Source
r/techsupport•
bootkiller

Bad RX460 or failing power supply?

Solved

I bought a Sapphire RX460 Nitro 4GB and was looking forward to have a nice gaming session. If it weren't for some issues. Just want to hear your opinion.

Specs:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE

RAM: 4x 2GB DDR3 GSkill Memory

Disks: 1 SSD 256GB (for Linux), 1 WD Raptor EL74 (Windows 10), 5 SATA 7200 RPM disks for data (various brands/models)

1 optical drive

Keyboard and Mouse

PSU: Enermax ELT500AWT

Symptoms are the machine will shut itself down under high load.

Background: This PSU is old, really old, although it has been extremely reliable. It was bought along with an ATI HD2900 in 2007, meaning its 9 year old. It had been working with an HD4770 until now. I also had the CPU overclocked to 3GHZ (2.8 stock).

Causing it to happen was really easy at first, just a few seconds of running Firestrike benchmark and it would shutdown. Removing the overclock helped a lot, I manage to run a full benchmark.

While playing Guild Wars 2 however, it shutdown again. I started unplugging the power connectors on some drives, ending up with only the SSD and Raptor connected. It would still shut down.

Lastly I fought maybe it was a problem with Windows so I turned to Linux. The performance on the 4.7 kernel still leaves something to be desired, so I built 4.8.rc4 to see if I could reproduce the symptom. At first I thought it was all good, I had been plying CS:GO on max settings for about an hour. Running Unigine-Heaven benchmark however managed to shutdown the machine.

Lastly, right before the machine shutdown I can even hear the hard drives start to erratically/wildly, and a USB led light I have on a USB port will start flickering intensely (problem isn't this USB light, same thing happens without it).

What are your thoughts?

I was not looking forward to having to a new PSU, but I will if I have to (an ATI 4770 should have more power draw than a RX460). At the same time I really hope it isn't the card. I will see if tomorrow a friend of mine is available to let me test the card on his computer, at least I rule out the card (or not). Until then I will have to rely on your expertise.

tl,dr: PC will shut itself down under high load with brand new RX460 Nitro 4GB, no problems previously with an ATI HD4770.

Solved, it was the power supply, bought a new one.

Posted Sep 1, 2016, 3:40 AM UTC · edited

211
TIFUbyredditting•

You could try RMAing the power supply and of that doesn't fix it do the gpu

1
bootkillerOP•

The PSU is out of warranty, according to their website, "Support Center does not repair out of warranty product.". Even then, shipping it to the States + repair cost wouldn't be worth it, probably costs less to buy a new one.

I would prefer certifying the card is OK or not before RMAing it.

1
Cuisinart_Killa•

PC shuts off it's the psu. Psu loses about 5% efficiency a year.

So you've lost about 50% over nine years. Enermax is a shit brand too.

1
bootkillerOP•

Can't really complain after nine years without problems. Still, the RX460 should have much less power draw than an 4770. I wonder if stability is the issue here?

1
Cuisinart_Killa•

I think you're trying to convince yourself that a nine year old psu is somehow still safe to use.

If you keep hammering on it, and it fails it will take all your components with it.

The instability is because your voltages are sagging under load.

1
bootkillerOP•

:/

Just trying to figure out what's really going on before spending cash on another thing. Like I said on my post, I will buy a new one if I have to.

1
Cuisinart_Killa•

I don't know where you are located or what the brand motherboard is.

Go to bios and see if it has a voltage reading, if the 5v or 12v is giving under voltage, like 11.5 then it's the psu for sure.

The only way to know is to get another psu and swap it.

1