I've recently upgraded my graphics card, and I've been facing some issues with my hard drive. Initially, my computer wouldn't recognize the hard drive after the installation, but a restart seemed to fix that. However, while playing games stored on that hard drive, they suddenly crash, and I receive a Windows notification saying my hard drive is having "multiple problems." I've checked the connections from the power supply to the motherboard, and they seem fine. I'm starting to think my current power supply may not be sufficient for my setup. I've ordered a new 650W power supply, but I'm wondering what else could be causing this issue? Here are my specs: Motherboard: Asus TUF Gaming B450 Plus-II, CPU: Ryzen 5 Pro 5650G, GPU: Zotac RTX 3060 (upgraded from an Asus GTX 1650), Storage: 250GB SSD and 1TB HDD, RAM: Hyperx Fury 32GB, and I'm currently using a 550W PSU from a random brand.
3 Answers
It's pretty unlikely that the power supply is the direct cause of these HDD issues. Hard drives generally consume very little power—around 5-10 watts. If the 12V line had a significant drop, you'd see other components acting up, too. It's more likely there's something wrong with the HDD itself. I'd recommend using CrystalDiskInfo to check its health.
Whenever you experience issues with your HDD, it's always wise to consider the possibility that the drive might be failing. If your drive is about five years old, back up any important data right away just in case. Even though your GPU installation coincided with the HDD issues, it's best to remain cautious.
I've double-checked my power cables, and they seem good. After the hard drive disconnects and reconnects, I looked at the error log and saw messages like "disk 2 has been surprise removed." I also discussed this with a virtual assistant, and it suggested that my PSU might not be reliable enough to handle sudden power demands from the new GPU, which could be causing the HDD issues.
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