PC takes 15-20 minutes to POWER ON after pressing the button...!

[mamboboy]

I don't mean boot up to windows. I mean, 15 minutes for it to actually come to life....

My PC is probably around 5-6 months old now (self-built).

It's been fine, but ever since I had it, it took a few seconds to actually power on after pressing the button. But now over the past 2 weeks it's gone to a whole other level...we're talking 15 minutes!

I can 'cheat' by adjusting the power cable at the back (pulling it 80% out) and that seems to initialize it.
It's a 700w PSU, although it is a cheap ~£20 budget one. Another problem is when I shut down the PC, the monitor goes off, etc but the PC still keeps humming away...

Any idea what would be causing this? Once its powered up it STAYS powered up until I shut it down. One thing that leads me to believe it's the PSU, is fullscreen video freezes for a couple of seconds every 5 minutes or so...which is what happened when my last PSU was on it's way out.

Is there any way to test? Why on earth would it spark to life when the power cable is fiddled with?

[Terbinator]

Seriosuly, you could do with taking the PSU out now and saving your components and buyin a new PSU from a decent company like Corsair etc.

[aidanjt]

Your PSU is the hand grenade, and your PC is the poor bastard who's dived on it. Get rid of the hand grenade before your PC's guts get blown to pieces.

[peterb]

PSU would be my first thought... but just to clarify

If you switch off at the wall and then power up (without fiddling with the plug at the back of the unit) does that fix the problem?

When you press the power button, do the fans spin up?

With the unit powered down, psu connected, is there an led illuminated on the mobo (indicates if standby power is available. If it is off, does that come on when the power button is pressed? Does it come on if youdo the fiddle trick with the plug at the back? (a word of caustion, not all mobos have that LED)

Basically, the PSUI is soft started using a constantly available stanby supply (also operates (wake on lan functions if enabled) generated internally by the PSU. If that isn't available, then the psu can't start itself.

The fact that it doesn't shut down cleanly could be related - it is hard to tell, but given that it is a cheap PSU (by your own definition) does point the finger at that component. Cheap PSUs are a false economy, especially high power ones which are likley to be powering a high end machine with expensive components!

[mamboboy]

I'll try those things now PeterB, cheers! What do you mean by 'switch the power off at the wall and then power up' - surely that's impossible?
When I press the power button, nothing at all happens...it's just dead. It's almost like I'm hot-wiring a car when I have to fiddle with the back cable! I'll go digging around now to see if I can find a spare...perhaps it's just the cable?

Oh and another thing I find weird is once the PC boots up - it's totally fine. I'm into my 4th day without powering down now and there's been no crashes, etc.

Could you guys recommend a PSU? I never learn actually - I've probably gone through 4 cheap ones which last no more than a year...out of that cash I probably could have bought an amazing £100 one!

[mamboboy]

Right just tested with two others power cables. Exact same problem! Also the MB has a light, but it's not on when the power cable is in nor when I press the power button.
Does anyone know why it would take 15-20 minutes to 'decide' to turn on? doesn't make much sense to me...

I'm trying to hold out for a nice case + psu bundle on Scan. But what do you guys make of this one. I'm not to keen on going over £50 for a PSU you see

[greenpanda]

depending on your setup i would probably go with a known brand, really need 700 watt?

[mamboboy]

depending on your setup i would probably go with a known brand, really need 700 watt?

Not sure to be honest...

MSI 945G Neo Platinum Motherboard
Geforce 9600GT Graphics
Asus Xonar DX2 PCI-E sound card
Intel Dual Core E5200 CPU
2GB OCZ Memory

Would this one be sufficient? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861

[pipTheGeek]

I am currently running an overclocked core i7 (3.6ghz) 6gb ram, ASUS mobo whose name I can't remember, a 70GB raptor and 2 other HDD's, and a 9800GT (Factory OCed), all on a 500w supply. During CPU stress test it draws about 300 watts from the wall. While playing COD4 it is about 260 watts. This puts it nicely in the efficiency sweet spot of about 50% load. So as has already been asked, do you really need 700 watts. Or would one of these I personally like Corsair, but I am sure there will be other cheaper but good PSU's. here has pretty decent reviews although they tend to do the high power supplies. You can also check out http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/page/power .

[greenpanda]

to be honest 400 watts will do the trick adequately.

how about one of these - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152505

[peterb]

Sorry, I meant switch off at the wall, then switch on again and power up - it was to see if it was the fiddling or the disconnecting that made a difference, but you have eliminated that!

As the others have said, it looks like the PSU, and while £50 may seem a lot for a PSU, it is the heart of the computer and worth spending some money on a good branded one. Seasonic, FSP and Corsair are all good makes - but they are going to cost between £45 and £60. How much is peace of mind worth?

I should add that there are other possible causes, which involve the motherboard, so there is a risk that replacing the PSU may not fix the problem, but on the balance of probabilities, I still think the PSU is the most likely reason.

[mamboboy]

Cheers for the advice guys! I actually had an argument with a friend a few months back on how a well made/good branded 400w PSU will outperform a value 700w one. At the time I was finding components for a system he was building and he claimed the PSU wouldn't power GPU and wouldn't listen...

So I guess I was right! I'll probably splash out on this one tomorrow: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861...roduct_reviews

Seems decent and comes with warranty

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A 450w PSU should be more than enough for your system!

This 450w modular PSU should do the job:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152606

It also comes with a 7 year warranty.

[Zhaoman]

yeah go with cat-the-fifth, it's a psu that i'm sure everyone here can trust and it's modular which means a lot less clutter in ur case. the 600w one you have chosen would fill ur case to the brim with cables.

[Zhaoman]

one more thing: your pc will not draw anywhere near 200w. in fact i doubt it even hits 150w on max load. both your cpu and gpu are nice and power frugal.

[Blitzen]

A 450w PSU should be more than enough for your system!

This 450w modular PSU should do the job:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152606

It also comes with a 7 year warranty.

Thats a very average unit for that kind of price. £55 is way too steep.

For that rig, the OCZ Stealthstream for £35 is an absolute steal.