1Kw PSU apparently not enough juice for 2x7970's Ghz Editions...

[Joori]

I have 4 x 7950 and when they mine bitcoin consumption from wall is around 850-900W depending on clocks, but when I tried scrypt on semi aggresive settings it pulled over 1000W from wall. So be careful when mining scrypt as it drains more power.

I managed to get 1-2 minutes of BTC mining before the unit blew it's guts... I noticed the hot card was only pulling around 590MH/s whereas the other card started @ 650MH/s. I would have tried scrypt mining but alas I didn't get a chance to before the PSU decided to fail.

It sounds like that card's the problem.  I don't think it should hit 99C within seconds.  I doubt the PS would cause that.

On idle, the top card was @ 47C and the bottom one 40C. Once I started mining, both began to increase temps as normal except that the top one jumped to 80C almost immediately while the bottom one was still at ~65C. Within say ~30 seconds the top card had hit 99C and the bottom card was just about to hit 75C before the system shutdown.

A PSU also should not be light.  If you pick up a 900W power supply and it feels light it is probably crap.  Pushing out high power takes serious components that have weight to em.  I have found some off brand supplies that have done well, like Rocketfish.  I get Rocketfish 900W supplies and treat them like 700W units.  Out of 6, not have died over two years.

This one seems neither heavy nor light... Actually it feels lighter than it should be for what it's 'rated' at. My Lian-Li 650w has been going great guns and is rather heavier than this cheapo CoolerPower.

Without actually testing the hardware itself I couldn't tell you, but this really sounds like a capacitor blowing (which if the rest of the components did their job correctly, saved any hardware aside from the PSU from getting fried).

Looking through the vents on the PSU with a cree torch I can't really see any burning or blown capacitors tho I don't want to open it up just yet to really have a look before as it's going back to the store over the weekend.

As far as projects though, I am using one of their higher-end models.  It might be overkill (for both my purposes and yours) but I would suggest at least checking it out - HCP-1000 Platinum.  This particular PSU actually has 4 dedicated 12v rails in case you ever want to get crazy with more cards.  A great thing too is it really is an investment product.  All of Antec's PSUs come with a modular cable design, but this unit and a few others are actually future proof when it comes to the needs of motherboards and other hardware that has yet to be released.  I've really thrown a lot at mine (more than I should to be honest, but I figure with a 7-year replacement warranty, why not? =p).  Also since you'll likely be running your system 24/7, it's nice that it's 80 PLUS Platinum certified (that basically means that there is very little power that goes to waste due to heat or power leaks).  Again, we're looking at an extreme version; but I would never buy a PSU that wasn't at least 80 PLUS Bronze certified.  If you decide you need less power they have lots of different models with various features (what everyone recommended above is golden info)

Ultimately, I'd like more power... overkill or not I do have the 990FXA mobo and was thinking eventually to add more cards on powered risers but that idea is shelved for a while at least till I can sort out the current issues. This dodgy PSU is 80+ certified tho as with the rest of the info listed on the unit, I call BS - This reminds me of an upgrade I done to my now defunct Compaq Presario some 7 or so years ago. I kept the PSU which was just a shitty 250W rated one but everything it powered (Intel e8400, 8GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer RAM few sata HDD) was running sweet as a nut. I threw everything at that system and it never skipped a beat... I've never had an issue with any Antec I've bought and still have a 350W SmartPower PSU that was running an old AMD Athlong 64 rig. I used it last night to trial the paper clip test with

I'm thinking of grabbing either the HCP-1000, Seasonic X-1250 or perhaps Silverstone 1500w. The downtime on this rig atm is rather depressing mainly because I can't do anything really till I go back to the store and grab another PSU.

dude, NEVER FUCKING BUY a bargain priced PSU thats of no brand, especially a cheapass highwattage PSU..
Their a flatout lie, and yes they can get away w/ it for some reason legally...no fucking idea why, it should be fucking outlawed to lie that much to a customer.
But yes, manufactures often can fake the logos for many of the certifications they have to pass to be 'safe'
Such as UL etc...
There are cheap high watt PSUs all over the place that make me fucking pissed off. They can handle most like maybe 200watts when they are labeled 600+ watts.
On top of that .. the shit PSUs feed horrible quality DC to your PC components...causing all sorts of stress on their VRMs ... its a sad situation.

Don't worry, I'm pretty pissed off myself... I mean I could have gone to the casino and blown 1k easily and probably got more in return than what is happening currently. I got the unit for $89 on sale, but it's $127 atm. It's the cheapeast purchase I've made on a PSU in my 20 or so years of building PC's. I was just a little retarded when deciding to buy it due to it being on sale at the time and that decision has probably cost me alot more than I'd bargained for... None the less, I've sent off an email to the store and await their reply heh.

[ISAWHIM]

To the comment...

"Buy a brand name"... They are all "brand names", thus, the NAME...

That is the most useless info you can give someone. Especially since "Brand names" are "OEM", and "Generic" PSU's manufactured by someone-else without a name.

"Big brands" make crap too, and have the same hardware malfunctions.

Can't find "power cooler" or "cooler power" PSU's anywhere on the net... So I imagine they were a spin-off trying to "pretend", on error, to be "identified" as a "good brand", (Cooler Master, or PC Power & Cooling) Both are higher quality brands.

I would assume that the 12v rail was just not up to par, at all.

I just had this happen with a "Brand name" lol, Logisys 750w PSU that fried with a 600w load at the wall, on the 12v rails. (Should have been able to handle 700w fine.) POS brand-name crap.

Here is a "big list" of "good BRANDS"... (Note the "models"... Not all models by the same "brand" are equal. EG, Corsair CX = crap/ok, Corsair TX = good/great, Corsair HX = excellent/super) FYI, I normally use the 750 Corsair TX for 3x 7970's + Mobo/CPU. It has run up to 800w at the wall, but normally I run it at 680w-720w at the wall.
http://www.overclock.net/t/183810/faq-recommended-power-supplies

Here is a good source for "crap BRANDS"... (Bottom of page)
http://www.10stripe.com/featured/psu/brand.php

P.S. If it costs $60, it is NOT a 1000Watt anything.
Rule of thumb... For potential expected power/cost
$30 = 300-400w {Cheapest I would ever go, for 1 GPU and CPU/mobo/SSD, or single OC GPU}
$60 = 450-550w
$90 = 600-700w (Cheaper to get two 400w)
$120 = 750-850w (Cheaper to get two 400w)
$160 = 900-1000w (Cheaper to get two 500w) (Even cheaper to get three 400w)
$190 = 1100-1200w (Cheaper to get two 600w) (Even cheaper to get three 400w/500w)
$250 = 1300-1500w (Cheaper to get two 750w) (Even cheaper to get three 500w) (Even cheaper to get four 400w)


For the 7970 HD Radeon cards (230w run - 250w max)
Also with standard CPU, with SSD or USB-drive or low-power HD, ~ 65w normal operation (45w for low-power models, or disabled cores.)
* If you have many HD's and a super-CPU, overclocked.. water-cooled, add 100-200w to all these "max" values. (That is just stupid. lol.)
1x = 250w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 315w MAX (Rec 400-450w)
2x = 500w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 565w MAX (Rec 650-700w or 2@ 400w-card/cpu/mobo + 300-350w-card)
3x = 750w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 815w MAX (Rec 900-1000w or 3x 350-400w)
4x = 1000w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 1065w MAX (Rec 1100-1200w or 2x 550-650w)
5x = 1250w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 1315w MAX (Rec 1400-1500w or 2x 750-850w)
6x = 1500w GPU + 65w CPU/mobo = 1565w MAX (Rec 2x 900-1000w)

Less, and you get less... Pay strong attention to the +12v power. Many put a lot of power on +5v, because that is cheap to do, and is for "USB and SATA and HD" powers. (Eg, if you have 4 HD's and many USB crap things... As opposed to having 3+ video-cards, which is "abnormal" for a CPU marketing item.)

Multi-rail is just stupid. You will never "match" rails to GPU's, or power... Thus, you will short yourself amps, or overload one rail, thus, "stupid" by design. (Except a system designed to have 25a on any rail, with 4 rails, but only has 60a available total, on all rails. That is a "smart" design, if it identifies the four separate rails, and has one dedicated to just the mobo/cpu.)

Don't worry, the new 12v only PSU's are coming. No more crappy 3.5v and 5v and -12v rails... Just 12v rails and an 11v (stand-by power). That is where you will see a major gain and reduced PSU size/heat/losses.

[HellDiverUK]

To the comment...

"Buy a brand name"... They are all "brand names", thus, the NAME...

That is the most useless info you can give someone. Especially since "Brand names" are "OEM", and "Generic" PSU's manufactured by someone-else without a name.

Pedantic.

Don't worry, the new 12v only PSU's are coming. No more crappy 3.5v and 5v and -12v rails... Just 12v rails and an 11v (stand-by power). That is where you will see a major gain and reduced PSU size/heat/losses.

The new Fujitsu machines I got at work have PSUs that only give out 12v.  The PSU plugs in to the board, and the SATA drives are run off another socket on the board.  The board produces the 3.3v and 5v needed for the SATA drives.

[Joori]

It was this one that I bought and it blew on me.. but the nice guys at itestate exchanged it for me tho I opted for an upgrade and went for the Silverstone Strider Gold 1200w. Been running great guns with both my cards and no issues at all. I'm looking at a kill-a-watt solution so I can get a reading from the wall on how much power I'm really drawing and will endeavour do obtain one from JayCar this weekend when I have time. They sell an equivalent for around 20 bucks which is not too heavy on the hip pocket money wise

All in all, I learnt a lesson from trying to be cheap (unintentionally) and as a result almost lost more in hardware which would have really been a hard kick to the balls.

[BlazinBeaches]

Sounds like a bad PSU.  I have a Silverstone Strider Gold 1200 watt powering 4 oc'd 7970s and the mobo,3770k,ram,etc.  

The addition of the 3770k might be pushing it, but I'll be dropping in an intel g1610 shortly and it will be all good.

I've never heard of Powercooler so I don't know.  But the golden number 1 rule in PC building is ONLY buy Name Brand PSUs, no matter what.

Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, Silverstone, PC Power & Cooling, EVGA, XFX, Zalman, etc.  

***edit just saw you bought the Strider Gold 1200w, Great choice man.  The thing is superb quality and a beast.  

[Joori]

Yeah the one time I decide not to go brand name and it bites me hard in the arse!  Never again thats for sure...

I'm quite pleased with the PSU, it definitely is a beast and hasn't skipped a beat. Really stoked things turned out for the better even if it did take almost frying everything in the system for me to understand the importance of a quality PSU!

Just waiting on some risers to arrive now so I can hook up the 2nd 7970... I get some stupid temperature issues when both are plugged in with whichever one is in the top slot rocketing to above 99C. I'm hashing away with just one of them for the moment and on a warm day it doesn't go past 75C. Mostly stays between 59C-65C and getting 734KH/s mining LTC, haven't tweaked around with BTC since before I blew the other PSU... None the less, everything turned out for the better and at least the power issue is now gone for good