some investigation and have interesting (and embarrassing) results to report. My case is an Antec P280, which has dust filters on the front intake fans, and on the power supply fan. The power supply arrangement in this case is on the bottom of the case, with the intake facing down, and the filter is between the power supply intake and the bottom of the case (which has a perforated section to let air into the power supply). I checked both filters and found them clean. I blew out all the fans with compressed air and found almost no dust on them. The only thing I couldn't easily examine was the power supply fan because of the location of the power supply. So I turned the case upside down so I could verify the power supply fan was running. I was astounded to find the perforated case intake area for the power supply almost completely clogged with dust! What was happening was that the dust was accumulating on the perforations and not even making it to the filter. Since I frequently checked the filters and found very little dust, I assumed everything was OK. After cleaning out the dust and verifying that the power supply fan was indeed running, I tried running FurMark again with the GTX 580 and it ran fine! I thought I was home free until I tried running a refresh on the Windows Experience Index and the system shut down again. However, repeat refreshes on the Index and further running of FurMark didn't result in any shutdowns. Is it possible that running the computer for months (maybe over a year?) with the power supply air intake clogged has degraded the power supply and it is in need of replacement? Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees jonnyguru Posted August 11, 2014 Corsair Employees Share Posted August 11, 2014 No. That's why PSU's HAVE OTP (over temperature protection). They shut down BEFORE serious damage can occur. After you clean that filter, you might be just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgttr Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Well I was thinking that cleaning out the air intake to my power supply might have cured the problem, but I ran another Windows Experience Index refresh and it shut down the computer again. This time the side of the case was open and I was able to observe the lights on the motherboard during this episode. My motherboard doesn't have a single green LED as most Asus boards, rather it has an illuminated power button, an illuminated reset button, and a two digit alpha-numeric diagnostic display (all of these items are mounted directly on the motherboard). When the computer shut down, I quickly looked in the case and the two digit LED display turned off, but the illumination for the power and reset switches remained on. I guess this continues to leave me confused as to where the problem lies. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees jonnyguru Posted August 11, 2014 Corsair Employees Share Posted August 11, 2014 Yeah. If those are still lit, then the PSU is still providing power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper69 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Assuming that your GTX760 requires 2 PCIE power connections, are you using 2 cables or 1 double ended one? If it's one, try using 2 cables instead as using 1 can overload the rail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgttr Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'm using two separate PCI-E cables for the video card. One is using all connectors (6+2) and the other is using just the main "6" portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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