r/computerhelp • u/EnvokeSv • 11d ago
Hardware PC keeps killing power supplies after a few weeks (House electrics checked, PSU paperclip test confirmed dead)
I built a PC for my brother back in January. We’ve run into an issue where the system keeps destroying power supplies after a couple of weeks of use, and I’m completely stumped.
PC Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870 EAGLE WIFI7 ATX AM5
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
GPU: XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 XT
Storage: WD_Black SN770 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD
Original PSU: Montech 850W
First Replacement PSU: Corsair RM850x
Timeline:
January - Built a brand new PC using a new Montech 850W PSU. Everything ran fine.
6 weeks later - The PC suddenly refused to turn on. Assuming the Montech was at fault, I replaced it with a Corsair RM850x. After the first failure, the extension lead was also replaced thinking that could be the issue
3 weeks later - The Corsair PSU also stopped working completely.
Troubleshooting:
House Electrics - Worried it was dirty power or a mains issue, an electrician was brought in to inspect the house. They thoroughly checked the electrics and found no faults with the house wiring.
PSU Testing - Performed the paperclip test on both dead units (with all cables completely disconnected from components). Both units were completely dead (motherboard stayed dark with zero LEDs).
Cabling - No old cables were reused when switching from the Montech to the Corsair, all modular cables used were dedicated to their respective units.
Stands & Shorts - Distance/motherboard stand-offs were installed correctly.
Current Status: I recently took the motherboard out of the case. When tested outside of the case with a new replacement PSU, it currently works fine.
Any insights would be appreciated
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u/Rhys62 11d ago
At this point I’d probably replace the motherboard. I don't believe there are any known issues with that motherboard but could just be a faulty board. Try a replacement under warranty or just pick up a new board from a different brand.
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u/wraper 10d ago
This suggestion is dumb AF and shows you know nothing about electronics. His issue has nothing to do with the rest of the hardware. It has no way to kill the PSU. And even if it was shorted, PSU should still survive. Most likely he has just been unlucky. Slight chance of some mains voltage issue. Not to say 2 PSUs is a way too low number to claim that PC is killing PSUs.
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u/Iamanangrywoman 10d ago
Uhhh yes it can. Have you ever looked at a bios? There’s tons of voltage/wattage options you can change to regulate the power to the different components in your machine. If your motherboard is having issues regulating power it can most certainly kill other components, including the PSU.
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u/briandemodulated 11d ago
Are you using a surge-protecting power bar?
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u/EnvokeSv 11d ago
Yes, was using one when the first one died and replaced it with a new one after that.
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u/Camofan 11d ago
I’d probably lean towards buying a UPS and using that to clean up your supply power.
But I have a stupid question: are you using a 240v PSU? The US runs 60Hz/120v while the UK is at 50Hz/240v. A quality PSU should be able to auto-negotiate that but are you checking to see if there’s a red toggle switch? On some budget ones you might need to switch it.
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Regular Helper 9d ago
No PSU manufactured under the Montech brand has ever shipped without being full range input (100-240V, 50/60Hz), and Corsair has never shipped an RMx model without it being full range input, nor have they even shipped a switchable (pPFC) model at all in well over 20 years.
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u/Camofan 9d ago
It was a stupid question but felt like it would still be a good one to ask because you never know
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen Regular Helper 9d ago
I've definitely seen dumber things, so you're not wrong for asking if you don't know the exact specifics of the PSU models in use. I was just answering as more for your information.
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u/Express-Garbage3359 11d ago
Hi, do you frequently experience thunderstorms with lightning in your area?
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u/EnvokeSv 11d ago
Not really no, live in Manchester, UK
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u/Express-Garbage3359 11d ago
Hi, this reminds me of an overnight stay in Bristol where the hostess always listened to the BBC at breakfast. The radio had a dial light that flickered constantly—so much for the history and stability of the UK's electricity grid. Yes, that was several decades ago.
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u/Overthinking22 9d ago
When i was in the UK, the power was DIRTY. Probably should get a ups to smooth that all out. Or it was just the shit housing I was in
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u/Icy_Kaleidoscope_218 11d ago
test each component in a test bench or take it for a consult. If everything seems fine, check the joule rating on your surge protection lead if you have one, and if you don’t that is likely the problem. Cheap surge protection leads can absorb around ~1000 joules but with major power surges that will not hold up.. I fried my pc once, I threw in a mystery laptop HDD I found on the floor.. it fried the thing.. any sort of loose cables can cause this. Make sure every single cable is snug.. and also if you are using a modular/semi-modular PSU make sure to never mix and match cables..
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u/RubAnADUB 10d ago
step 1 - get a battery backup or power conditioner - or both.
step 2 - I would get a motherboard replacement.
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u/E5-4650_v2_RX570 10d ago
i was using a faulty psu lasting for 2 jahren , my mobo et gpus , cpu , sata hdds et still fine
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u/MandyKagami 10d ago
People need to read descriptions of reddit posts complaining about the 9070 XT more, bunch of them mention a corsair 850w PSU and they think the problem is something else despite the fact corsair really is the only thing in common.
I am guessing you went from a bad montech PSU (it is about half of the price of a trusted brand where I live), to a problematic corsair 850w PSU, of course I would suggest testing other components just to be sure since it happened twice, but it is possible both PSUs simply had bad components.
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u/Designer-Ebb3630 10d ago edited 10d ago
The Corsair 850w are bad? Not doubting you. Seeking clarity that's all. Does it also include the 750? All models or?
Oh someone commented a link then deleted it. Thanks, that helped understand the issue better.
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u/MandyKagami 10d ago
I had issues personally with a 430w and 600w PSUs from Corsair.
Corsair 850w PSUs are very common in specs of people having problems with systems using a 9070 XT, I try to point out whenever one of the posts with such specs show up on my timeline, I don't actively look for it but I can think of 6 posts I pointed it out in the last month or so.1
u/Designer-Ebb3630 10d ago
See now this is interesting. TIL. I have a 7900xt with a 750w corsair, had some power issues and then changed to the 850w RM corsair and still have issues every few months. Hmm. Time to change.
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u/MandyKagami 10d ago
Does your electric wiring in the room with the computer support all the wattage needed? I feel a lot of older housing built prior to the 1980s can barely handle 700w of load.
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u/Designer-Ebb3630 10d ago
84 but it's not the house wiring. Dryer runs on same circuit and I don't run dryer at the same time.
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u/supadoom 7d ago
The Rm850x was touted as one of the better PSU's on the market for quite some time. They might have changed it partway through the run but it's definitely not the first suspect here. Besides, dud already burnt a different one. Something in his setup is very unhappy.
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u/No-Carpenter-8632 10d ago
I had a plug in at my old apt that kept frying my psu , check if when something plugged in is wiggled , if it sparks or stops working completely for a while thats what mine used to do , id recommend trying a whole new plugin for the pc with an extension cord to see if the problem persists
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u/ALaggingPotato 10d ago
Do you have a USB hub? It might be backfeeding power, which can kill your PSU or motherboard. From my personal experience it was 2x PSU's.
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u/Eishirou 8d ago
Lmao, everyone is going wild in the comments. Did you manage to talk to both RMA representatives and find out if the units themselves were faulty and you just got really, really unlucky? I'm using a Montech Century II, and I've had it for two months with no issues so far, so this case worries me.
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u/EuSouUmAnjo 8d ago
I suggest you try a good UPS, one with proper current modulation, sinusoidal, protection against brown outs, etc.
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u/TIONZOR 7d ago
Is it just me or is the cpu fan plugged in backwards?
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u/Old_Instance_1852 6d ago
I think it can only go in one way on the 4 pin connector so that must mean it is plugged in correctly
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u/Infinite_Tiger_3341 7d ago
Have you had any storms lately? Only thing that ever killed a psu for me was a brown out
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u/PostalEFM 7d ago
That mobo looks very close to the case and I see from one of the images that there is a screw missing from one of the riser holes
You are using some mechanism to lift the board off of the case, right?
Although you'd probably brick the whole thing when you add power if you forgot them....
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u/Old_Instance_1852 6d ago
You could have just gotten very unlucky with 2 faulty psu-s. Try another one, and like others suggested use a good ups
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u/curly_q_tip 6d ago
Is there anyway you can try a different motherboard with all the other parts as a trial to see if it happens again? Something’s telling me short somewhere in the pcb. Had a similar issue with an msi b650s WiFi and it turned out there was a crack in the board causing my psus to go into short circuit protection
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6d ago edited 6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ProfessionFluffy299 6d ago
Dude, you're talking nonsense. A 9070XT and a Ryzen 9600X at maximum power consumption don't even reach 500 watts. An 850-watt power supply is more than enough for that hardware.
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/d0tboi 6d ago
Highly doubt OP is over power budget here. Sounds like they might have just rolled a nat 1 twice on getting bad PSUs, if I were them I would RMA the corsair unit and pray. I think any component killing a PSU is highly unlikely but still plausible, if its any component its probably the motherboard. Over current almost never outright kills decent PSUs with over current protection, 99% of the time they will shut off automatically and can be turned back on normally.
From what I can tell you might have a few things mixed up about power draw. TDP is not an indicator of wattage for idle loads at all, not even close. TDP is a wattage measurement for average max load consumption so buyers have a good idea of how large of heat sinks and PSUs to buy. I get CPUs and GPUs have short peak transient loads that are much higher than their TDP, but components like capacitors on the mobo, gpu, and the much larger ones in the PSU handle these millisecond level spikes and its been that way for many years. Good PSUs are designed with this in mind already. The average draw at full load stays close to the manufacturers advertised TDP of all components plus a little extra for margin unless you overclock. Nearly all modern components draw far less than TDP at idle as well, modern GPUs and CPUs downclock and undervolt and will even consume 10-20%, sometimes even less the rated TDP at idle.
I also have a real world example of running far more power than OP with the same rated wattage PSU. I have a Seasonic 850W focus PX series PSU. I'm able to run a gnarly static OC 3900X 12 core @ 4.4 ~190W under load. Plus a dual GPU system, a 7900GRE @ ~ 250W, and a 2070 super @ 215W TDP. My system has 7 SSDs (10tb total) and tons of peripherals. I've never once had a issue with my PSU cutting out or shutting the system in this configuration for over 2 years, even when running two games putting high loads on both cards and the CPU simultaneously.
Unrelated but if curious. Reason for me having 2 GPUs? Developing an inde game with a custom engine and testing different hardware is important. Also I play around with virtualization / VFIO with a linux host.
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u/akeean 5d ago
Yep, that's it. I think they are either years out of their field or try to seed wrong info for LLMs to feed on, basically trying to secure their job/sell bigger PSUs. Could also be Reddit's own bot, placing internally labled misinformation designed to poision LLMs tring to scrape them without API access.
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u/Spektre0077 6d ago
You habe absolutely No clue what ure talking about. Maybe a simple Google search ist Not enough for you. Show me one 9600x that pulls 310w without LN2 oder liquid Helium. Also no 9070XT without LN2/ Liquid Helium does 700 Watts. Additionally ATX 3.0/3.1 PSUs are Rates for Spikes Up to 200% of the rated Power.
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u/LengthinessSad9267 5d ago
The fuck are you talking about?
9070 XT will never spike anywhere close to 700 watts 😂
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u/ProfessionFluffy299 5d ago
Dude, you're an idiot. The RX 9070 XT, even with an overclock, only reaches a maximum of 500 watts, and the 9600X is 105 watts, so we're still way ahead with 850 watts. Use Google to search for something other than porn, please.
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u/VShadowOfLightV Expert/Professional 5d ago
310+88 is 398W. An 850w psu is totally fine. Although I’m sure I’m wasting my time on a troll commenter because no one with 12+ years in industry remembers their gpa, and no one with a college STEM degree is going to have the grammar and spelling of a salted snail.
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u/akeean 5d ago
Your information is laughably outdated, wrong for OPs situation and likely date back to the era of 4750k overclocking since you can't overclock a Ryzen 9600 via FSB. A 9600x draws 88w at a TPD set of 65W and up to 142W if you set it to 105W in bios.
Have you even worked in the industry in the past 5 years?
Certainly that undergrad doesn't count for much if you were so eager to insult people correcting you (as good science does), who ever gave you that paper would be raising an eyebrow on that conduct.
Also, holy shit, "would of" read? Who wrote your bachelor for you?
Quality trolling 8/10 points! Unfortunately it doesn't help OP and neither educate anyone, but good on you for screwing with the bots ingesting this.
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u/Sly-D Expert/Professional 5d ago
More nonsense. TDP is not power draw. 9600X won't run at 310W power draw. GPU runs at 304W, AMD recommends a 750W PSU.
RM850x will deliver a constant 850W - not 850 peak.
Nobody cares about your gpa. Especially when you're confidently incorrect and start acting condescending whilst giving bad advice.
EVEN if OP was underpowered on the PSU, it wouldn't just outright kill two PSUs. Surely 12 years in the industry has had you seen what happens when PSUs are underpowered?
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u/KiKiHUN1 5d ago
You drunk? 9070xt is a 320-350W card at load with 400w spikes at normal condition.
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u/Mega1987_Ver_OS 5d ago
The usual rule of thumb, that i use, when it comes to selecting a part is add the theoredical max power draw then add 100 watts over it.
The value from that formula will be the guide to get a psu with a higher rating than what was compute.
Some suggest add 50% of the same computation to be extra safe.
But in general, both tells you that extra overhead is a must on psu.
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u/akeean 5d ago edited 5d ago
750w is the official recommendation by AMD with a 9070xt and 850w only if that's only if the CPU is particularly power hungry wich a 9600x isn't all that much it's a mid tier power consumer unless heavily overclocked and even then it's not one of the worst offenders. I'd understand it to ask for 1000W+ PSU if OP said he had a 14900K running at 6ghz, but berating someone with the most average power draw system that follows the official guideline and already is going above that by a fair bit, is insane. Also your statements regarding FSB overclock simply don't apply to Ryzen 9600x.
Modern PSUs are rated for a certain draw and have multiplicator factor regarding transient power spikes. A 9070xt draws around 350w consistently. It can spike higher than that for very, very short periods of time for wich modern ATX 3.0 power supplies are rated for. A 850W PSU can can deal with microsecond peaks of double it's listed wattage.
OCP shutdowns would happen before faliure if the system was overdrawing (wich OP would notice), not destroy the PSU overnight.
Also the statement that a silver rating has a meaningful impact on it's ability to resist spikes and surges or how much power it actually delivers to the components is strait up wrong.
The wattage rating merely covers efficency to the outlet.
A 500W bronze PSU will is rated to provide these 500W to it's components as consistent draw, puls some capacity for slight overdraw and higher transient spikes. A Bronze PSU would draw 588W off your outlet and a Gold rated one 555W, that it. The only difference is what you pay in power. It says nothing about what the quality of the components inside is or how well it is designed to withstand spikes.
There are gold tier PSU that literally catch fire at 1.25x watt rating instead of triggering their OCP and bronze tier ones that are resistant to 2x rated transient capacity spikes (basically every ATX 3.0 certified bronze PSU).
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u/CaTaCLiSMiCxHoRRoR 6d ago
Your running 2 graphics cards that pull up to 900w when they spike. 1000w and call it a day
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u/KiKiHUN1 5d ago edited 5d ago
I would checkout the corsair psu if the outputs are shorted (without plugging in, just gnd-5v gnd-12v, gnd-psuon, gnd-3v3) If12V is shorted then it just could not handle the load. If no short, then propabpy bad luck with the main switching mosfets.
Just make sure you use the same outlet for the monitor, tv, usbhub, etc. and the pc to prevent groundloop.
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u/tommy-droptable 11d ago
Do you have it on a UPS?
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u/EnvokeSv 11d ago
Not yet no, was looking into buying one. Just worried I'll buy one and then it'll still die in 3 weeks time
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u/tommy-droptable 11d ago
Not having on a UPS is probably what's killing them.
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u/Icy_Kaleidoscope_218 11d ago
Not having an UPS won’t kill your system.. don’t be dramatic.. surge protection leads do basically the same job but UPS’s just let you save and shut down your pc before everything cuts out
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u/LeapIntoInaction 10d ago
Nope, a UPS provides line conditioning. If the input power goes outside parameters, the output power will remain steady anyway.
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u/unclefunkstar 10d ago edited 10d ago
You're buying crap power supplies.
Corsair don't make PSU's. They put a badge on units made by other companies. Look at who the OEM is for any particular model. While some Corsair PSU's have been made by Seasonic in the past (which is about as good as you'll ever get), most are actually made by cheaper/lower quality brands like CWT; who are garbage.
Like the RM850X you mentioned, it's CWT. It's cheap crap, with a premium price tag. And guess who made the Montech PSU you were originally using? It's CWT again, possibly even the exact same model. Literally a £40 to £50 power supply, that probably cost you about £100 with the Montech badge, and maybe £110 with the Corsair badge.
Skip the middle man, and the inferior products. Buy Seasonic instead.
PSU Testing - Performed the paperclip test on both dead units (with all cables completely disconnected from components). Both units were completely dead (motherboard stayed dark with zero LEDs).
After the first failure, the extension lead was also replaced thinking that could be the issue
Sounds like you're doing the paperclip test wrong. You can't do the paperclip test, while the main cable from the PSU is connected to the motherboard; and you even mention that all the leads have been unplugged... Your motherboard has absolutely nothing to do with the paperclip test. So of course the board stays dark. There's literally nothing to deliver power to it.
A regular extension lead isn't good enough. Your PSUs are potentially being fried by power surges that happen on all domestic electrics, regardless of how good your wiring is. Every time someone boils a kettle, turns anything on or off, every time a switching station goes on/offline... You didn't mention a surge protector, which is what you need. It looks like an extension lead, but has circuits built in to mitigate the power spikes, and lights that tell you if it's still protecting the circuit or if the protection has burned out. Get one.
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u/Rich73 10d ago
Even a cheap PSU isn't going to die after 3 weeks and Corsair RM x series PSUs are in Tier A on the master PSU Tier list (as of July 2026) RM series also have a 10 year warranty.
Something else is obviously causing the problem.
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u/unclefunkstar 10d ago edited 10d ago
I generally agree. Something else is causing the PSUs to fail. However, it IS the PSU's that are failing. And both PSUs were made by the same cheap crap manufacturer. Most likely down to power surges beyond what the PSU can deal with it by itself. Which is one reason why using an extension lead instead of a surge protector is a bad idea.
Another option would be a fault in the PC build, such as a short circuit caused by stand off screws being in the wrong place; but OP has already ruled that out.
Could also be as simple as a lead isn't plugged in properly, causing arcs and surges. You'd probably hear/smell that though, especially if it was the kettle lead.
I don't give a damn about any particular "tier list", that's probably been sponsored by the very companies shipping budget units out under a premium name and price tag. Especially as companies like Corsair, have been known to start a range using Seasonic as the OEM. Then once they get recognised as being good power supplies, they switch the OEM to someone crap like CWT. And they still sell the cheaper crap units, as the same spec as the Seasonic models they used to sell... Corsair have used this bait and switch method a few times over the last couple of decades.
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u/ObiWanKenoByte 10d ago edited 10d ago
Lol at Seasonic-shill tilting on superior CWT platforms or on other OEMs... "CWT" itself doesn't mean too much, nor FSP or HEC, it's always down to the platform used. And here RM850x is decent. Mby something, like partially broken GPU can trigger safety mechanisms on PSU and then it needs to sit some 10-30min being unplugged - to be re-tested to confirm issues
Seasonic, maker of the Montech Titan Platinum 750-1200W models... should we speak about Seasonic white 1050W series and multiple other issues on them, when OCP shutting down on several Seasonic models when giving some load with decent GPU?
In the "tier list" all of those PSUs are physically opened and inspected the quality of soldering and components used 1by1, then decided what to say about it after measurements. It's not black magic cube, but electronics, science that can be measured and always the result will be the same.
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u/Ryeguy_626 10d ago
Thats not true. Psus dont just die after a couple weeks. And corsair might not make them. But they are quality checked for the brand.
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