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Need help and advice on selecting a new PSU for PC
HI everyone,
I believe my PSU on my PC is going bad. It is about 8 years old and has run like a champ so far, but lately I think it is going bad. When the PC is turned off (but still plugged in), I can hear a buzzing sound coming from the back of the PC where the PSU is located. Also, in the last 4 or 5 days, when I go to turn the PC on using the power button, the PC will start to boot up, then shut down, then boot up again and repeat this about 3 times before it finally boots up for good. I have no voltmeters or anything like that to actually test the PSU, but I have a feeling that it is going bad. It is a 1000 Watt Cooler Master PSU. Like I said, I couldn't be happier that it has lasted as long as it has with no problems up until the past week.
It looks like I am going to have to replace it (unless someone here has an idea what could be causing the reboots mentioned earlier and perhaps the buzzing sound coming from the PSU).
My question to my fellow HTM computer wizards is - do you think my PSU is going bad by what I have described, and if so, I was hoping I could get some advice as to what wattage PSU would be adequate enough for my system. I would like to go with the lowest possible wattage PSU that will run my system, with maybe a little wattage to spare to be on the safe side. I really don't think I need 1000 Watts. I would just get another 1000 Watt PSU, but with bills piling up and my son's birthday coming up in June, money is very tight. SO I am looking for a PSU that is adequate enough to run my system with perhaps a little bit of watts to spare. Below, I'll list what I have hardware-wise in my PC right now so those who may be able to help me have a good idea of approximately how much wattage in a PSU I would actually need.
CPU - Intel Core i7 Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s) (weith an Intel Extreme CPU cooler (fan-type) - no liquid cooling
RAM - 12 GB of Corsair Dominator 1866 Ram (with fans over Ram Sticks for cooling)
GPU - nVIDIA GeFORCE GTX 680 FTW Edition 4GB of GDDR5 Memory (only one GPU)
Disk Drives - 1 Intel SSD 160 GB drive, 1 Crucial SSD 250 GB drive, 1 Standard 1TB HDD drive, 1 standard 250 GB HDD
Optical Drives - 1 Plextor Blu-ray Burner, 1 Asus DVD Burner
1 iMON VFD Display in drive bay (just a small LCD screen for system info, song info etc. can't imagine it using too much power)
Fans - 2 120mm fans with lights
Case Thermaltake Level 10 (the reason I mention the case is because there are a lot of LED's and lights on the case that are built in)
Soundcard - Creative X-fi Titanium HD
I cannot think of any other components besides the motherbord right now but that is most of the major parts that consume power.
I am hoping I can get by with an 800 watt PSU or maybe even a 700 watt PSU - but again I would like to have a little extra wattage to spare just to be safe. Like I said earlier, I would just go ahead and get another 1000 watt PSU, but I don't have very much money so I have to try to go with the lowest wattage I can that will run my system and hopefully have a little wattage to spare.
Any help would be extremely appreciated as well as suggestions on the brand of PSU I should get.
Thank you my HTM brothers and sisters.
-Jeremy (HTM~TheGame)
P.S. I just noticed while looking at the run command that it states I only have 8GB of RAM installed when I should have 12GB. I am not sure if one of my RAM sticks have gone bad, but if it has, that may be causing some of my reboot issues. I'll have to check on it.
EDIT 2 - I did a memory diagnostic on my RAM and now it shows there are 12GB of RAM (which it should be). So I think I can rule out RAM being the issue (at least for now). SO I guess the main culprit is the PSU.
I believe my PSU on my PC is going bad. It is about 8 years old and has run like a champ so far, but lately I think it is going bad. When the PC is turned off (but still plugged in), I can hear a buzzing sound coming from the back of the PC where the PSU is located. Also, in the last 4 or 5 days, when I go to turn the PC on using the power button, the PC will start to boot up, then shut down, then boot up again and repeat this about 3 times before it finally boots up for good. I have no voltmeters or anything like that to actually test the PSU, but I have a feeling that it is going bad. It is a 1000 Watt Cooler Master PSU. Like I said, I couldn't be happier that it has lasted as long as it has with no problems up until the past week.
It looks like I am going to have to replace it (unless someone here has an idea what could be causing the reboots mentioned earlier and perhaps the buzzing sound coming from the PSU).
My question to my fellow HTM computer wizards is - do you think my PSU is going bad by what I have described, and if so, I was hoping I could get some advice as to what wattage PSU would be adequate enough for my system. I would like to go with the lowest possible wattage PSU that will run my system, with maybe a little wattage to spare to be on the safe side. I really don't think I need 1000 Watts. I would just get another 1000 Watt PSU, but with bills piling up and my son's birthday coming up in June, money is very tight. SO I am looking for a PSU that is adequate enough to run my system with perhaps a little bit of watts to spare. Below, I'll list what I have hardware-wise in my PC right now so those who may be able to help me have a good idea of approximately how much wattage in a PSU I would actually need.
CPU - Intel Core i7 Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s) (weith an Intel Extreme CPU cooler (fan-type) - no liquid cooling
RAM - 12 GB of Corsair Dominator 1866 Ram (with fans over Ram Sticks for cooling)
GPU - nVIDIA GeFORCE GTX 680 FTW Edition 4GB of GDDR5 Memory (only one GPU)
Disk Drives - 1 Intel SSD 160 GB drive, 1 Crucial SSD 250 GB drive, 1 Standard 1TB HDD drive, 1 standard 250 GB HDD
Optical Drives - 1 Plextor Blu-ray Burner, 1 Asus DVD Burner
1 iMON VFD Display in drive bay (just a small LCD screen for system info, song info etc. can't imagine it using too much power)
Fans - 2 120mm fans with lights
Case Thermaltake Level 10 (the reason I mention the case is because there are a lot of LED's and lights on the case that are built in)
Soundcard - Creative X-fi Titanium HD
I cannot think of any other components besides the motherbord right now but that is most of the major parts that consume power.
I am hoping I can get by with an 800 watt PSU or maybe even a 700 watt PSU - but again I would like to have a little extra wattage to spare just to be safe. Like I said earlier, I would just go ahead and get another 1000 watt PSU, but I don't have very much money so I have to try to go with the lowest wattage I can that will run my system and hopefully have a little wattage to spare.
Any help would be extremely appreciated as well as suggestions on the brand of PSU I should get.
Thank you my HTM brothers and sisters.
-Jeremy (HTM~TheGame)
P.S. I just noticed while looking at the run command that it states I only have 8GB of RAM installed when I should have 12GB. I am not sure if one of my RAM sticks have gone bad, but if it has, that may be causing some of my reboot issues. I'll have to check on it.
EDIT 2 - I did a memory diagnostic on my RAM and now it shows there are 12GB of RAM (which it should be). So I think I can rule out RAM being the issue (at least for now). SO I guess the main culprit is the PSU.
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