PSU or UPS Problem? HELP!

[boogieboy]

Hello first of all i would like to thanks all SF Members who always helped me out in the problems and guided me in the right direction and gave me good advises.

Now here's my problem and i'm confused between my PSU and UPS that which one of them could be the problem. In my country the Power-Failure is very common and unpredictible and beside that our Electricity goes completely off from the Grid to save electricity (Government Lie) on scheduled timings which is about as good as 5 to 6 hours a day in my area for now (Sometimes it's much worse than that) so to save my PC from any harm and this problem i'm using a 1200VA UPS just to shutdown Windows and turn off my PC properly and safely within 5mins though the UPS is able to give 20 to 25mins of backup time. At the start of this month i bought a new Graphics Card. Today in morning i was playing Crysis and suddenly there was a Power-Failure (Blackout) and as soon as the Power-Cut happened my PC restarted during gameplay.

Crysis is a game that uses the CPU & GPU at Max Peak and almost consume 90% or more power out of the PSU but the day i bought this Graphics Card i specially checked my PC by running Crysis on Max settings when my Power was about to go from the Grid and the PC did'nt restarted and in later days when i was playing Bulletstorm and few other games there was random Power-Failures and the PC did'nt restarted and the UPS managed to provide correct power to the whole system.

I noticed one thing today that my UPS was charging the battery for a long time about 1 Hr and 40mins after this problem when the Power came back by the Grid and usually after 5mins of battery usage it only takes few mins to recharge. So now i'm confused and i'm not sure which one of the thing is creating this problem is it the UPS Internal Dual-Batteries or the PSU that is draining more power during Power-Failures? My UPS is 14 Months old and the PSU is approx. 9 months old and still as good as new. Today i even ran Crysis and Turned Off my LCD and Wi-Fi Rounter which are attached with the UPS as well to check if the UPS is overloaded but the PC restarted without LCD and Rounter too

I used to had same problem with my old 400W Chinese PSU and 9600GT when i bought this UPS but some people suggested me on other forum (when i was'nt a member here) to replace PSU coz it had only 16amps on it where the 9600GT required 24amps. So when i replaced the PSU and got the one i'm still using i never had this problem since that day except today. I never had restart problem when i'm watching Movie, Browsing, Listen Music etc. This is all the info i can provide you now and hoping to hear from you guys and you may ask any questions if i'm missing something also my PC specs are below Please HELP!

 

[Zepher]

Sometimes when the batteries are used more than not then they tend to not hold as much charge as when they were first purchased which will over time wear out and not hold any charge when trying to charge them.

 

[Britton30]

First you should adjust you BIOS to remain OFF in a power failure.
Since your power goes off daily, that has probably drained the batteries to the point where more charging was needed to get back to 100% charge. I'm guessing that is the case since it shut down right away in the power blackout.
I doubt is the PSU is at fault assuming it is a good one and giving you 20%-25% more power than is needed.

 

[boogieboy]

Thanks for the quick response Zepher and Britton30 so the batteries need to be replaces?

 

[Britton30]

Can't say that for certain boogie, let them charge for several hours and pull the plug from the UPS and see if the PC shuts down right away or waits 5 minutes.

You'd have to remove the batteries and check them with a battery tester.

 

[TBoyd]

I understand your power situation completely, boogieboy! The US Virgin Islands has an outdated oil-burning power plant that goes off line from time to time. Everyone in their right mind here has a UPS for their PC!

I do some network/internet work for a couple of resorts here & have found that UPS batteries do lose their stamina when they must kick in a few times a day. More than likely you need new batteries. If you still have problems after replacing the batteries, then there is an issue with the circuitry in the UPS & time to buy a new one!

Please note that replacement batteries from the UPS manufacturer are often over-priced. I always order from a battery supply company that sells 12 volt, 7 amp hour sealed lead acid rechargable batteries. They are just as good & cost much less.

 

[boogieboy]

I just went into BIOS the 12v Voltage are Highlighted as red in the Power/Hardware Monitor menu where you can see the CPU Temps and Voltages what does it mean? is it something related to PSU that it's not providing sufficient voltages on the 12v rail due to the 6pin on the Graphics Card?

@ Britton30
My UPS is always fully charged and i also checked the UPS by pulling the plug out of the socket for 6 to 7 mins and the PC was running and suprisingly the UPS recharged very quickly like normal in 1 to 2 mins :shock: I talked to the guy from whome i bought it and he asked me to bring it and he will check the UPS and batteries

@ TBoyd
I agree with you and yes when i talked to that guy from the store and asked him about the price of Batteries so they were over-priced. i will look from other battery supplier. Sad to hear about this that it's happening at your side too. I hope the circuitry is working properly.

 

[boogieboy]

OK i checked the UPS and PSU by throwing the Breaker down from the DP Circuit of the house 3 times by running Crysis and probably the system was running at peak with LCD and router as well and the PC did'nt restarted :huh: even yesterday i was playing Bulletstorm and the Power Failure happened and it did'nt restarted I even checked by pulling out the plug for 2 to 3 times yesterday.... nothing happened. However i did took out the UPS plug before turning on PC and everyting and cleaned it and replug the cord. What could be the problem ?

 

[TBoyd]

When you state that the PC didn't restarted when you threw the breaker down, do you mean that the UPS did not supply any backup power to your PC as soon as you threw the breaker?

Any success yet finding new batteries?

 

[boogieboy]

no i meant when i threw the breaker from the circuit PC was running and Crysis (Game) was running and the UPS supplied the backup to the PC successfully and when turn back on the breaker the UPS recharged normally just like everytime. I tested 3 times.

P.S. OK it happened again when i tested PC by running Crysis and as soon as the Power went down from the Grid (not the breaker) it restarted... So im assuming it's the PSU that is drawing more power from the battery on peak load and cant handle to provide clean power to the GPU. I think it's time to buy new PSU

 

[boogieboy]

I dont understand one thing.. when i check by throwing the breaker down (which as the experts say that it simulates a power outage to check the UPS) nothing happens and the PC keeps on running during game where the GPU+CPU+PSU is on full load and stress. I even checked the GPU load with the help of GPU-Z and tested several games on it like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood uses GPU 40% to 60%, Bulletstorm as well, Super Street Fighter IV uses on 25% to 30% GPU Load and PC dont restart on them. However Crysis and Metro 2033 especially uses almost 100% GPU in some places and it's average load on GPU is 90% and above. So lets say Playing games like Crysis and Metro 2033 which are Hardware hungary apps uses the Maximum power off the system in easy words the PSU is at it's Peak Load.. but i remember exactly the day i installed this new Graphics Card AMD 6850 i ran Crysis 2 times and played it until the Power-Failure happened and PC did'nt restarted.

Also i do remember when i installed Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood my other applications started to give me errors. Yahoo Messenger gave me error and some other application was crashed so i updated my Windows and those errors and crashes were gone and fixed but later after several days when i ran Crysis and power outage happened this problem started.

So is there a possiblity the Windows has something to do with it after updating it? Does throwing breaker down from the DP really simulate an actual Power-Outage or it has to be a proper real power failure/outage from the Grid. What is this Mystery?

 

[Britton30]

By pulling the plug for the UPS from the wall is fine to simulate a power outage.

 

[TBoyd]

Does throwing breaker down from the DP really simulate an actual Power-Outage or it has to be a proper real power failure/outage from the Grid. What is this Mystery?

It makes no difference. Your battery backup will kick in when it is not getting power from the power grid. It doesn't matter how you disconnect the power to test.

You never mentioned the brand of UPS you have. Did it not come with software? I use APC UPS's & the better models come with software that gives you good info - such as the current load you have connected, the estimated runtime, the input voltage, etc. You may also initiate a self-test to see if the batteries are in good shape. It takes a lot of guess-work out of the picture.

 

[kool1zero]

It is possible that since you have a power grid that goes down regularly it could be spiking as it goes off. Idk for sure but the UPS might be goin past its input range ( usually they can take a range eg.110-125V, and if you give it outside that range it would most likely shutdown all power to protect itself.

That would not be simulated by flipping the breaker but would cause problems if its spiking too far.
Not for sure but worth a look

Sent from my Droid Incredible

 

[boogieboy]

My UPS is a SVC-1200VA it's a chinese made but well made unit and it's quiet popular here. It has AVR and <10ms of transfer time and other features etc. APC are very expensive here and i'll have to pay 3 times the price of SVC for 1 1200VA APC unit

@ kool1zero
You could be right and it's happening something like you mentioned but idk how to check problem and it only happens when power goes off by the grid and only when my system is running some game which uses GPU @ full load.. never restarted by pulling the plug out and throwing the breaker down i checked more than 10 times randomly in past 2 days... is there anyway to check it and fix it?

 

[kool1zero]

If you wanna see if it is spiking you could use something called an oscilliscope and you could try maybe just put a surge protector before your UPS. I'd try the surge protector first. Also since your ups has a powerstrip as part of it you should only use the one plug on ur surge protector

 

[Britton30]

Bilal, what do you have connected to your UPS? I have my PC, Cable modem, router, and monitor on the back up outlets. I have a 750VA APC BackUPS unit set to shut down after 5 minutes of power outage.
For pure PC protection you don't need to have speakers, printer, or scanner on back up. You would do well to get a APC, Tripp-Lite, or CyberPower unit.

 

[boogieboy]

First of all sorry for late replying coz i just sent my motherboard in warranty as it has voltage sensor problem and got new one as replqcement but i did'nt assemble my pc yet. Also bought new PSU Cooler Master GX550w 80Plus Brone today in order to provide better and clean power to PC

@Britton30
I'm only using LCD, PC and Wireless Router which are plugged in a Power-Strip which is connected with the UPS in 1 Power Outlet although the UPS has 3 Outlets but im using one due to Power Socket that is 7 feet away from Computer not using anything else.

@kool1zero
I'll try with it too but i did not understood little what to do about Surge Protector

 

[kool1zero]

No worries about that. My suggestions were more of a technical nature.

I think with a new mobo and a slightly larger and better quality psu you're set

Sent from my Droid Incredible

 

[boogieboy]

I hope that too thanks for all the Help kool1zero, Britton30, TBoyd and Zepher I will let you know the results when i will test again idk but still my heart beat start pumping fast when i think if something will go wrong again .....