rossb Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 I am currently running an i7 NUC as a music server, which runs Roon and JRiver, and it is randomly shutting down when I use a linear PSU. I have lowered the maximum power in the BIOS to 40 watts. I have used 3 different power supplies - the stock SMPS which is specified at 65w, a Teddy Pardo 3.5A 19v PSU and a Fidelizer Nikola 3.68A 19v PSU. The Teddy Pardo and Fidelizer are both well-made, highly regarded linear PSUs. With the two linear PSUs, the NUC shuts down at random. With the stock power supply, it does not have this issue. I have another NUC, an i5 which I use for work and other things, and it has the same issue when I use the linear PSUs. With the stock PSU (65w) it is fine, but with a linear PSU it shuts down randomly. This NUC also has its power limited to 40w. Both NUCs run very limited applications, and the CPUs rarely get above 25% usage, and usually well below this. Both are running cool and there is no overheating issue. The shutdowns are random - often when the PC is not being used, and there is no BSOD, it just shuts off, and after a minute or two can be re-started. Are these NUCs drawing too much instantaneous power from the PSU so that they are shutting down? Would a 5A or 6A/120w PSU solve the problem? Another option is to switch to an i3 NUC which has a lower power draw, which may work better with the current PSUs. I would prefer to continue to use a linear PSU because it does bring clear improvements in sound quality over the stock SMPS. Any suggestions gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 It is not average but peak CPU which is causing the shutdown. It is likely that Roon plus any attached disk drives are the culprits ? My current stock standard NUC supply is supplying 90W at 19V but I can get away with 50W with a Gieseler LPS (no Roon). Both your LPS are under 90W, so that may explain the shutdown? And not sure why your standard power supply is only 65W? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Thanks, that's what I suspected. Sounds like I will need to find a 120w PSU. In the meantime I might disable Roon Server and just use JRMC, which seems to use less resources. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 38 minutes ago, rossb said: In the meantime I might disable Roon Server and just use JRMC, which seems to use less resources. JRMC, by a long way, is less resource hungry. Roon's regular maintenance runs is when you need the power. Not sure you need 120W, maybe 90W should be enough? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Well, that didn't last long. I disabled Roon, re-started with JRMC and my TP power supply and it took about 10 minutes to shut down. I don't think it is a power issue - I may try some different RAM to see if that is the problem, otherwise I might have to look at a different NUC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 If it works with your stock power supply, how can it be your RAM or any hardware causing the problem? I suspect you have a yet to be identified software running in background. Maybe even crypto mining ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Good point. RAM seems unlikely, but there is really no software on the machine apart from the standard Windows 11 processes and JRMC. CPU usage is around 2-3%. Definitely no crypto mining! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 (edited) Corrupted ram can cause reboots/shut downs. As can a faulty psu. or the mobo. the process of elimination can be labourious. Edited July 16 by Steff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 1 minute ago, Steff said: the process of elimination can be labourious. As I'm discovering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 3 minutes ago, Steff said: Corrupted ram can cause reboots/shut downs. You have missed out a crucial point. Everything works with stock psu but not LPS. @rossb are both JRMC and Roon installed on same machine? Roon, especially has lots of background processes which wake up regularly and this may trigger a CPU spike. To eliminate this possibility, uninstall Roon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 It's kind of academic now. I blew up the NUC. I found a 300w Teradak power supply in my garage that I bought 5 years ago with a 12v output and have never used. I thought I would try that. I probably should have tested it at some point in the last 5 years. When I connected it to the NUC there was a strong smell of smoke and now the NUC won't power up from any of the power supplies. Problem solved! Time for a new NUC. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 8 hours ago, rossb said: I am currently running an i7 NUC as a music server, which runs Roon and JRiver, and it is randomly shutting down when I use a linear PSU. I would prefer to continue to use a linear PSU because it does bring clear improvements in sound quality over the stock SMPS. Any suggestions gratefully received. I can understand that an LPS on your NUC brings an improvement in SQ - I used a 12v Sbooster to power my miniDSP 12x12HD, when I had it (instead of the supplied 12v Meanwell SMPS). But about 10 years ago, I did some experiments with different PSs driving a TT motor speed controller. I found the best SQ actually came from using one of my 'Isotrans' with the supplied Meanwell SMPS - rather than an LPS. (The 'Isotran' consists of a small isolating transformer plus a 1a hash filter - obviously, in an earthed case.) You might like to try the Isotran with the stock SMPS; if it works for you then you will get: better SQ than the SMPS by itself. better SQ then your LPS delivered ... and no shutting down. PM me if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Thanks, Andy. I have ordered a new NUC (being a sucker for punishment) so I will contact you when I have put it together and will try out your Isotrans. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glass_and_Tubes Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 @rossb sorry to be late to the party and to hear about your NUC. I had issues with micro pc and LPS as well. The mini pc would boot but bios would claim it doesn't recognise the LPS power supply and would only boot windows withmy processor throttle to 0.8Ghz (to minimise power draw). In the end, I figured out it's bug with the motherboard and different LPS or even using original SMPS still sometimes causes the issue. The solve, in thisi case, was to unplug the power (from the mini pc) and then try again. Often times, after a multiple times it would then boot normally. This is not your same situation but just wanted to share in case it's helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Thanks, Clint. As the NUC is now a smoking ruin, it's probably a bit late to try your solution. I have ordered an i3 NUC to replace it, which will hopefully be a better match for my linear PSUs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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