Random PSU problem, suggestions?

[forTruce]

So I ran into a weird problem with my PSU today.  Got a new soundcard and plugged it up (ASUS Xonar Essence ST for reference, it does require a molex connection to the PSU).  Plugged up my headphones to it and went to town perfectly fine.  Then, I decide it's time to plug my dinky little zalman clip on mic in.  It does get plugged into an amped plug in the back of the soundcard.  The second I plugged it in my computer froze up.  I did a hard reboot, but my machine then just continually turned off and on again every 5 seconds.  It never went into POST.  So the logical assumption is that I overdrew power from my PSU, but I really doubt that that is my problem.  I am running a 750 Watt PSU, and I thought I was pretty comfortably below the limit.  could it have something to do with overpowering a specific rail on the PSU (i'm speaking out of my ass here).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I decided that for the time being I would just plug my mic into the onboard card and use it thru that if I needed it, but I am a little worried about how I might be right under the wattage limit for my PSU.

For reference:

--I was not under any load when this happened.  I wasn't playing any intensive games or whatnot.
--I'm running a 570 gtx card and a i7-2600k processor.  Neither of which are excessively overclocked.

If you want my full spec list I could easily post it up if it might help.

Thanks!

[EverythingIBM]

What kind of PSU is it? Corsair?

Did you try taking the xonar out and turning on the computer again?

If it turns on and off excessively... that sounds like shorting doesn't it? It would be a good idea to try the mobo on a different PSU for testing purposes and see if it'll POST.

[AlleyViper]

Couldn't it be the program that required you to plug in your mic that makes your card crash due to some incompatible sound engine? I'd seriously doubt that you overloaded one PSU rail with a Xonar, something wrong with that card's power regulation would be more probable in case of permanent hardware failure.
First disable your onboard card for diagnostic purposes, try previous drivers if using the latest or the unofficial unified drivers. If it all fails, move to other pci slot (assuming you have another...) if it always crashes when you plug something there without sound related programs running as Skype. There could be some conflict with other onboard devices and shared slots, and further disabling onboard stuff would help diagnosing but that's highly unlikely nowadays.

edit: stupid me and this insomnia, didn't notice your computer still isn't booting. Take your card out as suggested and disconnect any peripheral that might interfere with POST. If it's still looping, do the usual dance, disconnect PSU, take out battery and short CMOS pins for some minutes then back again in regular position. Luckily then, drop any overclock  to stock to resume further testing.

[forTruce]

What kind of PSU is it? Corsair?

Did you try taking the xonar out and turning on the computer again?

If it turns on and off excessively... that sounds like shorting doesn't it? It would be a good idea to try the mobo on a different PSU for testing purposes and see if it'll POST.

It is Corsair.  I should have been more clear, I have my computer working again without the continual cycle of power on/off by just not plugging the mic into the port (the headphones still plugged in and working).  The computer also ran fine with the Xonar completely unplugged.  I think that rules out any form of shorting?
 

Couldn't it be the program that required you to plug in your mic that makes your card crash due to some incompatible sound engine? I'd seriously doubt that you overloaded one PSU rail with a Xonar, something wrong with that card's power regulation would be more probable.
First disable your onboard card for diagnostic purposes, try previous drivers if using the latest or the unofficial unified drivers. If it all fails, move to other pci slot (assuming you have another...) if it always crashes when you plug something there without sound related programs running as Skype. There could be some conflict with other onboard devices and shared slots, and further disabling onboard stuff would help diagnosing but that's highly unlikely nowadays.

I will try to rollback to different drivers for the soundcard as well as a different PCI slot (i have 2) tomorrow.  Just for reference, when the problem was occurring I had disabled the onboard audio thru the bios.  I only turned it back on so that way I would be able to use my mic if I needed to.  Hopefully swapping the PCI slot or changing drivers fixes the problem, otherwise might it have something to do with the card itself?  I will post back tomorrow with results of all my different diagnostic tests.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[AlleyViper]

Now that sounds bizarre. If it affects POST, shouldn't be driver related, unless your ST remains crashed until a true power cicle is done (not soft off with a standby mobo). If you feel confident with messing around, after getting it to work without mic, turn off your computer completely from wall plug, press power to discharge PSU, wait a bit, plug in power and mic back and see if it posts. If it still doesn't, that *might* rule out drivers indicating other serious problem, or it simply doesn't like that mic.
Is this a new build where it was the first time you connected that mic or used the mic in, or you had no previous test? I'd try to rule it out for some short. My low end Xonar DX has some electromechanical switches that are operated when enabling some in/outs because of the front panel connectors (also ensure nothing is plugged there), if one gave away at that moment, your card might behave erratically.
Also look for newer firmware to your ST, or even MB if the slot dance doesn't work on top of changing drivers.

[forTruce]

Now that sounds bizarre. If it affects POST, shouldn't be driver related, unless your ST remains crashed until a true power cicle is done (not soft off with a standby mobo). If you feel confident with messing around, after getting it to work without mic, turn off your computer completely from wall plug, press power to discharge PSU, wait a bit, plug in power and mic back and see if it posts. If it still doesn't, that *might* rule out drivers indicating other serious problem, or it simply doesn't like that mic.
Is this a new build where it was the first time you connected that mic or used the mic in, or you had no previous test? I'd try to rule it out for some short. My low end Xonar DX has some electromechanical switches that are operated when enabling some in/outs because of the front panel connectors (also ensure nothing is plugged there), if one gave away at that moment, your card might behave erratically.
Also look for newer firmware to your ST, or even MB if the slot dance doesn't work on top of changing drivers.

I will try that as well tomorrow just to be sure.  I know I can always revert back to what I have right now and it will work.

I just received the mic, headphones, and sound card in the mail today so I have never used this mic in this build before.  However, I have also never used this soundcard until today.  The mic works perfectly fine plugged into the onboard sound (did a recording test earlier).  I'm not quite sure I understand what you are speaking about with the electromechanical switches, but to be clear there is nothing plugged into my front panel, but I don't actually have the front panel connections connected to the card anyway.

But at least now I have a few things I can try to maybe narrow down/solve the problem.  I'm just a bit too tired to try it out now.  Had a programming problem that took most of the day to solve and it drained me pretty bad.  I should have all the tests done and more info up by tomorrow night though.

[AlleyViper]

Oh, it's was just in the event any of them failed in the moment the mic was plugged, but it wouldn't make sense as they're only switched when you manually select default inputs (making an audible click when you change line in to mic in, either in windows recording devices or Xonar Audio Center). But your high end card should be completely different to mine, without these alternate input limitations or even doing it auto with jack sense (it's 8AM here, I'm too tired to google up, sorry). Just don't bother with my ramblings.
In the rare event of a short on your cards rear bracket mic in, you can also try to connect it to your case instead and try that second mic in only for diagnostic purposes.

[The Solutor]

So I ran into a weird problem with my PSU today.  Got a new soundcard and plugged it up (ASUS Xonar Essence ST for reference, it does require a molex connection to the PSU).  Plugged up my headphones to it and went to town perfectly fine.  Then, I decide it's time to plug my dinky little zalman clip on mic in.  It does get plugged into an amped plug in the back of the soundcard.  The second I plugged it in my computer froze up.  I did a hard reboot, but my machine then just continually turned off and on again every 5 seconds.  It never went into POST.  So the logical assumption is that I overdrew power from my PSU, but I really doubt that that is my problem.  I am running a 750 Watt PSU, and I thought I was pretty comfortably below the limit.  could it have something to do with overpowering a specific rail on the PSU (i'm speaking out of my ass here).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I decided that for the time being I would just plug my mic into the onboard card and use it thru that if I needed it, but I am a little worried about how I might be right under the wattage limit for my PSU.

For reference:

--I was not under any load when this happened.  I wasn't playing any intensive games or whatnot.
--I'm running a 570 gtx card and a i7-2600k processor.  Neither of which are excessively overclocked.

If you want my full spec list I could easily post it up if it might help.

Thanks!

A good 450/500 W PSU is more than enough for your configuration, so unless a real fault your PSU can't be the culprit.

You don't mention what MB you have but I'm sure it's an ASUS, so start updating the MB bios and try to place the audio board in a different PCI slot.

[forTruce]

Well, I have good news.  I seem to have fixed the problem.  I'll try to explain what I think was the culprit.  It had to do with the way I had all my fans plugged into that rail along with the soundcard.  What I think I had was a fan plugged in, then everything else kinda daisy chained off the back end of that fan instead of plugging into the other main molex connectors on that rail (does that make any sense?).  I rewired that entire rail to make sure I distributed the connections correctly, and I have the machine up and running with the mic and headset plugged into the soundcard and onboard sound disabled .  Thanks for all the suggestions, they definitely helped me realize what the problem was.

[forTruce]

Single Rail PP&C FTW! (at OCN Phaedrus would consider this trolling).

That might work if I understood what it meant haha.  Ignorance is bliss.

[The Solutor]

Single Rail PP&C FTW!

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[AlleyViper]

Single Rail PP&C FTW! (at OCN Phaedrus would consider this trolling).

<--750W PP&C Silencer Quad for life. Probably the best consumer PSU released back in 07' (Seasonic custom built), bought two years later for half the price, and should still outlast my next builds for raw power or a still respectable efficiency.

OP, glad you found the culprit quickly. Fans should never be connected to the same branched cable as other hardware, even if connected to another molex (much less both directly daisy chained, with flaky connectors entering the equation). It's norm not to do that because of the electric noise fans generate.
Most Asus cards don't really need the external connector due to slot power reasons, a full featured PCI-E slot should supply up to 75W. They use a direct power supply to ensure the signal is cleaner because it doesn't go trough your MB. Connecting a sound card after or near any fan would defeat this purpose, so it would be very hard to guess the way you set it up.

[forTruce]

<--750W PP&C Silencer Quad for life. Probably the best consumer PSU released back in 07' (Seasonic custom built), bought two years later for half the price, and should still outlast my next builds for raw power or a still respectable efficiency.

OP, glad you found the culprit quickly. Fans should never be connected to the same branched cable as other hardware, even if connected to another molex (much less both directly daisy chained, with flaky connectors entering the equation). It's norm not to do that because of the electric noise fans generate.
Most Asus cards don't really need the external connector due to slot power reasons, a full featured PCI-E slot should supply up to 75W. They use a direct power supply to ensure the signal is cleaner because it doesn't go trough your MB. Connecting a sound card after or near any fan would defeat this purpose, so it would be very hard to guess the way you set it up.

Very interesting.  Right now I still have fans connected on the same branched cable as my sound card, just not daisy chained.  I would avoid this if possible, but my modular psu only came with 2 molex branched cables.  One of those has all 4 branches taken up by my 570.  I have tried to find where i can get more branched cables to plug into my psu, but I can't find where to buy them from Corsair.  Does anyone know how I could purchase another molex branched cable?  Specifically for a Corsair AX750 if possible.  Thanks.

[The Solutor]

You can find them on ebay for cheap.

BTW there's still something wrong in all this.

The xsonar hardly will use more than 25W of power (that is an idiotic amount of power for a soundcard, but is ridiculous if compared to almost everything else in the PC, and if compared with the PSU specs) and tose 25 W are likely drawn mainly from the 5V line. But even assuming they are all from the 12V line they are a mere 2A of current, add 0.5A per fan and you will have 3A over the 60 the PSU should provide according to the specs.

So you will have two options

#1 you have a bad connector

#2 the sound card is nitpicking about the voltagecheck and turns off the PC unnecessarily.

The option 3 a faulty PSU is excluded by the fact your PC is working with a different connection.

[forTruce]

I believe this is what I need: extra connector
Wondering if this should be rated fine to work with my PSU, or do I need to get something that is a bit more substantial?
Also, want to be certain I have the correct part.  It appears to me that the connectors are what I require, but I'm not entirely in the know about it.

So you will have two options

#1 you have a bad connector

#2 the sound card is nitpicking about the voltagecheck and turns off the PC unnecessarily.

I think we can rule out a bad connector.  I had the sound card plugged in and working, it was just when I plugged in the mic to the soundcard (which required more power to drive I'm guessing) that it went crazy.  I really doubt it is the soundcard either as I now have it all working correctly.  Do you not think it was because of what I described earlier...daisy chaining my connections off of the back of a fan connector?

[AlleyViper]

Sounds like a mixture of both 1# and 2#, whatever the electric signal suffers after that fan daisy chain, either from EMI noise going down cables or a bad connector, the sound card simply doesn't like it.
Btw, in a previous post you said that the other branched molex cable is completely taken by a GTX570. Don't you have direct to PSU black 6 and 8 pin pci-e power connectors? Adapters should avoided if possible on such power hungry GPUs.

[forTruce]

Sounds like a mixture of both 1# and 2#, whatever the electric signal suffers after that fan daisy chain, either from EMI noise going down cables or a bad connector, the sound card simply doesn't like it.
Btw, in a previous post you said that the other branched molex cable is completely taken by a GTX570. Don't you have direct to PSU black 6 and 8 pin pci-e power connectors? Adapters should avoided if possible on such power hungry GPUs.

 
Thank you so much for pointing that out.  To be honest, I didn't even know that there was another way to connect it, I didn't even think that that was an adapter (feel kinda dumb haha), learn new things every day.  Now I have the 570 plugged up sans adapter, and the sound card is on its own branched cable away from the fans.  It's too bad I already bought the little 3$ extra modular cable, not a huge loss though.  Unless there is any detriment to using a 3rd party modular cable (maybe just less reliable) then I still might use the one I bought to cut down on the excess wire clutter.  If it is even speculative about the 3rd party cable then I might as well just forget it though.

Thanks again AlleyViper, and everyone else that helped me out.