Zapped?

[mediaboy]

I was downloading some stuff on my new (under month old) computer last night when it cut its own power.

Its not come on since... and, to be honest, I'm wondering what is actually causing the problem.


I've tried flipping over swithces (from an older computer) to see if it's just my switch playing up (I thought it unlikely, but it was a hopeful shot) but no effect.
My PSU brings its fans up to speed when I jump it's circuits (with a paperclip...) but I've not tried putting it in a different computer yet... worth trying it?


In case your wondering, my PC looks something like this:

AMD 5000+ BE (was OCed, at stock voltage, at time of cut, but was 48-hours stable at full load)
2x1GB Cosair Twinz DDR2 6400 RAM (4-4-4-12 timings)
250GB SATA 2 WD Hard Drive
Vista Home Premium
AX78 Motherboard
550W PSU (can't remember make offhand... will try to find the invoice from Tekheads to get exact model.)


Apart from PSU/CPU it was all brought from Scan, and the PSU and CPU were from Tekheads.

Help me someone

[peterb]

Certainly worth trying, but it does look like something more serious.

As you p5robably know, the PSU is soft started by the switch on the front panel, and it appears to start OK when you bypass that - and changing the switch has made no difference. It is possible that one of the outputs of the PSU has failed - otherwise it is probably a component on the mobo.

[mediaboy]

I'm trying to find my voltmeter... it'll tell me how much voltage I've actually got going through my PSU and into my mobo.....

I'll go dig out one or two of my computers to try PSU in other comps..



I do actualy get a flash of life (literally.. a flash, as AX78 has something that allows you to see when power is in the computer, which happens once, when I start my PSU (from the switch on it) then softstart.. It then fails to work.


I will post results of my PSU switch after I've finished it...

[Blitzen]

If you dont even know the make of the PSU then its almost certainly a cack one.

Forget the volts or what it 'claims' to do. Alot of 'el cheapo' PSUs claim to do allsorts without ever having the slightest hope of hit their specifications.

Look there first.

[mediaboy]

hehe..

I don't remember things like make of stuff.. it is however a "el cheapo" PSU.

550W CoolIts I believe (having just found invoice or something) It's something like coolits.. cool something.

Look it up and you might be lucky enough to find it!

Still got to swap it over to a diff comp though!

[staffsMike]

ColorsIT perhaps?

[this_is_gav]

Sticking a potentially broken PSU in another PC, known to work fully, would be nothing but foolhardy.

Test the motherboard, CPU, RAM etc with that other PSU by all means, but don't test the questionable PSU out on working kit or you may well end up buying 2 new PCs rather than the 1 that it sounds like.

Volts and watts mean next to nothing in PSUs. It's all about quality of delivery and whether it can sustain that under high load.

I can tell you with some certainty that either the PSU is broken or at least 1 of the motherboard, CPU, RAM or video card is dead, but testing them out with another PSU before you fork out for a new set of components would be the ideal scenario.

Don't skimp on PSUs, because it's not a question of if.

[peterb]

Ypu can test the PSU with a voltmeter - so far, but it will only tell you the no load voltages - so if a rail has died permanently, you will find that out. However if the voltage is present, it doesn't confirm that the PSU will supply that voltage under load. And a dummy load is expensive! (Don't be temmpted to buy one of those cheap "PSU testers" - they are useless)

The other way is to use the system as the load, but you will probably have to remove it from the case to get access to the back of the mobo connectors. You can then monitor what (if any) voltages you are getting with the load supplied.

Trying the PSU in another PC is unlikely to cause damage if it isn't supplying an output on one rail, but a better route (as this_is_gav says) would be to use a known good supply to power up your existing board.

You can take a (small) risk and just power it up as is, but there is a ? over the board, because existing PSU powers up by direct connection, the safest way is to take out everything except the CPU and see if that powers up. (You will get lots of beeps as there isn't any memory installed)

I it does, you can build the system up again step by step, adding one componenent art a time until the system is back up and working. Time consuming but the safest way and will confirm (or not) if the board and all the other components are OK.

[Thorsson]

Sounds like the mobo may be shorting. Take it outside the case and on a cardboard box (to prevent static) with minimal components (CPU with HSF, 1 stick RAM) and see whether it boots.

If it does, then before you put it back in, check that there are no loose bits of metal (like screws) inside the case. Check the standoffs are OK and check underneath the motherboard to make sure that nothing metal will be touching the motherboard except the standoffs on the reinforced fitting holes.

Then start adding compnents back in, 2nd stick of RAM, GFX, Drives, checking that the system boots.

If it doesn't boot outside the case RMA the PSU and get a better one next time.

[Dreaming]

Sticking a potentially broken PSU in another PC, known to work fully, would be nothing but foolhardy.

Test the motherboard, CPU, RAM etc with that other PSU by all means, but don't test the questionable PSU out on working kit or you may well end up buying 2 new PCs rather than the 1 that it sounds like.

Volts and watts mean next to nothing in PSUs. It's all about quality of delivery and whether it can sustain that under high load.

I can tell you with some certainty that either the PSU is broken or at least 1 of the motherboard, CPU, RAM or video card is dead, but testing them out with another PSU before you fork out for a new set of components would be the ideal scenario.

Don't skimp on PSUs, because it's not a question of if.

I can attest to this since a £30 EZcool PSU (700w, apparently) cost me around £400 in broken components. The PSU even still 'works', just the power it gives out is so horribly dirty it kills components fairly quickly (voltage regulation is extremely extremely poor, over or undervolting practically everything, it gets worse the more you plug in! - I didn't know this until an electronics degree friend pointed out I was a noob for buying an EZcool PSU and we did some tests, the results were horrific)