PSU problem...or something else?

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a4092940

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Aug 22, 2007
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Hi everybody, I hope some of you can help me with my situation. There's a lot of good knowledge and help on these forums and I would appreciate your time.

I have just completed a new build a couple of weeks ago consisting of the following...

Case - Antec 900
PSU - Q tec 500W (from my old PC - see http://www.qtec.info/products/product.htm?artnr=13981)
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
CPU - Intel E6750
RAM - 2x1GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 at 1,033Mhz
Graphics - EVGA stock 8800GTS (320MB)
Hard Drives - 250 and 500GB Seagate Barracudas
Optical Drivers - Pioneer DVR 112

The build was fine and my computer ran perfectly. Today I took out the PSU to tidy up the wiring, and upon completion of this after plugging everything back in, I turned on the power and nothing happened except a small fizzling sound from the PSU. This sound didn't happen again unless I pulled the power cable out of the PSU and then put in back in and tried to boot.

I attempted to take out the power cables from unneccessary peripherals (to check if the wattage draw was larger than the output of the PSU), checking the internals of the PSU for any burning smells or visible damage (after taking out some of the standing voltage by placing a screwdriver each of the plug pins), and trying to just turn on the PSU with no cable attached to my computer to see if it would start and the fan would turn.

I have no idea why all of a sudden it is not working. I'm also quite worried that maybe something has happened in relation to a power surge and damaging my new components. Has anybody come across this problem before, or got any ideas as to what else I could try?

Thanks,
Mike
 
altazi

altazi

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Jan 23, 2007
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Hi a4092940,

Not sure what you meant by "after taking out some of the standing voltage by placing a screwdriver each of the plug pins", but if you mean you shorted the AC plug blades, that will NOT discharge the primary high-voltage capacitors! At the very least, they would be isolated by diodes. Unless you are experienced in high-voltage power supply circuits, please stay out of this stuff. There are lethal voltages present.

Do you have another PSU you can try?

Regards,

Altazi
 
dragonsprayer

dragonsprayer

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Jan 3, 2007
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fizzeling sound? its nornal for an unswitch psu to make a sound like that - and there is nothing wrong with it.

you could need a bios upgrade or bad componet or many other issues that woud cause nothing to happen.

remove each part and replace


good reason to prebuild on the desk top!
 
A

a4092940

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Aug 22, 2007
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Thanks for the replies :)

@Altazi...
I understand Altazi's worries in relation to power supplies and ridiculously high voltages! I was very careful to only look inside the PSU for damage, and not actually touch anything. I always used an insulated piece of equipment of something unable to conduct, but it's definately not something I'll make a habit of in the future

The only PSUs I have around me at the moment are two 400W ones but I don't think 400W would be sufficient to manage my system mentioned in the first post. I'll spend some time today checking the components and making sure everything's' fine to narrow it down to being a faulty PSU. However....I still can't understand why everything worked perfectly, and then after a bit of cable organising didn't seem to function. Even a prebuild on the desktop wouldn't have been able to find this...unless following my problematic cable rearrangement I have overloaded one of the PSU branches? If this were to be the case then would I experience the problems that I'm having now? I'll try some rearrangement today and see if it helps.

@dragonsprayer...
The fizzling sound I refer to is also not due to inserting the female three pin cable into the PSU and doing it incorrectly by moving it side to side, but the noise emitted from the PSU following the first time that you switch on the front panel power button following insertion of said lead. It only happens once, and will not occur again unless I unplug and then replug the said cable back in.

Maybe this is normal, and just a symptom of not being able to power up the MoBo? If I was to look into getting a larger power supply, then does anyone know any outstanding products? Ideally it would be silent, modular, have neat cables, and have enough overhead to handle a quad core and SLI in the future. If I'm going to spend more money then getting something that will last a while is top priority.

Thanks again for all your help.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received!
 
A

a4092940

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Aug 22, 2007
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Oh yeah..strange of me to have missed that out. I've got a stock 8800GTS (320MB), which I know is beefy with power requirements but nowhere near a GTX etc.

I managed to try one of the 400W PSUs and just plugged it into my mobo and 4 pin CPU socket. The PSU started up fine, my fans came on, and then I resetted my PC to minimise the chances of something going wrong. Seeing as this is the case and my old PSU now doesn't even start up, I guess I'd be right in thinking that I need to get a new PSU above 500W.

As this is the case (and please tell me if you can think of anything else) then do you have any recommendations also based upon my previous post?

Loads of thanks,
Mike
 
A

a4092940

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Aug 22, 2007
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I would RMA the PSU, but the problem is that it's not new because it's the one I used in my previous system build quite a while ago (as stated in first post). If it was brand new then believe me when I say that it would be straight on its way back for a replacement!

As for recommendations, I see the two that you've mentionned above...but I think that they're quite pricey for only 520 and 620W when I can get something else for not much more cash which may last longer. I've hear good things about the Antec Quattro 850W and so this is the most likely one for me to get ( http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Antec_850w_Quattro/index.shtml ). Any opinions??
 
A

a4092940

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Aug 22, 2007
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Hmmm....due to the availability and pricing, this one has come up trumps. There's the 700W version which I know is ample for my needs, and then there's also the 850W version which should last me for a huge amount longer.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?type=3&id=134&page=1&desc=ocz_gamexstream_850w_atx_psu

They would appear to be pretty quiet, have a blue light to go with my Antec900 case, and also look rather sleek. I've done a fair amount of reading but someone's always got horror stories...again, what do you reckon? ;)

cheers
 
N

nikao_k10

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Sep 10, 2007
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Hi a4092940,

I have 2 OCZ PSU's, one 520W Modstream and a 600W GameXstream and they both have the same problem that you are having. It makes some fizzling sound too. Some PSU's (like OCZ) have some auto shut off feature which doesn't turn on after you put it back in.

The trick to this is to turn and flick the PSU switch in the back to the "OFF" position. After you do that, have one hand on your desktop power button and the other hand on the switch "ON" PSU in the back. Press the "POWER" button on your desktop and hold it. While holding down the power button, flick the switch on the PSU to "ON" and it should do a reset boot. I have that problem all the time when we have power spikes.

Anyways, hope this helps you for now. Good luck.
 
Granite3

Granite3

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Aug 17, 2006
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Keep your 400 watt psu's and add a Thermaltake Power Express psu in a 5.25 drive bay for $45 bucks.

Been running my 8800 GTX at ultra speeds for over 6 months, a great little 250 watt gpu psu.
 
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