this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
21 points (95.7% liked)

PC Master Race

21719 readers
61 users here now

A community for PC Master Race.

Rules:

  1. No bigotry: Including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
  2. Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
  3. No NSFW content.
  4. No Ads / Spamming.
  5. Be thoughtful and helpful: especially when new beginners have questions.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

My specs:

  • RX 7800 XT
  • Ryzen 7500F
  • 32GB RAM (Memtested less than a month ago)
  • Seasonic X series 650W (high end PSU from around 10 years ago)

I'm currently running fedora rawhide linux, but I had the same issue on Bluefin Linux Stable and Debian Sid.

When I'm starting to play a demanding game, my system crashes within 5 seconds of loading the level. I wasn't able to reproduce that with stress tests. There's nothing in the logs, they just stop.

I think that's all. I can provide more details. If you can give me meaningful troubleshooting steps, I'm willing to install another system, even windows.

In my opinion the issue is clear, the PSU is old and can't keep up with the GPU, so I should probably replace it.

I don't want to do that, so if you have any other idea, please let me know.

What specs should I aim for for the new PSU?

Edit: I'm cooked, I tried booting the PC to make some tests again, but I'm getting a red motherboard light for CPU. The PC boots tho

Edit2: I found those deals on PSUs. I live in Poland, so prices are at least 25% higher than in the US:

  • Corsair RM850e 2025 for $110
  • FSP VITA GB 750W for $82
  • MSI MAG A750GL for $95
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Have you used a PSU calculator for the specs of your machine just in case.

HDD and CD drives tend to suck up a fair wattage.

[–] garbage_world@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

I have neither.

PSU calculator showed 632W IIRC.

I bought that PSU used, from a family member for a really good price

[–] Bubs@lemmy.zip 10 points 16 hours ago

I think that right there is your issue. If I were to build a PC with that calculation, I would have, at minimum, gone for a 800W PSU. Mainly for provide a safely margin and also allow for some expansion down the road.

A PSU that is that old isn't likely to be able to keep its peak wattage like it used to. The old electrical components age. I would guess, whatever protection circuitry kicks off the power supply if the power draw goes too high, has likely aged enough to lower that kick-off point. While it could handle 650W while new, maybe now it shuts down at something like 620W.

Your only real option may be to just get a new PSU. As a temporary measure, you could maybe limit the power draw of the GPU. I don't really know how to go about it, but the TDP limit on the Steam Deck immediately came to mind.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

If that's true, you definitely need a new PSU. You don't want to run that close to the upper limit of power. PSUs, like everything, degrade over time. A 10 year old PSU almost certainly can't maintain max power reliably.

If you want something that'll last and allow room for expansion, I'd get a 1000W PSU.

[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

For estimates you can subtract about 10% of max wattage per year the PSU has been running, which is a pessimistic take but possible depending on quality of the PSU. I am astounded you can run a stress test without crashing.