Possible Dodgy PSU?

[BEANFro Elite]

I left my PC in good working order on Saturday night for my Girlfriend's house, I typicially leave my PC on as I like to download TV shows etc.

There were no problems with my PC what so ever.

I returned on Sunday night to find that my PC after between 10 and 35 seconds, shuts down.

I've looked up the problem on google extensively and have found a common theme being a dodgy PSU.


However, I have not completely disconnected every plug and reconected them, Ive only disconnected the PSU.

But I imagine its the PSU.

I've left is in the BIOS and have seen that temperature is at 21c so I know its not a temperature issue.

I'd like to hear some more ideas please as I'm VERY worried about spending christmas with my PC


It usually doesn't stay on long enough for me to access the BIOS, but if I leave it for about 10 minutes then it stays on for about 30 seconds.

[BEANFro Elite]

Well, I've identified the PSU as the source of the problem as my PC has managed to boot into Windows for about 11 seconds, so no hardware seems to be at fault.

I've dissmantled the entire PC and am going to give everything a dusting.

I'll then hook up just the essential parts of the PC to see what happens.

[BEANFro Elite]

So it turns out, the motherboard was shorting out on the mounting plate, but I inadvertantly broke the CPU...

Hope y'all enjoyed this little story of mine

I like solving my own problems (and creating new ones in the process...sigh)

[excalibur2]

....and another Frank Spencer story..........:-)

[BEANFro Elite]

New update and interesting "discovery" concerning fellow Antec PSU owners.

It turns out it IS a dodgy PSU.

I was trawling the Internet in search of what could be the problem and I discovered this...

http://www.pjrc.com/about/rambling/antec.html

I found this downright useful and a relief, I'm not even going to bother RMA'ing my PSU, I love Antec but I believe it is time we saw other people

Also, I'm getting this PSU for temporary purposes.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=141418

I know its cheap, but I'm a student and money is low at this time but in the mean time I will be researching candidates for a permanent solution

[Clunk]

Seriously, dont get the EZ cool, there is an fsp for about 6 quid more that will run your setup fine. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=468726

[CrazyMonkey]

So is it ok to buy an Antec NEO HE 550W? Or will this PSU have the same problem?

[BEANFro Elite]

Oh cool, thanks dude. Yar I'll get that tomorrow

As the author of the site says, I posted that link as a warning to anny would be antec customers as I said, I'm not angered by Antec at all, but I'm glad I know what the problem is.

He also says the problem may have been resolved by now, but I say, buy from Antec with his discovery in mind.

I'd like to point out, my PC was subject to heavy use and was on 24 hours a day for about 5 days a week.

My Antec psu worked well when it did.

It's probably because of my harsh ways it died so suddenly but I have no regrets, our time was lovely and it shall be remembered as Hell's finest [ evilface ]

[CrazyMonkey]

Youve scared me Corsair it is ill see how much the Antec goes for anymore than £40 and ill pull out.

Good find btw.

Is the problem only with Asus boards? As i will be buying an Abit.

[BEANFro Elite]

The Asus motherboards have a seperate 5 volt plug on the to supply the cpu directly.

I previously had an Asus A7N8X-E deluxe, I then upgraded to an Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe.

The problem as highlighted is that ddue to cheap capacitors on some of the PSUs, the power output starts to fall to levels well below specification.

1 volt although small sounding, can cause hideous amounts of system instability as the supply to the cpu is chaning so rapidly you get crashes like I am experiencing.

Its not a problem with Asus, its a problem with Antec.

I'd like to point out that The Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe has the socket for the 5 volt rail, as well as a 24 terminal if your PSU doesn't have a 5 volt rail for the motherboard.

Also, read the feedback on the site and I hope you notice a pattern, I did and I wish I found the page earlier but ah well, I'm poorer but wiser.