# Custom Pc Randomly Restarts due to power supply surges



## Saabo (Jul 27, 2015)

I just built this pc a couple weeks ago as my first build. I never built a pc before in my life. When I first set everything up and installed all the updates for my motherboard, and video card everything was working fine, running games for hours long and without an issue. Then all of a sudden while i was playing sleeping dogs it reset completely to a screen that said Asus protected me from a power surge in my power supply or just a power surge. I have no idea what could be going wrong if anyone could help that would be great.


Motherboard - Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark S

Cpu I7 processor Lga 1150

Video Card - Evga Geforce Gtx 960 2gb

Power Supply - Photon 750w

Not sure if everything else is really necessary to put down though if more info on my pc specs are needed I'll edit the post


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

It sounds like a power issue with the sudden restart while doing something demanding and the screen info. I've never heard of that power supply so more info on it would be nice. Also check in the BIOS under Pc Health and check the temps and the voltages.


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## Panther063 (Jul 13, 2009)

Turn of Asus surge protection in the BIOS.
It is known to be very sensitive to minor spikes in power.
Any quality new power supply is capable of over voltage and over current protection.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

If you have surges in your area quite often, I recommend picking up one of these:

Amazon.com: Surge Protectors: Electronics


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

Panther063 said:


> Turn of Asus surge protection in the BIOS.
> It is known to be very sensitive to minor spikes in power.
> Any quality new power supply is capable of over voltage and over current protection.


I agree with Panther and, assuming your PSU is working properly, this is most likely due to an over sensitive ASUS Surge Protection threshold setting which sadly, AFAIK, cannot be adjusted - only disabled in the BIOS. 

That 80 PLUS "Gold" rated PSU received excellent reviews for ripple suppression, but only average for voltage regulation. But still it "should" be stable enough not to trigger the ASUS Surge Protection circuits - "IF" working properly. If me, I would swap in a different, known good PSU for a test temporarily to see what happens. 

And while a surge and spike protector may help and is certainly better than nothing, I recommend all computers be on a "good" UPS with AVR instead. A surge and spike protector is a "passive" device that simply chops off ("clamps") the "transient" peaks on the incoming power's sinewaves. In extreme cases, if working properly, it will just kill the power to the connected devices causing your system to suddenly crash. If you have your network devices connected to it, your network will go down too. 

And a surge and spike protector does absolutely nothing for low voltage anomalies like dips (opposite of spikes), sags (opposite of surges) and extended sags (brownouts), any of which can result in a system crash and put undue strain on connected devices power regulators. 

A "good" UPS with AVR is an "active" device, it uses "intelligent" monitoring and regulation circuitry to attenuate (or boost) the incoming voltage as necessary to provide your connected devices a "constant" supply of regulated voltage with either an "approximated" or "true" sinewave input. 

This results in a much "cleaner" and stable input voltage for all your connected devices - a very good thing. And note until now, I've not even mentioned backup power during a full power outage because that is just the icing on the cake.

Note having your network devices connected too can be especially important if you, like more and more users today, get your phone service through your Internet provider. 

Another advantage to a "good" UPS with AVR is the better models come with a LCD display status panel. This can be extremely informative, including telling you how much all the connected devices are consuming in the same way a Kill A Watt meter does.

For the record, I have an APC 1500VA UPS. That is more than enough to support my i7, 4 DDR3 RAM sticks, 1 SSD and 1 hard drive, a decent (read: power hungry!) graphics card, my wireless-N router, a 4-port Gbit Ethernet switch, cable modem, USB hub, PDA cradle, and my home phone - oh, and TWO 22" widescreen monitors. And it will provide power in the event of a full outage for about 25 to 30 minutes, 40 to 45 if I immediately turn off one monitor. And it will keep my network alive (and most importantly, all my IP assignments) for many hours, maybe days - I don't know - if the computer and monitors are asleep when the power goes off.

Finally, note these damaging power anomalies cannot be seen. And many of these anomalies can be generated from within your own home by nearby appliances and other devices. So even if you live in an area with a stable power grid and without frequent severe weather, a "good" UPS with AVR is still highly recommended. And I say "good" because like power supplies, you want to avoid the budget models.


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## Saabo (Jul 27, 2015)

I removed the Asus Surge Protector but how can I make sure my computer really is safe now from surges so it does not get damaged? I have an outlet but not 100% sure if it is a surge protector outlet may end up buying one eventually. Also my power supply is a 
Rosewill Photon 750

Total power is 750W
Has Active Power Factor Correction
And Maximum Protection from Over Voltage, over current, short circuit, undervoltage, and over power

My pc is cold since it's mext to my air conditioner. Cpu is usually at 50C


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

I linked the solution in post #4.


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## Saabo (Jul 27, 2015)

After i took off the asus surge protection my computer has been working fine my power supply has it's own surge protection


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Your PSU certainly does not have a built in surge protector, but instead as built in Over Current / Voltage / Temperature / Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection and Short Circuit Protection.

You still need a surge protector to fight against lightening strikes and surges.


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