Computer Builders: PSU problems?
Jan 18, 2009 at 4:17 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 39

wower

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I just built a nice mid-end gaming PC with a i7 chip, 6gb RAM and and ati4870. Everything was working beautiful for the last day. Even got CoD5: world at war installed and working beautifully on vista 64bit. I went to turn it on about an hour ago and the power button did nothing.

I have tore out the insides and rechecked and reconnected everything power related. I'm using a big full Ultra case with a Ultra 650watt PSU. No small lights on the mobo even come on. To me this points directly to a PSU problem but before I remove the PSU and send it back, I wanted to run it past the members here: Am I missing something simple?? Parts are most likely to stop working in the first couple of days. After that they will normally make it into the hundreds of thousands of hours until failure. Do I have a bad PSU?
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 4:24 AM Post #2 of 39
I had 2 antec 650 watt powersupplies die in my current machine. Garbage.

Anyway, yes the PSU and RAM are the most likely candidates for failure in my experience. RAM can do some strange things, including not running POST, not turning on at all, etc.

Never again will I get anything cheap. PC Power & Cooling from now on.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 4:30 AM Post #3 of 39
Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I had 2 antec 650 watt powersupplies die in my current machine. Garbage.

Anyway, yes the PSU and RAM are the most likely candidates for failure in my experience. RAM can do some strange things, including not running POST, not turning on at all, etc.

Never again will I get anything cheap. PC Power & Cooling from now on.



Yeah, you definitely don't want to cheap out on the PSU. Antec is getting a bad rep on some of their PSU's as of late. PCP&C or Corsair are the brands I'd choose from at the moment.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 4:39 AM Post #4 of 39
Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I had 2 antec 650 watt powersupplies die in my current machine. Garbage.

Anyway, yes the PSU and RAM are the most likely candidates for failure in my experience. RAM can do some strange things, including not running POST, not turning on at all, etc.

Never again will I get anything cheap. PC Power & Cooling from now on.



X2 for PC and Power Cooling...

Check to see if the PSU is working by shorting the test pins whcih usually turns on the PSU. Look in your PSU manual .
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 4:48 AM Post #5 of 39
About two weeks after building my new PC, it refused to power up properly. Thought it was the PSU (Antec...), sent it in only to find out later that the motherboard was fried. Got a new board, new PSU (corsair), and bought my ass an uninterruptible power supply.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 5:22 AM Post #7 of 39
A troubleshooting step that's been invaluable for me is to short the green wire on the 24-pin connector to a black (ground) wire. If the power supply springs to life, the issue is probably with the motherboard or power switch. Never start a power supply without a load attached though, they aren't designed to be operated as such.

The PSU will only operate while the paperclip is completing the circuit, it should turn off when you remove it.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 6:07 AM Post #8 of 39
Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC /img/forum/go_quote.gif
A troubleshooting step that's been invaluable for me is to short the green wire on the 24-pin connector to a black (ground) wire. If the power supply springs to life, the issue is probably with the motherboard or power switch. Never start a power supply without a load attached though, they aren't designed to be operated as such.

The PSU will only operate while the paperclip is completing the circuit, it should turn off when you remove it.



Very good troubleshooting step; if it doesn't come on, your PSU is definitely not working
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 6:17 AM Post #9 of 39
I will only use a Pc power and cooling in any system I build for myself or a customer.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 6:34 AM Post #10 of 39
Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I had 2 antec 650 watt powersupplies die in my current machine. Garbage.

Anyway, yes the PSU and RAM are the most likely candidates for failure in my experience. RAM can do some strange things, including not running POST, not turning on at all, etc.

Never again will I get anything cheap. PC Power & Cooling from now on.



x2
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 6:55 AM Post #11 of 39
The RAM is top notch. I don't even know where to being to short the green pins of a PSU tho. I suppose a PSU tester does the same thing in a more controlled manner. I have lots of twist ties and pipe cleaners around the house tho. Why does an uninteruptable power supply unit factor into this tho?
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 7:29 AM Post #12 of 39
Any power supply can go down. The only one I've had which put out sparks and a good deal of smoke was a $200 PC P&C Turbo-Cool 510. To their credit, I had a new replacement on my door, the next day. Although I do wonder how their takeover by OCZ might effect such service.

I've yet to have any issues with Corsair or Seasonic supplys, and the are generally very efficient, quiet, and not too bad on price.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 11:28 AM Post #13 of 39
I just recently built a new system. Core i7, Radeon 4870 x2, 150 gig Raptor for boot, 1TB Caviar Black for storage, and 6 fans. Used a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad. Couldn't be happier.

The point here is that I highly reccommend the PC Power & Cooling. Probably one of, if not the most heavy duty PSU I've ever used, which is necessary when building a miniature nuclear reactor.
 
Jan 18, 2009 at 3:03 PM Post #15 of 39
power is power really, you'll always get faulty units. sounds like some people are paying for the label.

send back get another one if the light doesn't come on, if you've checked everything. i'd test it first though.
 

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