750-850W PSU upgrade

[Octopuss]

I am most happy with the PSU I have, and despite what manufacturers claim in specs and what people typically buy, it's perfectly fine even for the behemoth of a card I have (I do have it tweaked though, so...).
However, I've had the PSU for several years, and I should probably look into the future, so after thinking about it for a few days, I think I might want to get something a little more powerful for a good measure.
I don't think I will ever have a graphic card so ridiculously power hungry like this again, and Ryzens don't use much power unless you run Prime95 or anything, so I believe a tiny bump of 100 or 200W extra might just be what I'm looking for.

I am a bit short on money these days, but I don't want to cheap out on something like PSU either.
Since I've been using Seasonic for years, I looked at their current offerings, and the Focus line seems ok. Prime is way over my budget, and I guess prices skyrocketed in the last years, because I am not aware the PSU I have cost half a kidney
I think gold rating is good enough. Whatever I buy should also be free of any coil whine or any electrical noise, and should have silent fan that ideally turns off when not needed (Seasonic has a cool switch for this on the back).

Anyway, I have my eyes on 850W variant of https://seasonic.com/focus-gx-atx-3/.

Any other suggestions? If there is something equally good for half the price I'm all ears.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If your current psu is fine. Why waste money buying another?

 

[Rahmat Sofyan]

may we know what is your current psu and what kind of system do you have on detail

 

[Octopuss]

If your current psu is fine. Why waste money buying another?

Future proofing and selling what I have while it has any resale value.

 

[Macro Device]

PSUs are designed to run for several decades. Yours is 7 y.o. at most. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.

I'd have bought a Corsair RM850x PSU if there was any necessity to do so. Once again, you don't have a reason to jump until... 2035 or so.

 

[AsRock]

If your current psu is fine. Why waste money buying another?

This, but if you REALY want too wait for a sale on the Seasonic PSU.

 

[Fizban]

You don't even need a 750W PSU for that system, let alone 850W. 5800X + 7900XTX should operate just fine on a 600W PSU unless you're making the GPU pull more than its intended 355W.

 

[Octopuss]

Yeah I know, I just thought I'd refresh the PC when I'm looking for a new case anyway.
I believe the power consumption jumped up by 200W when I ran Prime95 on all cores, and the card in its current underclocked state eats just under 300W.

 

[stinger608]

I have ran Seasonic power supplies for many many years. They are top of the line for sure.

However, in the last 2 or 3 years, I've had 2 of the Focus line go bad. One was only about 2 years old.

So, with that said, I'd bank some bucks and save until you can get a larger Prime PSU. I wouldn't worry too much about your 650 watt Prime, as them are seriously solid PSU's.

Of course, just my 2 cents.

 

[eidairaman1]

If your current psu is fine. Why waste money buying another?

It's got 54A on the 12V, it appears it handles a Sapphire Nitro 7900 XTX just fine. Also it has a 12 year warranty.

PRIME ULTRA GOLD

Seasonic PRIME ULTRA GOLD PSU, featuring gold-rated efficiency for superior energy management. Designed for durability and high-end stability.

seasonic.com

I have ran Seasonic power supplies for many many years. They are top of the line for sure.

However, in the last 2 or 3 years, I've had 2 of the Focus line go bad. One was only about 2 years old.

So, with that said, I'd bank some bucks and save until you can get a larger Prime PSU. I wouldn't worry too much about your 650 watt Prime, as them are seriously solid PSU's.

Of course, just my 2 cents.

But they never fought you on a RMA correct?

You don't get that with Asus, MSI or Gigabyte, they will find every excuse to not honor a warranty replacement.

 

[stinger608]

But they never fought you on a RMA correct?

Oh, absolutely not. Seasonic is awesome. Like I said, I've used them for years.

Hell, I still currently run 2 of the old X series and the RMA'd Focus.

The 2 X series that I have are probably 10 years old or so. Still solid as the day they were new.

 

[Frick]

I've been very happy with my Corsair RM850x.

 

[Octopuss]

Ok so what in the fking hell is going on?
I was playing and the PC suddenly instantly switched off and wouldn't turn back on until I remembered there was a way to trip start (or whatever is it called) it when you shorten two pins on the motherboard 24pin power cable. That worked.
This has never ever happened to me before. The only thing I changed was the graphic card.
Oh and when I booted back up the default Adrenalin settings were restored, so _something_ happened there.
I don't have the PC plugged into a power meter anymore because after a week I had pretty good idea what the entire machine (minus a monitor) was using, and it was never over 450W total. Ok let's say 500W to be generous. This couldn't have been caused by overload!

 

[AusWolf]

I agree with the above - there's no need to upgrade.

If you really want to burn some cash, though, never cheap out on a PSU. The Focus line is good, Prime is even better. Personally, I'm not even looking anywhere else (and that's not brand loyalty taking, I just love quality).

Ok so what in the fking hell is going on?
I was playing and the PC suddenly instantly switched off and wouldn't turn back on until I remembered there was a way to trip start (or whatever is it called) it when you shorten two pins on the motherboard 24pin power cable. That worked.
This has never ever happened to me before. The only thing I changed was the graphic card.
Oh and when I booted back up the default Adrenalin settings were restored, so _something_ happened there.
I don't have the PC plugged into a power meter anymore because after a week I had pretty good idea what the entire machine (minus a monitor) was using, and it was never over 450W total. Ok let's say 500W to be generous. This couldn't have been caused by overload!

Could be anything. Bad RAM, bad GPU, something wrong with your system drive. It's there any note in the event viewer?

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Ok so what in the fking hell is going on?
I was playing and the PC suddenly instantly switched off and wouldn't turn back on until I remembered there was a way to trip start (or whatever is it called) it when you shorten two pins on the motherboard 24pin power cable. That worked.
This has never ever happened to me before. The only thing I changed was the graphic card.
Oh and when I booted back up the default Adrenalin settings were restored, so _something_ happened there.
I don't have the PC plugged into a power meter anymore because after a week I had pretty good idea what the entire machine (minus a monitor) was using, and it was never over 450W total. Ok let's say 500W to be generous. This couldn't have been caused by overload!

Sounds like the driver crashed for unknown reasons. Default the graphics card settings and test more.

 

[dirtyferret]

Future proofing and selling what I have while it has any resale value.

Any other suggestions? If there is something equally good for half the price I'm all ears.

Not really sure you are future proofing when your current unit works just fine and will last you several more years (but not decades). You won't get anything equally good for half price. Superflower and Corsair have some excellent 3.1 units but are currently priced accordingly to their performance. If it was me, I would stick with what I have and wait a year or two for 3.1 prices to drop as more competitors enter the market.

 

[Octopuss]

Could be anything. Bad RAM, bad GPU, something wrong with your system drive. It's there any note in the event viewer?

Nothing at all!
And I've had this PC for a few years in the current configuration (as in absolutely everything minus the graphic card swap) and it has been rock stable.
I mean what the titfuck! Even if I count with some overhead, fluctuation of consumption of some kind or anything, I still know for a fact the entire PC with this card consumed around 500W while gaming.

Sounds like the driver crashed for unknown reasons. Default the graphics card settings and test more.

Yea but that would trigger a driver error and the game would crash. This was different, the entire PC instantly switched off and I had to trip start the PSU. That is weird!

 

[dirtyferret]

I've been very happy with my Corsair RM850x.

Hard line to beat for price/performance

 

[Octopuss]

I think I will buy a new PSU and see how it goes. I have 14 days to return it after all.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Nothing at all!
And I've had this PC for a few years in the current configuration (as in absolutely everything minus the graphic card swap) and it has been rock stable.
I mean what the titfuck! Even if I count with some overhead, fluctuation of consumption of some kind or anything, I still know for a fact the entire PC with this card consumed around 500W while gaming.


Yea but that would trigger a driver error and the game would crash. This was different, the entire PC instantly switched off and I had to trip start the PSU. That is weird!

Yes the Adrenaline driver can shut the rig all the way off.

Could always try a fresh winders installation while waiting on a new PSU...

 

[Octopuss]

Don't forget the PSU tripped a fuse or something. I am 99% sure this couldn't be caused by a driver crapping out.
Buying a new PSU is not terribly big deal, but I am trying to figure out why the damn PSU tripped in the first place when it shouldn't have.

I kept an eye on the Adrenalin control panel, and the card is reporting total board power of 200W while gaming. Even if that was 300W like I thought it wouldn't have been enough to overload the PSU. FFS!

 

[Zach_01]

I am most happy with the PSU I have, and despite what manufacturers claim in specs and what people typically buy, it's perfectly fine even for the behemoth of a card I have (I do have it tweaked though, so...).
However, I've had the PSU for several years, and I should probably look into the future, so after thinking about it for a few days, I think I might want to get something a little more powerful for a good measure.
I don't think I will ever have a graphic card so ridiculously power hungry like this again, and Ryzens don't use much power unless you run Prime95 or anything, so I believe a tiny bump of 100 or 200W extra might just be what I'm looking for.

I am a bit short on money these days, but I don't want to cheap out on something like PSU either.
Since I've been using Seasonic for years, I looked at their current offerings, and the Focus line seems ok. Prime is way over my budget, and I guess prices skyrocketed in the last years, because I am not aware the PSU I have cost half a kidney
I think gold rating is good enough. Whatever I buy should also be free of any coil whine or any electrical noise, and should have silent fan that ideally turns off when not needed (Seasonic has a cool switch for this on the back).

Anyway, I have my eyes on 850W variant of https://seasonic.com/focus-gx-atx-3/.

Any other suggestions? If there is something equally good for half the price I'm all ears.

What is your GPU power and clock configuration from adrenalin?
Between the 2 VBIOSs and the -10% up to +15% on power limit in adrenalin the card can be configured from around 315W up to 467W.

I have the exact same GPU (XTX Nitro+) but with a 5900X. More details on profile system specs.
I have done extensive tests and monitoring on the system power consumption with a variety of different games and GPU Power limits.
PSU is a 2018 Corsair HX750i platinum (ATX v2.4) and it has rails and power monitoring capabilities through HWiNFO64.

I've settled for 382W max TotalBoardPower (TBP).
In worst-case scenario the total system power requirements are as this

PSU power out:
Average: 500~520W
Peak: 600~620W

5900X avg is 110W on CPU intensive games like my example above and 70~80W on lightest ones.

So it really depends mostly how you've configured the GPU about its power limit because this one can be a real power hog if the slider is on the right on performance VBIOS.

 

[Octopuss]

Not sure what you mean by GPU power, but I have the power limit lowered to -10% and frequency capped to 2300MHz so the card stays cool enough and doesn't draw too much power. I use the non-OC BIOS, and during 3D Mark stress tests the total board power was being reported as 300W instead of 450W with the OC BIOS and default settings.


I have just googled up this though:

[EOL] PSU Tier List rev. 14.8

PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (END OF LIFE) Last Update: 27-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue ...

linustechtips.com

There is a note at the bottom saying Seasonic PRIME based units experience shutdowns with RTX3080/3090 (and possibly RX6900 XT) GPUs, especially ones with unlocked power limit like FE and ASUS Strix. It is recommended, if going with such units, to overprovision wattage, 1kW for RTX3080 and 1.2kW for RTX3090, or power-limit the GPU, or performing a 'dirty' fix of disconnecting a pin of 12V V-sense wire from PSU-side connector of 24-pin motherboard cable (courtesy of Jonny Guru). Units based on post-2018 revisions of Seasonic Focus platform and majority of units by other OEMs are not affected.

So based on that that might be it, however I can't imagine why would that happen in my situation.

 

[Zach_01]

The GPU can take some undervolting too.
I'm running it between 1050~1070mV from default of 1150mV. This can bring the clock up within the same power limit.
Having it at 382W I also cap frequency at around 2900~2950MHz.

Yes at 2300MHz with 1150mV the TBP is down to 300W, no matter what the power limit is, I've tried it right now but that is totally untuned.
If you set GPU voltage at 1060mV you will be able to raise frequency at 2550MHz and still have 300W total GPU card power consumption.

Here



Most likely you could even go lower than 1050mV and raise frequency even more and still have 300W TBP.
You will have to find it with trial and error of how low you can go on voltage and how high on frequency to sustain 300W and keep your games stable without glitches and/or crashing. But at least on 1050~1060mV with 2550~2600MHz (~300W) should be rock stable.

I like to tune...
Its easy and fun to get the most out of any power configuration you choose.

 

[AusWolf]

Not sure what you mean by GPU power, but I have the power limit lowered to -10% and frequency capped to 2300MHz so the card stays cool enough and doesn't draw too much power. I use the non-OC BIOS, and during 3D Mark stress tests the total board power was being reported as 300W instead of 450W with the OC BIOS and default settings.


I have just googled up this though:

[EOL] PSU Tier List rev. 14.8

PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (END OF LIFE) Last Update: 27-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue ...

linustechtips.com

There is a note at the bottom saying Seasonic PRIME based units experience shutdowns with RTX3080/3090 (and possibly RX6900 XT) GPUs, especially ones with unlocked power limit like FE and ASUS Strix. It is recommended, if going with such units, to overprovision wattage, 1kW for RTX3080 and 1.2kW for RTX3090, or power-limit the GPU, or performing a 'dirty' fix of disconnecting a pin of 12V V-sense wire from PSU-side connector of 24-pin motherboard cable (courtesy of Jonny Guru). Units based on post-2018 revisions of Seasonic Focus platform and majority of units by other OEMs are not affected.

So based on that that might be it, however I can't imagine why would that happen in my situation.

It's probably about transient power spikes, of which RDNA 2 and Ampere were famous for. It's less common on RDNA 3, but could be the reason of your shutdown. Did you run your card at stock?