Is my PSU dying?

Question

I had a GTX 580 3GB, and about 4 weeks ago my PC frequently refused to POST, and sometimes when it was working, the screen would go black and the GPU fan increased to 100%. I would then have to reboot my PC, but the screen would go black progressively more and more quickly.

I read lots of messages on the Nvidia support forum about the latest drivers causing problems, and so yesterday I changed my GPU to the 7970 GHZ Vapor. Now, the PC is beeping 1 long 2 short, and according to the Gigabyte site (my motherboard is the GA-X58A-UD3R rev.2), those beeps correspond to either a monitor problem or GPU. The motherboard speaker (the one that beeps at POST), clicks (that's the best way to describe it) 3 times, and then I get the 1 long and 2 short.

Last night, I got it to work by using different cables on my PSU (Corsair TX 1050), but this morning, it won't POST again and I'm getting the 1 long 2 short.

The only real differences between running with the GTX 580 and the 7970 seem to be that:

1. With the GTX 580, apart from when it POSTed, there were never any other beeps.
2. The PC (in the last 4 weeks), never stayed on as long, without a black screen causing me to reboot.

Specs:
Radeon HD 7970 GHZ Vapor Edition
24GB Corsair Dominator
Intel 980x
Corsair TX 1050 (I think it's the TX)
Crucial 256GB SSD (and about 4 Samsung F1's)

I bought all the bits (apart from the 7970) in 2010.

OCCT Voltages:
http://i40.tinypic.com/27xfdop.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/165kxj.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2mmcpcz.jpg

Right, I've possibly found what's causing the black screen. When I touch the gpu, next to the right pci-e socket, that's when the screen goes blank. Tried it a few times and it's happened on all occasions. The card is seated properly and properly secured. By touch, I mean pressing it up or down gently, maybe about a quarter of an inch (or a bit more).

Answer 1

If the card moves 6-8 mm or more (your "about a quarter of an inch or a bit more"), then I would say that it is not properly seated and secure.

This would also explain why it's working better (or "less bad") when the computer is on its side than when it is in a normal upright position. In the former case, the gravitational force on the graphics card pulls it down into the slot; in the latter, gravity exerts a force on the actual graphics card and the only things to resist it is the connection to the slot and the securing screw. Since the graphics card is fairly high-end, those forces can be pretty substantial due to the weight of the components on the card.

If what you mean is that the card flexes by that amount when you push down on it, I'd say something is still wrong because it really isn't supposed to. The kind of forces that would propagate through the circuit board from such flexing could easily damage solder joints and electrical traces on the circuit board. I'd say perhaps half of that, at most, might be acceptable flexing, but even then I'd be wary.

In either case, you're going to have to figure out why the card moves or flexes by that amount and fix that underlying issue, and you may find yourself needing to get a new card; hopefully, you'll be able to get a replacement under warranty.