Faulty PSU

jeziorspz

Member
Hi, I bought a PC built by PC Specialist last week and after a few days of usage I noticed a strange and very annoying issue with the PSU.

Every now and then, the PSU will make a whirring noise which doesn't stop until I restart the PC. It does it while gaming and whilst idle.

An example can be seen on the following link:

Any ideas? Is it faulty or maybe the PSU isn't enough for the build?


Thanks
 

Citrus_9

Expert
Hi, I bought a PC built by PC Specialist last week and after a few days of usage I noticed a strange and very annoying issue with the PSU.

Every now and then, the PSU will make a whirring noise which doesn't stop until I restart the PC. It does it while gaming and whilst idle.

An example can be seen on the following link:

Any ideas? Is it faulty or maybe the PSU isn't enough for the build?


Thanks
Hi ;) Drop us a full specs' list from your order page as explained in the link.

 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
You need to get in contact with Very, and personally, i'd return the whole thing as faulty.
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Im also pretty shocked they charged £1800 for it.... its a total dead end build and you've paid through the nose for an Intel CPU and very little else...
 

jeziorspz

Member
Im also pretty shocked they charged £1800 for it....its bloody awful.
What's so bad about it? From my research, the price is about right for all components bought separately (if you can actually buy an RTX 30 series). The only thing that stood out to me was the PSU as Nvidia recommends 650w for that GPU
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Intel CPU - overpriced and underperforming, thermal issues, security flaws...list goes on...
550W PSU, completely limits future upgrades and isnt enough to properly run a 3070 (you would want 750W)
Dead end motherboard, and cheap, Asus prime B460 is getting pretty old now...
Case looks like the 220T Airflow... its a fairly budget case, its OK, but what makes it worse is then the parts you have it in will mean the case will end up with thermal issues
a 512MB M.2...most likely PCS own brand, its ok, but very limited given you would want all your games and the OS on it rather than the HDD...3TB HDD...the storage is just illogical for a gaming system

Its just a horrific build, and its a throw away system. For £1800.
Same money could build you an excellent system that would have a proper upgrade path and you could get 10 years out of it...rather than 2.
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Just as a rougfh idea/thrown together spec.... this is a tiny bit over, a few tweeks would trim it down but it would still be better than what youve landed yourself with. I'd honestly just send it back as faulty. Especially seen as the PSU seems to be faulty (which is just a recipe for trouble, you dont want to be using it)

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,891.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/SpYG8Ce4Kw/
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Intel CPU - overpriced and underperforming, thermal issues, security flaws...list goes on...
550W PSU, completely limits future upgrades and isnt enough to properly run a 3070 (you would want 750W)
Dead end motherboard, and cheap, Asus prime B460 is getting pretty old now...
Case looks like the 220T Airflow... its a fairly budget case, its OK, but what makes it worse is then the parts you have it in will mean the case will end up with thermal issues
a 512MB M.2...most likely PCS own brand, its ok, but very limited given you would want all your games and the OS on it rather than the HDD...3TB HDD...the storage is just illogical for a gaming system

Its just a horrific build, and its a throw away system. For £1800.
Same money could build you an excellent system that would have a proper upgrade path and you could get 10 years out of it...rather than 2.

Sorry if thats a bit rough... not much else I can say though...
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
When I try to build the OP's PC - with the CV-550 - the price is about right - but on the configurator I get the following message:

1615192941736.png


I can't believe they have put a 550W in there! The CV series PSU is without doubt the weakest part of that whole PC system - not a terrible surprise that it is having issues really.

I think the majority here would agree that AMD are the way to go over Intel. Having said that just because you have an Intel machine doesn't make it rubbish. But the advice from @sibun1 is harsh in some respects for me but overall it is great - and for 90 pounds more the build he suggests is superb by comparison. If Very offer a refund I do think it would be the way to go.

But I note that no one asked the OP for his use case and intentions going forward? That is important to be able to avoid him/her throwing money down the drain??
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I agree, it's not what I'd have bought (although I'm happy with my iCUE 220T case).

Maybe the OP thought they'd be better off buying something they could actually get, rather than potentially wait months for a 3070 build on here ;)
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
I agree, it's not what I'd have bought (although I'm happy with my iCUE 220T case).

Maybe the OP thought they'd be better off buying something they could actually get, rather than potentially wait months for a 3070 build on here ;)
Me too - my 220T is like a fridge. But I also chose it because of it's dimensions - it's a compact mid tower and much shallower than many other options.....

....and yes for many having a decent PC now is better than having a perfect one later. It's still a valid reason - as almost all reasons are entirely personal anyway! :)
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
I would say that there is a fault with the PSU fan yes....though it may simply be a loose bearing on the fan rather than anything serious...but, obviously, that is going to get annoying after a while. So you can take it back to Very and get it replaced/refunded or you can contact PCS, register it with them and then get them to send a new PSU out (if you are happy to replace it and the wiring which isn't the easiest thing to do with a CV series PSU).

As to it not being powerful enough, a 550w PSU is fine for the 3070 and your build....PCS wouldn't be willing to build a system with an inadequate PSU in it. Whilst NVIDIA do recommend a 650w PSU as a minimum for the 3070, the minimum is also based on a top-end i9 CPU...an i7 uses a lot less power

Personally, I'd get a refund on that system and buy from PCS purely so I wasn't paying extra for buying elsewhere (by my reckoning, Very have added a £150 or so markup on the price of it) plus, as pointed out above, you could get a system which is more well-rounded. Downside being you will likely need to wait
You’re spot on there - the mark up is about 120 pounds as far as I can tell.

For the PSU - the PCS configuration won’t let me build that spec as it says the 550W is not powerful enough. PCS allow a 20% overhead I think, but I cant’t see how it got in there in the first place?
 

jeziorspz

Member
The selling point was the time as some of you guys previously mentioned in the posts above.

My old PC was very outdated and I had to give it away for another family member to use so, I need something now - not in x months. Looking online, I don't want to buy the RTX 20 series as compared to RTX 30 they don't seem to be worth the money.

As you'd have seen in the actual shop page, the PSU isn't listed so, I contacted PCS directly to ask about this build and was told that it runs on a CV550. I guess I should have asked about the PSU since I knew that its not enough to handle the components - but I guess I put my trust into PCS knowing what they are doing and thought that they wouldn't sell a 'bad build'.

I don't mind changing parts myself as I'm quite experienced with it, having put together previous PCs for myself and others. I just wanted to take the easy way out this time due to the lack of supply of the GPUs on the market.

Future wise - I don't mind paying a bit more down the line for an upgrade as long as everything works.

I will contact PCS to see what they can do about the PSU and if we won't be able to solve this to the best of interests, I will refund the unit as faulty.

Thanks a lot for all of your input guys!!!
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
The selling point was the time as some of you guys previously mentioned in the posts above.

My old PC was very outdated and I had to give it away for another family member to use so, I need something now - not in x months. Looking online, I don't want to buy the RTX 20 series as compared to RTX 30 they don't seem to be worth the money.

As you'd have seen in the actual shop page, the PSU isn't listed so, I contacted PCS directly to ask about this build and was told that it runs on a CV550. I guess I should have asked about the PSU since I knew that its not enough to handle the components - but I guess I put my trust into PCS knowing what they are doing and thought that they wouldn't sell a 'bad build'.

I don't mind changing parts myself as I'm quite experienced with it, having put together previous PCs for myself and others. I just wanted to take the easy way out this time due to the lack of supply of the GPUs on the market.

Future wise - I don't mind paying a bit more down the line for an upgrade as long as everything works.

I will contact PCS to see what they can do about the PSU and if we won't be able to solve this to the best of interests, I will refund the unit as faulty.

Thanks a lot for all of your input guys!!!
Do we need to be a bit careful here? PCS have an open case warranty, but what about Very? I have no idea - but that is actually who your contract is with - not with PCS. They would need to be content with you changing a component as a first port of call? Not sure really.....

I am also a little confused about why you would need to ask PCS about the PSU if you are quite experienced with changing components - there could be no simpler task than to check that for yourself? Just open the side metal panel and look at it?

I would wager that a 650W is actually installed and PCS got it wrong over the phone to be honest! Either way the CV Series is the bottom of the range for PCS builds. It's still Corsair so it's not poor by any stretch - but I certainly would seize the opportunity to upgrade it if you are going to go about replacing it.... 650W may techincally be enough for your build, but running any PSU that close to it's rating is quite inefficent (most PSU's hit peak efficiency around 50%-60%) and also very noisy as the fan will be running full steam to keep it cool. So up the Wattage by a decent amount also.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
That's naughty of PCS to knowingly build a system with a PSU that their own configurator won't allow...don't care if Very wanted that spec, PCS shouldn't allow it.
This is a tricky one and we come across this 'should PCS build it' question quite often.

There are many times on here when we'll advise that a particular build is unsuitable or won't provide the performance the user is hoping for, and yet the user decides to buy it anyway.

It's obvious that we can't stop people buying an unsuitable build and I don't see how PCS can either. Both us and PCS can advise that the proposed build is unsuitable, but it's entirely the customer's decision on what to buy.

I would suggest that this applies whether the purchaser is an individual buying for themselves or a (properly affiliated) company buying for resale.

PCS can hardly refuse to build a customer's order, all they can do is advise.

If a (properly affiliated) reseller orders a build that is unsuitable and sells it on, then they alone must assume full responsibility for its performance - or lack of.
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
This is a tricky one and we come across this 'should PCS build it' question quite often.

There are many times on here when we'll advise that a particular build is unsuitable or won't provide the performance the user is hoping for, and yet the user decides to buy it anyway.

It's obvious that we can't stop people buying an unsuitable build and I don't see how PCS can either. Both us and PCS can advise that the proposed build is unsuitable, but it's entirely the customer's decision on what to buy.

I would suggest that this applies whether the purchaser is an individual buying for themselves or a (properly affiliated) company buying for resale.

PCS can hardly refuse to build a customer's order, all they can do is advise.

If a (properly affiliated) reseller orders a build that is unsuitable and sells it on, then they alone must assume full responsibility for its performance - or lack of.
All totally true Ubuysa.

But I highly doubt Very.co.uk specced that PC. They almost certainly just plucked it ‘off the shelf’ so to speak.

Which is why my bet is it actually has a 650W in it (EDIT - I lost my bet - I'm eating my AgentCooper Cert now) - the OP needs to physically check that for himself. If it’s actually a 550W then he has full grounds to insist that Very fix or replace or refund it - as it would be objectively unfit for the intended purpose - regardless of, and in addition to, any PSU noises.

That would be my take.
 
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jeziorspz

Member
Do we need to be a bit careful here? PCS have an open case warranty, but what about Very? I have no idea - but that is actually who your contract is with - not with PCS. They would need to be content with you changing a component as a first port of call? Not sure really.....

I am also a little confused about why you would need to ask PCS about the PSU if you are quite experienced with changing components - there could be no simpler task than to check that for yourself? Just open the side metal panel and look at it?

I would wager that a 650W is actually installed and PCS got it wrong over the phone to be honest! Either way the CV Series is the bottom of the range for PCS builds. It's still Corsair so it's not poor by any stretch - but I certainly would seize the opportunity to upgrade it if you are going to go about replacing it.... 650W may techincally be enough for your build, but running any PSU that close to it's rating is quite inefficent (most PSU's hit peak efficiency around 50%-60%) and also very noisy as the fan will be running full steam to keep it cool. So up the Wattage by a decent amount also.
I have checked the PSU and it is the CV550.

In relation to asking PCS - I meant, asking if they would be willing to exchange the psu for a better one etc.

Very has a 28 day return policy so, if they aren't willing to allow me change parts inside of the tower and will insist on keeping the 550 in - I will be claiming a refund
 

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
I have checked the PSU and it is the CV550.

In relation to asking PCS - I meant, asking if they would be willing to exchange the psu for a better one etc.

Very has a 28 day return policy so, if they aren't willing to allow me change parts inside of the tower and will insist on keeping the 550 in - I will be claiming a refund
Good stuff OP. Sounds like a plan.....
 
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