Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Likelihood of PSU failure?

Tags:
  • Power Supplies
  • USB3
  • AMD
  • Gigabyte
  • Thermaltake
  • Components
  • ASrock
Last response: in Components
Share
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 7:33:36 PM

Greetings to you all. I've got a system that's been causing trouble for some time that I built for a friend. The components are as follows.
AMD FX-4300 FOUR-CORE 3.8GHZ 8MB 95W AM3+CPU
GB GA-78LMT-USB3 760G mATX MB (Board I originally used)
ASRock 970 PRO3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (Board I installed during process of elimination)
Kingston 8GB 1333MHz 9-9-9 DDR3 HyperX Red
WD Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s Int 3.5 HDD
Thermaltake TR2 600W Cable Mangement Power Supply
Cooler Master Elite 431+ Mid Tower USB3.0 & X-Dock

The problem is that whenever something is plugged into one of the USB ports, doesn't matter if you use a 3.0 or a 2.0 port, front or rear, or plug a microphone into the front or rear plug, there is a resulting pop (Static shock) and the system either freezes, reboots or one or more of the installed components stops working and the system has to be rebooted. It doesn't do it every single time. Probably four out of six instances. First I thought it was the front panel that had a problem so we replaced that. The problem was not corrected so we went after the board and replace it. Seemed ok while testing it at my location but after returning to his house it began doing it again after about a day. Thought maybe the memory so we swapped that out and it wasn't the problem either. There are no mounting locations for the board that look problematic, no loose screws under the board or loose connections in the cabling inside the case. All cabling is new. The power strip was replaced with a high end power conditioner and the outlets in the office where the system resides was checked for polarity. That pretty much leaves just the power supply, however, I've never seen a ps cause a similar problem and just wondered if anybody has seen this particular issue or can confirm similar issues with Thermaltake power supplies, power supplies in general or the Thermaltake TR2 600W PS in particular having any common or miscellaneous issues. I couldn't find any common issue threads regarding this PSU so I wanted some input on what the likelihood is that the PS is at fault aside from the obvious reality that it's about the only thing we haven't replaced or swapped out. Thanks.

More about : likelihood psu failure

a c 96 ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 7:48:47 PM

While the TR2 PSU is a horrible PSU, and it's likelihood of failure is high. It could be the problem or it might be something else. Sounds like a grounding problem. Is the wall outlet you are plugging the system into grounded?
m
0
l
a c 2488 ) Power supply
a c 457 À AMD
June 24, 2014 7:53:23 PM

Very very very likely.

Tier 5 - Other than the units listed above for any of these brands, NOT RECOMMENDED. Replace ASAP if you have one.

A-TOP Technology
Apevia
APEX (SUPERCASE/ALLIED)
Aspire(Turbo Case)
ATADC
Athena Power
ATRIX
Broadway Com Corp
Coolmax
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower USA
Dynex
EagleTech
FOXCONN
FSP Everest
HEC Orion
Hiper Type-R
Huntkey
I-Star Computer Co. Ltd
In Win
JPAC COMPUTER
Just PC
Kingwin Inc.
Linkworld Electronics
Logisys Computer
MGE
MSI
NMEDIAPC
Norwood Micro/ CompUSA
NorthQ
NZXT
Okia
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rocketfish
Rosewill
SFC
Shuttle
Skyhawk
Spire Coolers
Star Micro
STARTECH
Thermaltake Purepower NP
Thermaltake Purepower RU
Thermaltake TR2 (and TR2-RX) :( 
TOPOWER TOP
Ultra X-Connect
Ultra X2 >greater than 700 watt
Ultra LSP
Wintech
XION
YoungYear
Zebronics
m
0
l
Related resources
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 7:55:19 PM

when the motherboard was installed did you put any paper or plastic spacer under the screw heads to stop the mb and case from being grounded together. if your using an after market heatsink if it uses a metal back plate is the plate shorting out to the mb or mb tray. on the back of the case is the mb or any of the cards shorting out on the io shield. in his office anyone test the wall outlet for a misswire or no gound wires. a lot of work building when built sometime they cut corners..
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:07:18 PM

Yes, the outlet is grounded and polarity is correct. The outlet was checked with a polarity tester and passed ground and polarity checks.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:12:34 PM

Are you saying that there SHOULD be paper or plastic washers there, or that there shouldn't be? Because there are not any and I've never seen a case or motherboard come with them and have never used them. I've seen pre-built systems that had them but none of the components I've ever bought had them so I've never known it to be an issue on any builds I've ever done. I've never used them and have never had this issue previously. I'm not ruling it out or saying you're wrong, if that's what you're saying, just saying I've not had issues with not using those ever before.

m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:16:42 PM

That's funny shit. Funny thing is I've never had problems with Thermaltake products in the past, but I've never used their power supplies either. Only cases and cooling fans.

m
0
l

Best solution

a c 2488 ) Power supply
a c 457 À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:17:47 PM

Cases and fans are great majority of supplies are better used for paperweights.
Share
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:19:14 PM

I'll consider myself informed for future reference. Thanks.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:40:26 PM

So, what are some recommendations for a good power supply in the 6-700W range in the 50-100 dollar category?
m
0
l
a c 2488 ) Power supply
a c 457 À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:43:57 PM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available


or


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $89.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available


or


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
m
0
l
a c 96 ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:44:08 PM
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:53:14 PM

Thanks. I'm sure any one of those has to be better than the Thermaltake that's in there currently. Any preference on modular vs non-modular. I've yet to use a modular supply and have heard that in some cases they are not a good choice.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:55:48 PM

BTW, glad I stopped in and joined. I've been reading articles and catching the occasional thread that was related to something I was investigating for years but never bothered to sign up here but I'll probably hang around a while.
m
0
l
a c 2488 ) Power supply
a c 457 À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:56:25 PM

Glad to have you aboard!!!!!!!!!!
m
0
l
a c 96 ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 8:57:23 PM

I prefer modular. I can use only the cables I need which makes cable management much easier.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 9:02:34 PM

Didn't hear anything back from "Smorizio" about the washers. You guys have any input on this? You use washers between the screw heads and the board? I'd think if it was necessary the board manufacturer would supply them along with the screws and include a note to use them.
m
0
l
a c 96 ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 9:24:47 PM

I don't use them.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 24, 2014 9:34:56 PM

Yeah, I didn't think after twenty years plus of doing this I was going to suddenly discover I was missing something. Thanks.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 25, 2014 12:45:03 AM

some older mb and case used to ship paper spacers. the standoff are made to ground the mb and case together so you dont get electrical signals through the mb.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
June 25, 2014 6:06:31 AM

I remember those but I haven't seen any of those used in a long time. Like since the pre-1000mhz days. And for certain I didn't use any of them so that's another thing I can eliminate. Kinda figured those standoffs are what you were talking about. I don't even think you could use those nowadays and not have issues with height on the I/O shield. Guess that's what you were asking. Anyhow none of those issues apply. Thanks though. I've pretty much decided it's got to be grounding issue with the PS so I'm just going to replace it. Especially since it's on the "replace immediately" list of PSU tiers.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b À AMD
July 20, 2014 5:20:54 PM

Well, I know it's been a while since I made this, my first post here, but I wanted to revisit it and confirm that the psu was the issue and that I replaced it with a Seasonic M12II and also purchased a S12II for myself. All problems are gone and in the future it's going to be highly rated Seasonic PSU's only.
m
0
l
!