CPU/Mobo Were surge protected motherboards acting up since 12th April 2016 (day before Myanmar Earthquake)?

Steve_1982

Steve_1982

Recruit
Copy off my reddit post:

I recently replaced my desktop computer's motherboard to run an ASUS R9 270X graphics card and the new motherboard came with inbuilt surge protection. On the 12th of April (day before Myanmar earthquake) at around 7:30 PM, the motherboard halted the computer and it said a power surge had occured. I had installed the game mission Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes earlier in the morning and had thought this game maxed out my graphics card which in turn drew too much power from the psu/smps.

I restarted the computer and everything was fine for the evening. the next day at around 10 to 12 in the morning, the surge protection for the motherboard kicked in twice and I stopped using the computer until I heard about the Myanmar Earthquake on the news at about 8 PM. I switched on the computer again at 9:30 PM and the computer was fine till around 1 AM when I switched it off.

The day after the earthquake, I switched the computer on and it ran fine for 2 hours and then the surge protection kicked in. I can't remember much about the power surge being detected between then and the 16th of April (I remember playing Metal Gear Solid and the computer halted within 3 minutes of playing the game mission twice).

On the morning of 16th of April, as soon as I switched on the computer and it logged into Windows 10, the surge protection of the motherboard kicked in. I'm not sure but I think that I switched on the computer again and as soon as i logged into Windows, the surge protection worked again but I'm not sure. I had a laptop available to me between the 16th of April and 20th of April so I didn't use the desktop much (except for making a bootable Windows 10 usb stick on the 18th in the evening without error.)

Today, from 9 AM till now (1:30 PM) I used the desktop because the temporary laptop wasn't available and the computer runs fine even when playing 15 minutes of Metal Gear Solid.
Has anyone faced an issues with surge protected motherboards acting up this week or do I need to change my PSU/SMPS or get a UPS with some special power protection (my UPS has been set to high sensitivity but it did not pick up power surges).
 
Which PSU are you using?
If the PSU is any local brand or Tier 3 or 4 PSU then, Replace your PSU as that is the problem for the surge protection kicking in.
 
I didn't get it. Why op is referring to the earthquake? Is he from the earthquake affected area??

Post your full pc config.
 
@bssunilreddy, the PSU is a 3+ year old Cooler Master GS or GX 550 Watt.

PC Specs:
Cabinet: iball
PSU: Cooler Master GS or GX 550 Watt.
Motherboard: New ASUS H61M-K
Processor: Intel I3 2100
RAM: 2 x Corsair Value Select 4GB
HDD: Seagate 500 GB
Graphics Card: ASUS Radeon R9 270X 2GB
UPS: APC Back-UPS RS 1000
DVD/CD Writer: LG MDisc (should have got a Samsung)
OS: Windows 10 (from Windows 8.1)

Edit:
My location is Kochi, Kerala.
 
You're far away from earthquake affected land so it won't be the reason for this surge protection kicking in all the time.
It's most probably your PSU.
Disconnect USB devices which aren't needed for booting up.
Also update the bios of MoBo.
 
Steve_1982 said:
@bssunilreddy, the PSU is a 3+ year old Cooler Master GS or GX 550 Watt.

PC Specs:
Cabinet: iball
PSU: Cooler Master GS or GX 550 Watt.
Motherboard: New ASUS H61M-K
Processor: Intel I3 2100
RAM: 2 x Corsair Value Select 4GB
HDD: Seagate 500 GB
Graphics Card: ASUS Radeon R9 270X 2GB
UPS: APC Back-UPS RS 1000
DVD/CD Writer: LG MDisc (should have got a Samsung)
OS: Windows 10 (from Windows 8.1)

Edit:
My location is Kochi, Kerala.
Click to expand...

After googling a bit I found that PSU is the main culprit in most cases. Try swapping a different PSU of a friend's and see what happens. Cooler Master GS & GX PSU's are crap when compared to Seasonic, Corsair, Antec etc.

Even after the above 1 step if Anti Surge Protection kicks in then:
Change that PSU to Seasonic S12II 520w -5500.
http://outervision.com/b/iBJtWp
Cheap solution:
Asus Anti-Surge protection can be safely turned off if there is an external surge protector connected to the system. As APC has in-built surge protection outlets at the back side I think you can safely turn off the Asus Anti-Surge Protection.
 
Last edited:
bssunilreddy said:
Asus Anti-Surge protection can be safely turned off if there is an external surge protector connected to the system. As APC has in-built surge protection outlets at the back side I think you can safely turn off the Asus Anti-Surge Protection.
Click to expand...

I think OP should not do this. If APC UPS was enough for protecting surges, they would not have been made till motherboard and in turn kick-in Asus surge protection.
 
BTW Long back ago I used two such asus premium mobos having surge protection. I cant comment on their reliability or actual usability as then I was staying in mumbai with no load shedding or any electricity issues and hence I had no ups or stabilizer as well as no need.
But both the mobos died just after they crossed their 3 yr warranty mark.
One mobo I threw into raddi and it had some sound and lan issues and other one into dust bin.
 
I might replace the PSU with an Antec. The shop that built the desktop and does maintenance on the desktop insists that I buy Cooler Master but I think that Antec is the better brand. Seasonic isn't available in Kerala and Corsair replacements take a bit of time to happen according to the shop.

Are gigabyte motherboards more durable than ASUS motherboards? I know the ultradurable line has surge protection.
 
Go for corsair PSU. They take about about 2 weeks to send the new PSU at your home for RMA. They are one of the best companies in PC world regarding the support. Plus they also honor international warranty.
Get their RMi or HXi series. Both are great.
Also they have announced that warranties will be extended from 7 to 10 years.

R9 series cards are power hogs. I too have R9 390x and I know how hot they run and consume so much power. So get as best as possible PSU.

It might be that your PSU is unable to supply your GPU the required food.
 
For Seasonic PSUs, you can order from any e-commerce site with seller 'overclockerzone'. They are official distributor of Seasonic - Tirupati Enterprise. For RMA, if no physical location available in your city, you need to ship faulty PSU to Kolkata. They send back replacement. Normally their RMA process takes a week.
 
I'll check if I can get a Corsair RM 550x. I'll avoid the V's and C's from Corsair.

I've tried to get couriers to ship electronic items from Kochi and haven't much luck trying to get couriers to accept shipping electronic items. I try to get computer parts that are locally available/serviceable and unfortunately, Seasonic isn't available anywhere in Kerala, much less in Kochi. The only computer part that I've successfully shipped out is a cabinet.
 
Last edited:
Many replace a PSU because it is the only part of a power 'system' they understand. It is called shotgunning - replace good parts until something works. The other alternative was to see that defect in minutes. Then only replace the one defective part. And learn why that defect exists. Tiers says little to nothing about PSU defects.

Surge is a word used to describe tens of completely different and unrelated defects. But again, most only use word association to 'know' something. That motherboard is reporting a defect (that exists constantly - even when your computer is working) that exists on DC voltages. That defect has zero relationships to what other are discussing - a surge on AC voltages.

Apparently you have chosen to shotgun. How do you know if a new PSU solved anything? Again, normal is for a defective supply to still boot and run a computer for months. Will a new PSU cure a symptom or solve a problem? Welcome to the two completely different diagnostic procedures. First finds a problem even before a computer crashes or is reported by the Asus software. Later is called shotgunning - keep replacing good parts until something works.

BTW, why do we fix things (not take it to the shop)? To learn even from our mistakes.
 
My Cooler Master GX550 PSU currently sells with a 5 year warranty. The PSU and my former Asus Radeon 9850 were bought at the same time in 2013 for crypto mining.

I'll return the computer to the shop and if the warranty applies, they'll send the PSU to the service center for a check up.
 
The issue was with the UPS (APC Backup RS 1000VA) bought in 2007 along with an AOC 21.5 inch LCD monitor. The monitor started having issues earlier this year and the UPS started causing power surge issues the day before the 2016 Myanmar earthquake.

What I need now are suggestions for a good power strip (Belkin?) or INR 15,000 for an APC Smart UPS.
 
Last edited:
vyral_143 said:
Why not have a look at CyberSmart UPS ?
Click to expand...
@vyral_143 I only knew about Cyber Power UPS after I read your comment in @itspriyank's thread about a new UPS.

I might get a simple cyberpower BU1000E-in since I use Reliance Netconnect+ for internet and don't need internet line surge protection. Google doesn't have any results for Cyber Smart UPS but I think that you mean Cyber Power UPS?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top