Page 1 of PC PSU Problem?

Morning,

was on the internet in Mint, and PC switched itself off, as in like there was a power cut, there wasn`t as lights, PC in other room etc still on.

so turned it on again, it booted into mint ok, not long into using it, switched off again.

so tried again, got to OS select menu, switched itself off

wait a bit tried again, it got passed memory check, got to hard drives etc, switched itself off.

So, I thought I`d try a live cd, turned on power button, pressed eject on cd drive, as drive ejected, it powered off :(

So, I`ve unplugged graphics card (Nvidia 8800gts 512), mobo has onboard, monitor is plugged into that, and it has successfully booted into the livecd and I`m running mem check.

It`s probably not memory but I thought, may as well leave it running a while doing something to check.

so, I ran memcheck for 30 mins or so, was ok

booted into mint ok


I switched it off, put 8800 back in, again, it switched off shortly after boot.

so I put 7300gs in, again it switched off shortly after boot, before HD checks, CD checks etc.

PC is again up and running now using the onboard graphics.

So, that looks like PSU could be problem. I`ve got the old PSU that came with PC, but I think that`s only 250watt, but was ok with 7300 a few years ago.

I can probably try 8800gts in Father in law`s PC later today.

Any other suggestions?

thanks
Al

crap, was ok for ages, now switched itself off using onboard, guess I`ll try old PSu with 7300

No expert, but I will say the last time this happened to me it was indeed the PSU. Mine made fizzing noises before switching off too! I did have a similar issue some time later with a graphics card fan failure causing the machine to glitch and power off, but I suspect your issue here is the PSU. I definitely try the older unit though first.

Like I say, I`m no expert Ad. Make of that what you will!

ta, so far so good with 7300 on 250watt psu, I think it will blow if I try 8800 in there ;)

display is a mess, onboard is a 6100, so now I have to get X working as it`s really flickery, so gonna try a livecd to get a good xorg.conf and copy across.

why do I have a feeling by the end of today will I not only have replaced a PSU, but also a graphics card, and done a fresh install of at least 1 OS, potentially 3 ;)

The missus has asked if we should get a new PC, rather than just buy PSU (after I explained what PSU was), hmmn, tempting ;)

Do it! Don`t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity! The missus may never again sanction the right to buy a new PC. :D

When my graphics card fan went, I dunno if you remember (I mentioned it in the Linux thread), but it wasn`t long after I fixed that that I replaced the PSU too. I`d only had the PC about a year, but the PSU that came with the PC was one of those cheapo things that come with the case. I dunno how it lasted that long to be honest. It was only 300w! How these shops sell systems with such underpowered PSU`s and get away with it....

I`ll build my own next time, and I`ve never done that before....

cheers, been happily running for 10 hours now, I`m tempted tomorrow morning to go back to the EZCool PSU and see what happens.

I may order
Corsair 600W CX PSU - 2x PCI-E 6x SATA
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/241000
or
OCZ Stealth Xstream II 600W PSU - 3x SATA 2x PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204353

I think either of those should fit the bill

both are around £55 most places I`ve looked

Quote:
I`ll build my own next time, and I`ve never done that before....
that is ideal in theory, but I kind of like the idea of paying that bit extra for some-one to (hopefully) build, and test properly, so it works when you unpack it.

Build your own there`s that risk, that you assemble and nothing happens, or it just beeps at you, then you have to waste a day working out which bit it is, and hoping it is just that part is DOA, and it`s not some stupid incompatibility between 2 parts.

 Like I`d imagine there`s some ppl who could suddenly get caught out by the recnet Intel problems with their new kit. Sure it won`t effect some ppl, but other could be sat there wondering why their PC won;t work :)

it`s probably best to go for a compromise IMHO if you want to do that, and buy a motherboard bundle, so at least you know the mobo, memory and processor work together, the correct amount of thermal paste etc has been used.

Cheers
Al

This item was edited on Sunday, 13th February 2011, 22:23

Yeah fair points, and I`ll no doubt price up a local guy next time. You`re right. But I was so disappointed that they`d put in such a poor PSU last time. OK it`s not exactly a gaming beast this PC, but it does have a pretty good graphics card, and at least taking that into consideration they ought to have put a better PSU in it than the one I ended up with. It was like 300 or 350w or summat. Little wonder it didn`t give me more bother than it did!

I think most people would go for the Corsair there nowadays, but I bought an OCZ Fatality 550w for about the same price and it`s been fantastic. Had it now about a year, and not a single problem at all. Getting this PSU was the one plus side of the other one going, but like you I was worried that it`d caused some damage and I`d end up replacing PSU and mobo etc. Luckily that wasn`t the case.

I got the Corsair from http://www.cclonline.com  who I`d recommend.

prices v competitive, and next day delivery with www.dpd.co.uk was not much more than bog standard delivery, and for me meant total price was £1 more than nearest physcial shop was selling it for, but that would be a 30 min drive each way!

Also, this morning I had an email from them saying estimated delivery time 1:45 - 2:45, which was good `cos I needed to pop out to shops.

It arrived 14:30ish, and so far so good. glad some little cable ties came with PSU as the cables are very long, with plenty of connections, so had to use them to keep them out of way of fans.

hopefuly I won`t be adding anything more negative to this thread

Cheers

How`s it going so far then? Is it behaving OK for you? :D

yes thanks, no problems so far, has been on all day every day since it was installed.

Missus was off work Friday, so she spent all day playing Dragon Ages so it has been pushed a bit as well.