# Power led of my gpu flashing..



## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

I have a Gigabyte 1060 6gb gpu powered by a Thermaltake 600w psu (buy a new psu comments in 1...2..3)and on some games the white power led above the 8pin (which indicates power) flashes sporadically..It has no affect in the game and the temperatures are normal..In the manual the flashing means "abnormal power".Anyone else have this "problem"?


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## E-Bear (Feb 26, 2019)

I have an AGP card like that and let me tell you that the total wattage is not all. You need enough amperage on the 12v line to supply the gpu. If inside the psu all rails are connected together then your gpu could be starved when the cpu and the rest are more demanding.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

......I understood nothing lol


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## E-Bear (Feb 26, 2019)

Distorted said:


> ......I understood nothing lol



Then go on YouTube to have some basic computer power supply course. It will help you understand.


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## AsRock (Feb 26, 2019)

Try using another 8 pin connector from the PSU if ones available, make sure the power connector has good contact.

Might be a failing PSU or  GPU.

Could get in touch with both manufactures about the issue and see what they say.  Personally i be looking for another PSU of a friend or getting a Seasonic PSU.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Hmmm.What if i buy a new psu and still have the same issue?


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## AsRock (Feb 26, 2019)

IMO you would know and 2nd you would have a better quality PSU.


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## natr0n (Feb 26, 2019)

Means it has a higher load.

I had a 7870 long ago and it had blue leds that did that.

Think of them as load indicators.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

From what i read in other posts with the same problem,tho they have new and stronger psus they still have this problem.Weird..


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 26, 2019)

Distorted said:


> Hmmm.What if i buy a new psu and still have the same issue?



Faulty gpu, rma it if possible at that point.

Thermaltake is a hit and miss with PSUs...

Abnormal power is coming from the PSU, dirty power could be coming from your outlet too.


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## AsRock (Feb 26, 2019)

Distorted said:


> From what i read in other posts with the same problem,tho they have new and stronger psus they still have this problem.Weird..



Just give GigaByte a shout and see what they say about it.  Maybe it's a tad sensitive.


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## Shambles1980 (Feb 26, 2019)

Distorted said:


> ......I understood nothing lol


ok "simple explanation coming right up (i hope)"

Wattage (w) is Voltage (v) X amps (a)
an old gfx card may want 240 watts of power.. so the psu has to be able to supply ATLEAST 20amps on the 12v pcie connector. 12v x 20a=240w

Some time ago psu's had a few different 12v cables with connectors, and they had their own seperate 12v supply inside the psu "we call those supplys RAILS"
lets say a xiolin 500w psu had two 12v rails with 20amp each..
this psu happily powered an old gfx card from rail 1 supplying 240w to the gpu, and rail 2 powered all the hard drives and the motherboard..
you may think 2x240 = 480w so how is it a 500w psu the answer is. 5v and 3v also have wattage ratings. so they can call it a 500w psu.
(some bad psu's used have high amps on 5v and 3v so they can claim they are high wattage psu's, "its easier to have high amperage on low voltage" that does not happen as often any more)
but for the above example the psu works just fine gpu is working great. Life is good!

But now you buy a new gfx card the new card's box says it needs 300w of power..
This is fine you think my psu is 500w ! 300w is no worries at all
But wait a second.. 12vx20a = 240w !
The psu will not work because it does not have enough amps on the 12v rail that supplies the card.
If you could however use both 12v rails together to power the card it would be able too..
(if the card has 2 power connectors then that is possible)


most psu's now only have 1 single rail and the amps are almost always 40+ and they go quite a bit hhigher than that too.
this allows the psu to power the whole system from 1 rail. and it also means the Rated wattage better reflects what you need to know..

e-bear is describing a single rail psu which bearly has enough amperage for the gpu . so when the rest of the system is also using a lot of power the psu just cant quite fully power everything.


Having explained that. lets talk about your gpu.
the 1060 needs 20amps to not crash when you do anything taxing with it. and it needs about 35amps to work properly.
so you would really want 40amps MINIMUM on your 12v rail to power the whole system.

what you need to know is Do you have enough amps on your psu to power the system properly.
Id always use occt to test this and check the 12v power reading..

I would tend to lean more towards you having ripple rather than anything else which would probably make overclocking a bad idea. but the psu could be fine and within spec, the led thing may just be nothing to worry about at all.. 
Cant tell you really, we can only help you understand and tell you what to try so you can figure it out.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Thank you very much for the explanation.According to this i get 480w


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## LFaWolf (Feb 26, 2019)

Man, how old is that PSU? A quick search shows at least 7 or 8 years old? If so you are on borrowed time for a bottom barrel PSU like that.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Yep.

Btw ive seen more expensive newer ones fried in a year


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## Shambles1980 (Feb 26, 2019)

according to the specs on the side of the psu, that psu was about the minimum acceptable for a system with that gpu. its probably under a lot of stress at full load.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Shambles1980 said:


> according to the specs on the side of the psu, that psu was about the minimum acceptable for a system with that gpu. its probably under a lot of stress at full load.


480V is minimum?!Most 600 PSUS have this output.


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## Vya Domus (Feb 26, 2019)

Shambles1980 said:


> that psu was about the minimum acceptable for a system with that gpu.



480W over 40 amps minimum for *a 120W card *? Man, I find it astonishing that in 2019 these mind numbing claims about cards and how much power and current they need still haven't gone extinct.

The PSU provides more than enough power for this card, whether or not it might be defective is another matter. Stop spreading this absolute nonsense.



Shambles1980 said:


> the 1060 needs 20amps to not crash when you do anything taxing with it.



No it doesn't , 20 amps means about 240W ,* this card will never ever* even get close to pulling 20 amps on the 12V rails.






Total system power and overclocked. Let's be generous and assume there are 50% spikes in power, that'd mean around 400W or about 30 amps , the absolute highest power draw you'll ever see for a typical system sporting this kind of card.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Vya Domus said:


> 480W over 40 amps minimum for *a 120W card *? Man, I find it astonishing that in 2019 these mind numbing claims about cards and how much power and current they need still haven't gone extinct.
> 
> The PSU provides more than enough power for this card, whether or not it might be defective is another matter. Stop spreading this absolute nonsense.


Exactly.These cards under full load (overclocked) usually dont exeed 350w.And if they do is for milisecs.


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## EarthDog (Feb 26, 2019)

Yikes...yikes...yikes. some misinformation in this thread. 

Get a new psu... 7 year old 480W 12V of 600W psu and GPU is flashing about abnormal power.

This is (very likely) NOT a fancy card with LEDs that change with load. The OP already mentioned it was abnormal power from the manual.

The psu, IF working properly would have enough juice to power his system (what cpu do you have distortion.. fill out specs please....)!!



Distorted said:


> These cards under full load (overclocked) usually dont exeed 350w.


Que? Microburst in spec are irrelevant. Respectfully, may I ask how you know of that but dont have the basics understood? Seems backwards! 

For all intents and purposes, even overclocked that card isnt pulling more than 175W.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

Its actually a Gigabyte G1 1060 6gb.I refuse to believe that this power is Inefficient  for this card.I understand that it might got unbalanced cause of age.


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## Vya Domus (Feb 26, 2019)

The power is adequate in principal , the PSU itself might not be. Only way to know is by using a different PSU, thought since you have not seen anything abnormal about your system outside of that indicator I don't know if there really is a problem or not.


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

EarthDog said:


> Yikes...yikes...yikes. some misinformation in this thread.
> 
> Get a new psu... 7 year old 480W 12V of 600W psu and GPU is flashing about abnormal power.
> 
> ...


Ryzen 1600.Gpu 1060 6gb.RAM 16gb.3 ssds.


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## EarthDog (Feb 26, 2019)

Like I said, the card does not have LEDs that change color with power load (like @natron said earlier). Solid is good power. Flashing is unstable power. The card is sensing something...

You dont have to believe it... but....that doesnt mean it isnt true and you should replace that aging old style psu at your earliest convenience. 

Again, can you fill out your system specs so we can better assist?



Distorted said:


> Ryzen 1600.Gpu 1060 6gb.RAM 16gb.3 ssds.


Lol, yeah... psu...IF FUNCTIONAL shouldn't have any issue powering that system most in here know that already)... but your light is flashing for a reason (try reseating it).


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## Distorted (Feb 26, 2019)

....Have you ever thought that maybe Gigabytes sensor is crap?


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## EarthDog (Feb 26, 2019)

It may be... did you ever think to test it to confirm either way instead of categorically denying your 7-8 year old PSU with old style power distribution (not all of power on 12V) that wasn't a particularly well reviewed unit in the first place is still smooth as silk? You asked us...remember? 
If the light is on, most would logically think to test it instead of think the card is faulty. Just because its on and working, doesn't mean its wrong. It just means the power coming in isn't up to spec for the GPU (whatever that means... ripple/noise etc...). Its just odd that you come somewhere and ask for advice, then crap all over it while, respectfully, you have no idea about these things..  

GL to you...


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## sneekypeet (Feb 26, 2019)

Distorted said:


> ....Have you ever thought that maybe Gigabytes sensor is crap?



Then RMA the card and be done with the questions. From the outside it appears you would rather argue than move towards a solution. Both ends of the issue have been addressed. You can either remove the card and RMA it, see if the new card does it (if they find a fault in it.) The other way to go is to try a PSU and see what shakes. No other answers are out there, there are not any other ways to look at it, outside of a possible outlet issue.

You came in not wanting to buy a PSU, so RMA is the only obvious choice. You could go to a big box store and get something to measure the outlet to be certain the issue lies in the PC, at the same time, I feel like this thread is soon to be closed.


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