PSU on the fritz... Seasonic, BeQuiet, or something else?

[VJ]

Hello,

My 7 year old Enermax Platimax Modu82+ is on the fritz. For years the computer showed random reboots, but now it became more frequent and I managed to pin it down to the PSU: the +3.3V rail at times drops as low as +2.8V. Sadly, the PSU has 5 years warranty, so a shame I did not pinpoint it faster.

Now looking at a new PSU, and prefer not to get Enermax. Looking at some Platinum-certified (added cost for the small difference of Titanium certification does not seem to make sense). The case has a 16 cm depth limitation, and I was looking at some 650-750W (according to various calculators, I should have a PSU of between 400-480W, but I prefer to have one that has a more optimum load, which is around 50% for most PSUs, hence the 650-750W range). Silent operation is important.

Currently looking at Seasonic and BeQuiet... Good brands?
Model ranges to steer clear of?
Other suggestions?
(Corsair models are rather deep, not many in the 16cm depth range)

Thanks!

[Umfriend]

I've been using BeQuiet for years now. Having said that, the last time I bought a PSU was about, uhm, must have been over 5 years ago. Running 24/7.

[UtwigMU]

I'm using Corsair RM 650 (fanless if load is lower than threshold) in my NAS and ESX. I'm also planning to go with Corsair in my next build. Some Corsair are / were made by Seasonic but I'm sure which.

I had one Enermax fail during Parhelia years.

[VJ]

I found that some Corsairs are made by Seasonic, some by CWT (an oem manufacturer). BeQuiet is made by CWT.
Corsair does not have Platinum rated models that are 16cm or less; the Gold rated ones that are less than 16cm are models that came out in 2018... and still quite expensive compared to similar or even better spec'ed Seasonic and BeQuiet..

I'm currently leaning towards the BeQuiet Straight Power 11 Platinum 750W: https://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/1768 .

[Umfriend]

I'm currently leaning towards the BeQuiet Straight Power 11 Platinum 750W: https://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/1768 .

I have the 750W 80plus gold version. I couldn't remeber and had to look it up but I bought this one in January 2019, so not that long ago. Not sure why, I think I wanted modular cable management. Anyway, the fan is always on I think but inaudible. Then again, I don't think I ever draw 50% of power so it may be that.

[VJ]

Always on does not bother me if it is silent. I read some Seasonics have an issue with the fan switching on/off at regular intervals if you happen to be at some load level, which they say is more annoying than if it were on.

There are (silent) case fans, and when the system is under load it will mean the fan on the GPU will ramp up. So in that case I doubt the PSU would be the loudest. Main thing is under low-medium loads.

I don't fully get the purpose of making the ATX cable modular - it is always needed, but apparently it is a thing now.

[Umfriend]

Well, I have no GPU in my SOHO-Server so that saves them, what are they, PCI-E cables? Thinking about it, I maybe wanted more HDD power cables on seperate rails or somesuch.

[VJ]

Well, I have no GPU in my SOHO-Server so that saves them, what are they, PCI-E cables? Thinking about it, I maybe wanted more HDD power cables on seperate rails or somesuch.

Modular GPU cable makes sense, the ATX cable will usually be present (apart from some non-standard applications), so making that one modular is odd.

I also have an Enermax Pro82+, which had an additional 3-pin fan speed cable to allow the mainboard to read the speed of the fan of the PSU. Quite an elegant solution if you want to trigger an alarm on the failure of the fan. Somehow they don't do that anymore.

Meanwhile, the BeQuiet has been ordered.

Now to look for ways to make use of the old PSU: I've already found some tutorials for using it as a bench power supply (useful for Arduino projects or so ).

[Umfriend]

Agree on ATX. That may change when the new 12VPS or somesuch connector becomes more commonplace though. And for SATA/Molex power, it is nice to have just one if you need one and be able to have 4 if you want more.

[VJ]

PSU arrived, planning on installing it this weekend.

I do hope it solves the issue, because if it is not the PSU, it means it will be the mainboard (system is on a line-interactive UPS)... and I'd hate to have to start looking for a socket 1150 mainboard now (no need to get rid of an i7 4790k and the memory).

[UtwigMU]

I'll be building a proper gaming rig/workstation first time in 15 years. I went with Corsair 750RMx the 2018 Corsairs have more durable fans than newer ones.
My components should arrive this week.

Speaking of PSUs. I turned on my Proliant ML350 (dual socket) after a year to decomission it and there was no sign of life. So I had to order 750W HP hot swap PSU (worth less than what I can get for working server).

[VJ]

3.3V line with the new PSU is stable, ranging from 3.300V to 3.344V.

Despite that, the PC suffered again a reboot, but I think this reboot was another issue. My Asus mainboard has a setting in bios regarding voltage protection. With some sudden reboots, this protection was triggered (requiring me to confirm it on the next boot). This made me also suspect the PSU. However, not all reboots triggered this error, and I suspect that the ones that do not trigger this are caused by software crashes (it only seems to happen when the Netflix app is playing). The reboot I had yesterday did not trigger the Asus protection system, so for now I'm still assuming that it was not caused by the PSU. Now to try and find why those other reboots happen (temperatures are fine, recommended PSU for videocard is 500W, previous one was 650W, current one 750W); could be a driver issue.

[Umfriend]

Event Viewer saying anything?

[UtwigMU]

Can you try Netflix using a live CD or Linux install on spare hard drive?

What is feeding your GPU and which GPU do you have?

I've got components for my Ryzen workstation/gaming PC but looks like I'm too busy to build it this and next week.

[VJ]

Nothing in the event-log.
The netflix app sudden hangs (image freezes, sound loops the last 0.5s or so), and then either it continues or the pc reboots. This reboot has occured in other apps (but that could have been due to the voltage as well).

Videocard is a MSI GTX-1070 itx, PSU is the new BeQuiet.
I was in a way happy when I saw the issues with the 3.3V, as I thought a new psu would resolve everything. As there is nothing in the logs, it is very difficult to find the culprit. Now I'll first need more testing to see if it is tied to the netflix app, or also happens in others.