Triple Hard drive failure on psu change.

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Mad PacMan

Reputable
May 2, 2014
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Diagnostic: So, I replaced my 750w PSU with a 850w one, so i was able to use the 750w on my backup pc (old parts pc...) The change went fast and easy (done it before) PC started up and i got a hard drive error, so i went in to the bios, and saw both in the boot order and SATA connections screen that NONE of my 2 hard Drives + my SDD where i got windows installed showed up. I checked the (SATA) connections, in case i somehow had pulled them out when i changed the PSU. Everything was fine, i started to fear the worst, that my motherboards SATA connections had failed. I tested again with my old PSU, same results. Removed GPU, all but 1 ram stick, only the SSD. But the red "HARD DRIVE (error)" led was showing on my MotherBoard still. Then i set up my Backup pc, tried the drives there, and nothing again. So it was my Drives that had failed.

TL;DR: My two HDD`s and (one) SSD failed after Power supply change.

Question: If i get new drives, will it be smart to get a new PSU too? Will my (new) 850W PSU kill my new drives also?

Stats:
ASUS RAMPAGE IV BLACK EDITION.
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (x1) (Dead) (5 Months old)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (x1) (Dead) (2 years old)
Plextor SSD PX-128M3P 128GB (1x) (Dead) (5 months old)

*Fixed very important typo
 
Solution
InvalidError
What were the old and new PSUs?

Sounds like your new 850W PSU killed your HDDs and SSDs. If it did, I would not be surprised if other things got damaged too but you just have not found them yet since you cannot boot in the OS to test everything. Since the PC still boots far enough to tell you it cannot find your HDDs, I would guess the zap may have been on the 5V rail which is mostly used by storage devices.
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BPTMatthew

BPTMatthew

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Oct 11, 2013
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It sounds like it is probably your PSU which has killed your drives, it's a very rare occurrence that 3 drives fail simultaneously due to other faults (especially if one of them is a 5 month old SSD).
I would RMA your new PSU and hope that the new one doesn't have the same problems.
 
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dstarr3

Distinguished
Mar 18, 2014
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I wouldn't RMA it, I would more consider exchanging it for one from a different brand. Which PSU did you buy?

There's a lot of ways to cut costs on a computer, but I firmly believe that the PSU is the WORST place to try and save money.
 
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InvalidError

InvalidError

Titan
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May 18, 2007
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What were the old and new PSUs?

Sounds like your new 850W PSU killed your HDDs and SSDs. If it did, I would not be surprised if other things got damaged too but you just have not found them yet since you cannot boot in the OS to test everything. Since the PC still boots far enough to tell you it cannot find your HDDs, I would guess the zap may have been on the 5V rail which is mostly used by storage devices.
 
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Solution
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fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
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36,390
ISTM that there may be something wrong with the wiring, perhaps a miswired modular connector.

Check the voltages at the SATA power connector:

http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml

As for the drives, most are protected from overvoltages by TVS diodes, as already explained. In most cases there is an easy, low cost DIY solution.

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

... and http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ (photo clips)

Upload detailed photos of the component side of each PCB if you need more help.
 
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