Possible blown PSU?

[NickN]

Hi

I just received some new hardware today to build a new PC

I have;

E6600 2.4 core duo
2gb 533 DDRII SDRAM
MSI P965 Mobo
MSI Geforec 7900GT
Jeantech 350W PSU

Plugged in CPU and mem, powered on, CPU fan didnt come on. Plugged in Geforce card, put a PCI-E power cable into it, then powered on, and whole system came on fine, slight burning smell, figured it might be a coating wearing in

Added 2 HDD's (1 SATA, 1 IDE) and a DVD+-RAM drive, machine booted, and XP install started

Left the room, and came back to a fairly strong burning smell, PC shut down

Couldnt really find a source for the smell, but didnt check the PSU

Waited for a while, powered on, everything comes on briefly, then off, and keeps repeating. On, off, on off

Turned everything off, left it to cool down, came back and got the same. Unplugged the 2 HDDs and the SATA HDD, everything then powered on, but I get no display from the graphics card

And thats where I'm at, everything now seems to power on, but no display, doesnt matter if I try a new graphics card either

So, do you think my PSU is broke? 350W in hindsight doesnt seem enough maybe?

I'm going back to the shop soon to see if they'll exchange it for a 500W, but I was hoping someone could advise on what the problem might be

Thanks
Nick

 

[mike99]

That PSU is a bit on the low side for that spec. You have let the magic smoke out. Computers do not work if the magic smoke escapes. You should get a GOOD 500W PSU

 

[Doughbuy]

Uh... no name brand with a weak sauce wattage rating, I hope you didn't fry your video card because what your describing to me is a PSU that defintily can't handle your system...

Get the 500W PSU, make sure its from a decent brand (Tier 1: Seasonic, Fortran, OCZ, Corsair, TT, Enermax, PC P&C, Antec) and hope everything still works...

Never overlook the PSU...

 

[horstmann]

I would definately get one similar to this one. Like doughboy said, hopefully your video card is okay. I had a shitty power supply take out my video card and network card.

Antec power supply

 

[NickN]

Hi There,

Thanks for the responses

I just back with a 500W (same brand unfortuantely, thats all I could get)

The system now powers up fine....with a PCI card

As you suspected, I can't get it working with the 7900GT

The power supply said it had a 6 pin PCI-e power adapter, but it doesn't. The motherboard has a slot next to the PCI-e slot which it says is used to power PCI-e cards, and when I put a standard power connector in there, the cards fan comes on, but I get no display

Does this sound right? should the card work with an on-board power source, rather than a power connector into its own power adapter?

If the card is hosed, because its new I'm certain I can get it swapped as "DOA"

Thanks for any further advice on what I might try to get the card working....

Nick

 

[Doughbuy]

Not sure if you actually plug the power into the mobo it can provide enough power to the GPU... I would find a PCI-E to molex adapter (I'm sure there are ones around) and try that first. If that doesn't work, then RMA it.

 

[NickN]

Thats a coincidence, I was just going through the cables that came with the stuff today to put the GFX card back in its box when I found a standard power to PCI-e adapter

Plugged it in, and its working !

I'm so happy, thanks for all the help. What a relief !!!!

 

[Doughbuy]

Yeah, most graphics cards also come with an adapter... nice to hear everythings working. Always good to get a load off your chest.