Acer Veriton N4640G system instability

Hi everyone,

i've added a gpu to my acer veriton n4640g and have received some mixed results.

system info: i5-7500(65w), 16gb ddr4, m.2 + sata hdd, 135w original power adapter

The initial testing was done with a radeon hd3650 (tdp 65w). i've been informed that the pci-e only provides 66w. the testing went well and the system didn't have any issues in benchmarks or games.

Following this, i purchased a Sapphire RX 550 (60/65w tdp). the system boots up ok with not apparent issues. in some applications it runs ok and there are no problems.

There are instances when the system restarts, after which i think is a lack of power or a spike that can't be met.

I've checked the BIOS and the systems shows me that i'm using a 90w adapter.

I remember that in the first version of the veriton n chassis there were jumpers to tell the mobo that you have a 65/90/135w power adapter, the same can't be found on my current one.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

So far, i've tried undervolting the cpu, removing the sata hdd, setting the gpu to eco/powerSaving mode.

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

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billsey

The FRU list I have for the N4640G models shows three base model revisions, the W12, W22 and W32. The W12 comes with either a 65W or 90W power supply, the W22 with a 65W, 90W or 135W supply, the W32 with only the 135W. The W12 ans W22 models have only 6th gen CPUs, the W32 has 6th or 7th gen. The earlier models come with and without a USB-C and the 7th gen systems have a different motherboard. Since we know you have a 7th gen CPU you must have a W32 model with the newer motherboard and the 135W PSU is correct. Did yours have the NVIDIA or AMD GPU? I don't have access to schematics, so I can't tell what might be going on with the 12V circuit and that PCIe x16 slot, and that's where the extra current should be routed from the 135W supply. Since the 7th gen motherboard never had a version for the smaller supplies I'd tend to ignore what the BIOS is saying. They likely just reused the same BIOS code on all three model types and the base design was taking into effect the 65W vs. 90W supplies only.

Of the things you have tried, only the HDD would have made a difference for the available current on 12V, and it should have been on a different internal bus than the PCIe slot.

NucaPuturoasa

Thank you very much for the extensive answer. i wasn't able to find any of info you shared, so i take it took quite a bit of digging.

I have some observation or things that maybe could help in the analysis.

First of it's an AMD RX550. I've noticed that when i have the GPU plugged in, the BIOS shows 90w, when it's not connected, it's showing 65w. I've tried different power settings in the bios and non of them had an effect there. BIOS version: R02-B1.

While in Windows (10 pro), i have HWinfo installed to monitor the power usage. The CPU rarely goes over 28w (4-5w idle), even when stress testing, and the GPU also stays at a max 25w (3w idle) in synthetic benchmarks. However, if i turn on artificial stress tests on both the CPU and GPU at the same time, they don't use the max amount of power that i've seen in each component test. They one that is usually stared the 2nd, gets more power, but never goes above 20w, and the other ones behaves like in idle. I'm not sure if it's a limitation or a safety check.

In Power Plan settings, i've tried using both power saving for both PCIE connector and CPU, as well as full performance, and variations of each.

One things is clearly observed, when i set the power settings to efficiency rather than performance, the user experience is slightly sluggish.

I've also done the same amount of tests/checks on a 7500T (which is a 35w CPU).

For some aditional info, regasrdint the part number or model:

RMN: VN5W2

The power rating on the label is 19V @ 3.42A, which is 65w, so i'm not certain that i have a W32.

I'll try disconnecting the following things: the DP connector that is added aditionaly in the back, as well as the SATA connection for the aditional docking module (getting really desperate here....)

Thank again for your support and answer. Any aditional info that you might think of is welcomed.

NucaPuturoasa

Update: removed the display connector for the DP and the SATA ribbon cable. Still the same issues.

I ran another benchmark, this time furkmark to see what happens. surprisingly, the system crashed(restarted).

The following values of wattage were last logged: cpu package power: 10.572w , gpu chip power: 35.488w.

I've also tried to disable anything realted to temperature restart from bios (maybe there was a faulty probe, though i haven't seen any odd values in the HWinfo tool).

I'm starting to think that the cpu and pcie are both using the same 12v internal bus, and that can't provide to both parts at the same time. i'm willing to try a nvidia 1030 which is a 30w gpu, but the performance increase in fps wouldn't be that great compared to the iGPU on the i5-7500.

Alexx76

Hello. I have same issues. In my Acer n4640g v2, i put i7 7700 (65w), 16 ddr4, 2 256 GB and a asus GT 1030 low profile (30w) with 135w adaptor funless (in bios R02-B1 is showing 90w adaptor). When i am in games it shut it down. What can i do?

billsey

Did your system come with a 6th gen or 7th gen CPU and chipset?

NucaPuturoasa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1209832#Comment_1209832

hey Alex. I'm sorry to hear you have the same outcome even with the GT1030. I never managed the make it work and disassembled the system. I went for an shuttle hx110g chassis which has support for all of the components and they all work as expected.

I don't think that the system was ever intended to be used in the way we're trying to use it. There's very limited info online from people who actually connected a GPU to it and could play games. I never found any.

dt1991

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1181030#Comment_1181030

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I just want to check if you upgraded from a i5 6400T to i5 7500 ?

I have a Acer Veriton N4640G (VN5W2) (Bios: R02-A2) with i5-6400T and a 65W power adapter and trying to figure out if I can upgrade to i5 7500 with a 135W power supply.

Also, how are you connecting the external GPU? Are you using the PCIe x1 slot ?

I'm using this as a home theater PC and 6400T struggling to play X265 10bit video. So I either need to upgrade to 7th gen (7500 / 7400T) or get an external GPU.