Issues with RM850 pls help

[DekonX]

So I read the majority of the thread about the recalled ones. However as of recently my computer has been hard locking. Voltages are all over the place and I was starting to suspect it could be my VC so I took my VC to my friends house and we traded tonight. His card that runs perfectly fine an asus HD 7870 to my R9 280x. My card is running flawlessly in his case. Where as his card that prior was working fine until I stuck it in my system was working flawless.

 

Quick run down of specs incase you dont wanna read them in my profile.

ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z MOBO

FX9590 oc 5.2 GHZ

Corsair H110i CLC

Corsair Dominator 2400mhz 2x8Gb

WD 2Tb black

Samsung 120gig 840 (basic) ssd

2x128gig Toshiba ssd (raid)

Usual vc XFX R9 280X

8 Noctua indus 3k rpm fans 2 intake 4 on h110i rad

Nonoxia DS6 Case

Corsair RM850M

 

So, I seen one of the gurus in the previous page say that if you can run prime 95 and furmark and the psu fan doesnt kick on you have issues. I ran both for about 20 minutes and the fan never kicked on.

 

Recently my VC and system has been hard locking frequently. I have turned off all OC's down clocking my video card, running memtest, downclocking my processor, and tonight I changed video cards.

 

To which I believe that the issue I am having is a power issue. I could nit pick and change every little thing to which tomorrow I will go and pick up another power supply from microcenter. Just so I can prove that it is indeed a psu issue.

 

My PSU however is not in the lump of recalled ones. The numbers on it are 1417 for the first 4.

 

Additionally, I have turned off Cooln'Quiet. Turned off turbo boost, among other things and I have core speed/processor voltage fluctuation. I have screen shots of where my video card shows that there are voltage spikes dropping to zero volts among other things and it was also showing a max voltage of over 35million volts. So possible voltage regulator issue with the psu?

 

Honestly, its been driving me nuts and I just got linked to a thread about over heating issues. I figured id make a post and well post about mine. Maybe it could be looked at to see if maybe some of the other psu's are having other issues?

 

The PSU had been working fine up until about a two weeks ago. My system had an up time of over 3 months. Then randomly out of the blue I go to turn on my monitors and when I do. I notice that the vc has hard locked and im looking at black and gray vertical bars running all the way across my dual monitors. Shake the mouse, nothing happens. Reboot, computer runs fine for a few days. Hard locks again. It seems to be hard locking more and more frequently.

 

IF anyone can, please help. I ran sisSandra http://www.sisoftware.eu/rank2011d/show_run.php?q=c2ffc8f9dfbedfe2d6e4d0e6d7f183be8ea8cda895a583f0cdfd&l=en and I just recently tried to run it once my computer started acting up. 100% it locks my computer up harder than fort knox's vaults in less than 5 mins.

[jonnyguru]

So, I seen one of the gurus in the previous page say that if you can run prime 95 and furmark and the psu fan doesnt kick on you have issues.

 

That sounds EXTREMELY paraphrased. Depends on the build. Depends on the load. Depends on the temperature. Does your PSU have a serial number that falls within the lot with the thermistor problem?

 

 

My PSU however is not in the lump of recalled ones. The numbers on it are 1417 for the first 4.

 

Ok.

 

But even if you DID have a PSU with the thermistor problem, the results would not be what you're describing. If a PSU overheats because the fan doesn't kick on, your PC doesn't lock up. Thermal protection kicks in and the PSU shuts down. This is explained in the thread.

 

I ran both for about 20 minutes and the fan never kicked on.

 

You have an 850W PSU and a single graphics card. You're going to need two in there to even come close to the kind of load that's going to kick in that fan.

 

Recently my VC and system has been hard locking frequently.

 

How have you come to the conclusion that it's the video card that's locking up and not something else? Are you running one monitor off the APU and the other off the graphics card or something? I'm not clear how you came to this conclusion.

 

...tomorrow I will go and pick up another power supply from microcenter. Just so I can prove that it is indeed a psu issue.

 

Great idea if that's easy enough for you to do. Please report back on whether or not that solves the problem and don't leave us hanging. ;):

 

I have screen shots of where my video card shows that there are voltage spikes dropping to zero volts among other things and it was also showing a max voltage of over 35million volts. So possible voltage regulator issue with the psu?

 

The voltage regulators are on your graphics card. Not your power supply. Your power supply is just feeding the graphics card +12V.

[DekonX]

Swapped power supply. Problem is solved.

 

Yes some of it was paraphrased

 

You appeared to have not read what I said in my post at all when you originally asked about the serial number because I clearly stated it lower in the thread.

 

LMFAO I dont pull near enough at full load for the psu to kick on. Dude I pull almost 500 watts at full load with my GFX card pulling 300 on its own. Not trying to get into a pissing contest with you here but literally you sound pretty uh... when you say stuff like "your going to need at least 2 gfx cards to pull 40% load to turn on the fan"

 

Probably because the card stops getting voltage beyond what its getting from the PCI bus which is just barely enough to keep display anything at all and simply locks up. I also put the card in a friends system and it ran perfectly fine. So.... im sure its not the card.

 

Yes getting a both a gfx card and psu to test are more than easy enough for me to do. MY friends usually get my old parts which are less than 1yr old. However I need a 750watt or higher psu for my system so I did need to actually go buy a replacement since mine wasnt doing what it was supposed to.

 

Actually power supplies do have voltage regulators in them. Or else it would break stuff. I will be posting links to pics soon

[DekonX]

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Sorry if I came across as rather abrasive in my last post. The reasons are as follows 40% of 850w is 340w. My video card alone pulls 300watts by itself my cpu another 70 without load.

 

I have been running p95 + furmark now for 30+ minutes. My computer isnt even stuttering. All the voltages are stable, the game im running is lagging a bit however, for the most part. I have 3 things abusing my computer and its not having a single issue.

 

My fan was also top up. Just like it is with the new psu so it pulls hot air out of the case to help get heat away from my VC. So im sure the inside ambient temp was well over the temp that the fan should kick on anyways.

 

Once again, I do appologize for sounding like a jerk. However I dont like when people seemingly exhibit an overall lack of knowledge about something when professing to be a PSU guy and showing an overall lack of knowledge for hardware in general.

 

I have parts that I can get pretty much at my disposal, however I am disappointing quite a bit at the overall denial response I have received as well as the issue of a 160$ power supply that is actually over sized for my computer (to prevent it from dying so it wasnt fully loaded at idle and could actually handle expanding in the future) simply crapping the bed when I used a ThermalTake 600watt el cheepo psu for over 2 years without incident and yet 6 months after I purchase a good brand, and a gtood psu it dies . To which when I do rma it which I will be.

 

I will be greeted with the following.

 

1. I will have to pay for shipping.

2. I will be told that its probably my fault for w\e reason.

3. If I didnt go out and buy a psu I would be without one for probably 1-3 weeks depending on the average turn around time. Since im sure it would be put on a bench and tested to see if it is indeed faulty.

4. Probably still be told its my fault and refused a replacement.

[DekonX]

oh and I will also quote you from this thread.

 

"Well, an 850W is quite a lot of power for the rig you're powering, but you can try running Furmark and Prime95 together at the same time to put a load on the PSU and if the fan turns on, you're good."

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=123484&highlight=RM850+Recall

 

I again would like to point out that while my computer didnt shut off. There was not enough power to power things properly. Which is why I began to suspect the psu or the vc. After running my VC in a computer and seeing that it ran just fine in another computer and putting another perfectly working vc in my pc from another computer and having the same issues. It became apparent that the issue was static across my system.

 

So with that being said the next step was replacing my psu. I went out and bought an FSP Aurum CM 750M 750w 80+gold cert that was on clearance at a microcenter marked down from 130 to 78.

 

My rig being in the Nonoxia DS6 case was completely wire managed which took almost an hr just to remove all the individual cables running everywhere in my case. Ano well over another hour to rewire my case properly.

[jonnyguru]

Swapped power supply. Problem is solved.

 

Great.

 

You appeared to have not read what I said in my post at all when you originally asked about the serial number because I clearly stated it lower in the thread.

 

I certainly did. And I quoted that part too. You apparently didn't read my reply. Take a look again.

 

LMFAO I dont pull near enough at full load for the psu to kick on. Dude I pull almost 500 watts at full load with my GFX card pulling 300 on its own. Not trying to get into a pissing contest with you here but literally you sound pretty uh... when you say stuff like "your going to need at least 2 gfx cards to pull 40% load to turn on the fan"

 

Probably because the card stops getting voltage beyond what its getting from the PCI bus which is just barely enough to keep display anything at all and simply locks up. I also put the card in a friends system and it ran perfectly fine. So.... im sure its not the card.

 

Actually, the graphics card is going to get most of it's power from the PCIe power connectors. The slot can handle up to 75W, but power is going to take the path of least resistance, and that would be the PCIe power connectors.

 

How are you measuring the 300W? An R9 290X has a TDP of 250W, so how are you pulling 300W from the graphics card alone? Not saying it's impossible. Certainly with a good overclock. Just wondering how you're measuring that.

 

Actually power supplies do have voltage regulators in them. Or else it would break stuff. I will be posting links to pics soon

 

Not to blow smoke or anything, but you do realize who I am, right? (jonnyguru.com)

 

PSUs output +12V. They have a DC to DC for +3.3V and +5V, and you can call those voltage regulators, but those are regulated for components like SSDs, HDD motors, etc. You GPU and CPU use the +12V and have voltage regulators that regulate those voltages to even lower voltages. So it's more correct to say that the PSU is putting out "regulated voltages", but when you're talking about voltage regulators, those are on the motherboard, graphics card, in the CPU if we're talking about Haswell (though we're not), etc.

 

That said, if the +12V output of the PSU isn't stable, it can overwork the voltage regulators on the motherboard and graphics card and can cause lock ups, artifacts, etc. Which seems to be the problem you're experiencing.

 

Anyways... We're splitting hairs on terminology here. A PSU regulates voltage. That's it's job. But when you're reading voltages in software like GPU tweak, etc., like I said, those are voltages that are regulated by the motherboard and video card. Those voltage readings are NOT coming from the power supply. You can't read voltages, temperature, fan speed, etc. from the PSU unless you have a PSU that's designed to report those values (like an AXi or an HXi, for example).

 

Sorry if I came across as rather abrasive in my last post. The reasons are as follows 40% of 850w is 340w. My video card alone pulls 300watts by itself my cpu another 70 without load.

 

I'm sure the CPU is pulling that much power. Those 9590's are far from efficient. I'm just wondering how you're determining the graphics card is pulling 300W.

 

Once again, I do appologize for sounding like a jerk. However I dont like when people seemingly exhibit an overall lack of knowledge about something when professing to be a PSU guy and showing an overall lack of knowledge for hardware in general.

 

Then your apology means nothing at all. :(:

 

You're assuming I have a lack of knowledge based on assumptions you've made due to your own lack of knowledge.

 

I think I'll continue to "profess" to be a PSU guy. ;):

 

I have parts that I can get pretty much at my disposal, however I am disappointing quite a bit at the overall denial response I have received as well as the issue of a 160$ power supply that is actually over sized for my computer (to prevent it from dying so it wasnt fully loaded at idle and could actually handle expanding in the future) simply crapping the bed when I used a ThermalTake 600watt el cheepo psu for over 2 years without incident and yet 6 months after I purchase a good brand, and a gtood psu it dies . To which when I do rma it which I will be.

 

Did you even read my response? How in the WORLD were able to extrapolate so much nonsense from my short and simple answers? Read it again... go ahead. It's like six whole sentences and you go off on a rampage.

 

I pointed out if you had a PSU with the thermistor problem (the thread you were referring to about the "bad lot code", the PSU would shut down. That is also stated in the thread you were referencing. Your PSU did not shut down.

 

The fan in that PSU turns on based on load, temperature and time. You're on the threshold of the load that it should turn on at IF temperatures are at least 25°C.

 

The problem with this thread is that YOU came in here with the preconceived notion that your PSU, even though you KNOW it did not have the lot code of the effected units, assumed that you might have the same problem. I was trying to explain to you that that was not the case. If you had an affected unit, your PC wouldn't be locking up, your PC would be shutting down. That is all. And now you're on a tirade about how >> I << don't know about PC hardware? Apologize all you want, but your arrogance is beyond compare. You were already on the way to the store to get another PSU, so you already made up in your mind that the PSU was the problem, so what was I supposed to tell you to make you "feel better"? I never meant to imply that your problem couldn't be the PSU. I was simply explaining to you that your PSU was not exhibiting the same problems you quoted in your initial post.

 

I will be greeted with the following.

 

1. I will have to pay for shipping.

2. I will be told that its probably my fault for w\e reason.

3. If I didnt go out and buy a psu I would be without one for probably 1-3 weeks depending on the average turn around time. Since im sure it would be put on a bench and tested to see if it is indeed faulty.

4. Probably still be told its my fault and refused a replacement.

 

And the attitude continues...

 

You have the preconceived notion that your PSU is part of the lot that have the problem even though your symptoms are different and now you have preconceived notions on how your RMA will be handled. Before you judge others, you should really read your own posts....

 

1. Try whomever you bought the PSU from first and see if they offer free shipping on RMA's of defective product (like Amazon does, or if you bought it at a walk in store like Microcenter).

 

2. If you end up contacting Corsair for an RMA, don't do what you did here. Don't say "my PSU doesn't have a lot code of the 'bad' units, but I think mine is effected the same way. Because you're wrong and they're going to tell you that. Keep it simple, which seems to be something you're sometimes incapable of doing. Say, "I've tried multiple PSUs, but whenever I use the RM850, my PC locks up." and they'll say "ok... Here's an RMA number."

 

3. Ask if you can get an advanced replacement so they ship the replacement to you first (CC required). That way you're not sitting around waiting for the RMA to process. Yes.. I know you already bought another from Microcenter, but if you haven't, that IS an option that you have.

 

4. Ask nicely (you can do that, right?) for a call tag so you don't have to pay for shipping.

 

oh and I will also quote you from this thread.

 

"Well, an 850W is quite a lot of power for the rig you're powering, but you can try running Furmark and Prime95 together at the same time to put a load on the PSU and if the fan turns on, you're good."

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=123484&highlight=RM850+Recall

 

I again would like to point out that while my computer didnt shut off. There was not enough power to power things properly. Which is why I began to suspect the psu or the vc. After running my VC in a computer and seeing that it ran just fine in another computer and putting another perfectly working vc in my pc from another computer and having the same issues. It became apparent that the issue was static across my system.

 

Actually, there's no evidence that there wasn't enough power. You said it works with a 600W and it works with a 750W, so how is an 850W not enough power? I understand you'd like to think >> I << am the ignorant one here, but you should read your own posts here. Just like the thermal protection, there's overload protection. If a PSU is taxed beyond its capability, it will latch off in the same way. Your problem is probably that the +12V dropped out of spec, or maybe just fluctuated enough under load to where the VRMs on the video card couldn't compensate and caused a lock up. But like I said, I never said that your problem wasn't the PSU. I was saying that the problem was not the problem you quoted in your OP. Your problem was not the thermal issue, so I'm not sure why you keep referencing it.

 

So with that being said the next step was replacing my psu. I went out and bought an FSP Aurum CM 750M 750w 80+gold cert that was on clearance at a microcenter marked down from 130 to 78.

 

My rig being in the Nonoxia DS6 case was completely wire managed which took almost an hr just to remove all the individual cables running everywhere in my case. Ano well over another hour to rewire my case properly.

 

You could have gotten another RM and not have to redo all of the cabling since the PSU is fully modular. You can just leave the cables in their place and swapped out the main unit. That's why SI's love fully modular PSUs.

[DekonX]

So I was going to reply with a quite long response breaking down my OG post since it is apparently misread or misunderstood. To which I simply decided not to.

 

How am I monitoring voltage, and power from the wall.

 

I am using HWinfo and reading sensor data.

I am using a UPS that reports to me power draw because where I live is prone to brown outs and I dont wanna dmg the psu due to a brown out so a ups helps.

 

I was under the understanding that TDP was thermal design power to help pick adequate cooling products. Not power consumption. Please inform me if I am wrong. Secondly if it is power consumption please calculate 10 fans 8 which are 3k rpm indust noctuas h110i liquid cooler + the 220watt tdp of my cpu and 250watt tdp of my gpu. I come up with at lease 470 watts.

 

I didnt get another RM since at this moment in time. I do not want another psu that doesnt have an active cooling fan if they will eventually burn up. I would however like to be able to get a replacement to either have as a spare. Or when I stop being pissed at corsair, and myself for buying something that is pretty gimmicky that I honestly didnt need to begin with however looking to the future I wanted the ability to expand to a 2nd gfx card without issue. Which IS why I went from a 600 to 850.

 

I also upgraded psu's because I upgraded my mobo, processor, and gfx card. I had a cheap board (it was like 40$ when bundled with the FX8350 processor) and upgraded from the HD7870 to an xfx r9 280x gfx card. I wanted more power to be able to support the new parts and not drawing on a cheap TT 600 watt 80+ bronze psu. Also I did point out that I didnt have the money to strait up buy another RM850 or else id have done so. However im missing the point as to why I would buy another one then RMA my current one... but meh oh well. I simply want the one I have replaced.

[jonnyguru]

TDP is the manufacturer's rated power consumption under heavy, non-synthetic operating conditions. That said, synthetic conditions can actually cause the power draw to exceed the TDP... but not by much.

 

TDP is used by manufacturers to both gauge how much electrical power needs to be delivered to the device, as well as design a cooling apparatus for the same device.

 

I've seen most graphics cards go up to their TDP, but not exceed it. If I'm mining for alt-coins, that's when I usually see my power consumption meet TDP. Of course, if I overclock, then I tend to exceed TDP exponentially.

 

I see you edited your last post, so I'm editing mine... which is good because I was a little "hot" myself in my previous response.

 

A UPS is always a good idea. I too use one that shows me the AC load. But I also use an AXi PSU that shows me all of my PSU voltages, loads, etc. Very handy for someone in my business.

 

HWinfo is handy. But keep in mind those reading are from the motherboard and graphics card. It can't report what's happening at the PSU. For example: I've seen it report that the +12V is +6V while troubleshooting someone's machine. Of course the +12V can't be +6V because if it were, the PC wouldn't run at all. But it can tell you that there's a problem somewhere.

 

Regardless, you found out what your problem was... it was the PSU... and you've resolved it. So hopefully you have a smooth RMA process and you can get another PSU quickly.

 

Happy new year.

[jonnyguru]

I didnt get another RM since at this moment in time. I do not want another psu that doesnt have an active cooling fan if they will eventually burn up. I would however like to be able to get a replacement to either have as a spare. Or when I stop being pissed at corsair, and myself for buying something that is pretty gimmicky that I honestly didnt need to begin with however looking to the future I wanted the ability to expand to a 2nd gfx card without issue. Which IS why I went from a 600 to 850.

 

Well.. some people are very noise conscious. PSUs don't tend to run very hot, so the easiest thing to do is to design a PSU that has passive cooling. Certainly the PSU isn't going to "eventually burn up". That would be counterproductive for Corsair to offer a product that they know will soon die.

 

Example: An RM850 is 87% efficient at 100% load. That means it's pulling 977W from the wall. The difference ends up as heat: 127W. That's the MOST HEAT that the PSU would have to exhaust from the housing and why it waits until temperatures hit around 40°C before the fan kicks in. The components inside the PSU are rated at 105°C and higher!

[DekonX]

I would like to see these psu's come with either a physical switch on them, or the corsair link cable with the ability to bypass the passive cooling.

 

As mentioned in here some people do like the quiet. I myself use a gaming headset when im playing games and the nanoxia ds6 case has some crazy thick panels. I barely hear my 3k's ramp up when I push the sliders up to nog when im gaming.

 

Yes, I do agree that they probably do not intend for these things to heat soak. Im sure its probable that something is simply defective in mine. Short of opening it up I have no idea why its not working and well I got an email telling me my rma was approved and it appears that no further testing will be required. So splitting the case on my psu would be stupid. Ill send it in and let them look at it lol its not my problem anymore.

 

I do get heated when it appears that people are saying I dont know what im talkin about after several years of building computers, repairing computers, and upgrading them with a pretty knowledgeable group of friends. While I will admit when I dont know something I wont accept a vague answer simply so I can understand something better.

 

I enjoy a full modular psu. Its nice would be nice if other companies used a standard psu plug style for the mod cables but we all know that will never happen. I do however believe an always on fan control override would be nice either in Corsair Link or even a secondary external 3 way rocker switch would be nice and a massive upgrade to these psu's in general.

 

Still disappointed these dont come with a CL cable out of the box. Oh well time to go find the box and see if I still have the foam that it came packed in to get it ready for shipping out soon.

 

Again, I will apologize for my attitude. I am suborn as a boulder some times. Especially when I believe I am right. I did edit my post because I would have come off as a complete ******* if I left it as it was.

[jonnyguru]

The RM is a very "basic" PSU. If you want to be able to turn the fan on as well as monitor other aspects of the PSU like voltages, load, wattage, temperature, etc. you should really get the HXi instead.