HX650W faulty?

[Oobie-]

Hello,
I have reason to believe that the PSU I have is faulty. A few months ago I bought this along with a new gfx card - Nvidia 1GB GAINWARD GTX460 GoldenSample.

When I plugged everything in and powered it on, the card literally exploded. The tiny black rectangular bits (I unfortunately have no idea what the technical term for them are) just infront of the 2 6pin power connectors (not the same card but used for giving a better description) lit up red, crackled and exploded at which point I turned off the power for the power supply. Smoke and the smell of burning ensued.

Originally I thought that this was just a fault with the card and that its highly unlikely that the PSU is faulty but now Im not so sure as I have bought a whole new system and its almost happened again.

System:
Intel Core i5 2500K OEM UNLOCK
Asus P8P67 LE R3 P67 MoBo
1GB Asus GTX 560 Ti DirectCUII
A/Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2
8GB 2x4GB CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

I plugged this all in with the HX650W and it turned on fine but about 30 seconds later at the post screen, I could smell burning which was shortly followed by a fizzling/crackling sound (same as when my gainward card blew up) so I killed the power to the system. I unplugged the card and inspected the same black rectangular bits but they appear to be fine. I powered the system back without the GFX plugged in to which it beeped and there was no burning smell (I left it running for a few mins). I found an old 8800gtx and plugged that in (one 6pin power required) and that turned on without a problem. All fans spin inc the PSU (PSU fan is the loudest out of all them).

Is there anything you can suggest to allow me to test the PSU/modular wires that wont possibly damage any more components? (I already fear that the gfx card is damaged in which case I would have to wait a long time to get it replaced, again)

Thank you

[mike306dt]

I wouldn't imagine that its the psu mate, more than likely is your gfx card having an issue. If the psu powers something else fine ie your 8800 then I don't see how it can be psu related.

[mike306dt]

You are plugging the correct connectors into the graphics card aren't you mate? Have you checked each psu connection is in the appropriate port etc? I'm not calling you stupid but start FTLRFU (from the little rubber feed up!)

[Ed Omega]

That does sound like there is a short in the PSU. I am assuming it is a twin 6 pin graphics connector setup (with maybe one of the 6pins having an attached extra 2 pins for big cards).

If a single 6 pin connector to a card is ok, but 2 6 pin connectors are not, that would point at an issue with the PSU - it is Corsair afterall so no suprise if it goes faulty.

If you have two 6 pins adapters, it sounds like one has worked ok, so the next test would be to run the 8800 off the other 6 pin adaptor (with your finger on the power switch )

This may or may not produce an issue as it might in fact require both 6 pins connectors to be in use to cause the issue as they may be running off the same line internally - but it is a worthwhile test.

The other test you can do is to try a different PSU in their, but obviously not everyone has that grade of PSU lying about spare so might be difficult to achieve without buying another one.

There is alos the possibility that there is a fault on the motherboard via the PCI Express slot giving too much voltage to the card, but that sounds unlikely from your description.

[Oobie-]

Ah, completely forgot about this thread!
I RMA'd the PSU with Scan and they confirmed the PSU was faulty.

I had a replacement sent to me within 7 days from the date of postage. Very speedy and the new one is quiet and works as it should!

One thing which was weird, was that I had no email regarding what I would like to have done (refund/replacement - just an email confirming it had been received and found faulty) like I'm accustomed to but I'm assuming it was under 'warranty replacement', which is just a straight switch if the item is deemed faulty.

Thanks Scan

[mike306dt]

Glad its sorted mate You wouldn't get a choice of refund after that length of time, its only replacement as an option. I'm on my third of these psu's now so know how you feel

[adamj97]

I don't think it'll be the power supply, it might be your graphics card seen as it works with an older one