Power supply question

[Fatality2]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052

I have this psu linked above and i was wondering if it can actually run my rig? Its a decent psu but the 12 volt rails are very low? It seems that it runs kinda hot and gives off a wierd smell

Intel e6750
3gb Patriot ddr2 800
VisionTek Hd 3870
80gb Hdd

 

[jbj190]

Well, it's a clunker. I'd get a better one such as Antec Earthwatts 430W, Corsair 450W, or an equivalent Seasonic pretty soon because clunky PSUs don't like to be pushed.

 

[chookman]

By the specs it should be ok... but you have me worried that its hot and smells funny... When you buy it?

 

[Fatality2]

i got it about a month ago

The smell kinda smells like it did when it was new and yesterday it got hot enought where i could feel the heat through my case where the psu is

 

[Fatality2]

on the site its says the fan will go up when the load goes up but it dosent sound like it gets any louder and i dont know how i could measure it

 

[soloman02]

Does it smell really nasty? like burning rubber? If so,then the capacitors are dying, and you need a new psu before the caps blow, and possibly take out other components, or they die without taking anything out. Either way, get a new psu.

 

[aevm]

Contact their Support. That behavior is not normal, especially the smell.

 

[nukemaster]

Your computer case is a great conductor of heat...so it can get warm where the psu is(all cases i have had get warm in the summer....near the cpu and psu. Well not the 900, but its a different design....and my case with an earth watts in it stays cool too....but thats because its a high efficiency psu..and only loaded to about 120 watts.).....

Your system should not overload it.....

But it it smells weird....thats not good....psu's do smell "new" but that wares off quick with use....

 

[Fatality2]

it smells like..... lemme see possibly heated plastic its not like i can smell it in the air i have to get pretty close to it

 

[Fatality2]

i dont think it cant support my system because i havent had any crashes oranything like that very stable.

Im just worried about the hot plastic like smell my last psu that was 400 watts diddnt give a smell like that but it was also older and not near as much power

 

[bobwya]

Mr Fatality2

I remember one of the first PC's I built for a disabled guy I was working for. It had one of those naff cases which came with some s***ty PSU. The rig was just a bog standard AMD Athlon XP thing. One day the PSU blew and took out one of the RAM modules...

I am so parnoid about PSUs after that earlier experience that I invested in a PC Power & Cooling 850Watt PSU for my current dual-Opteron rig (it can cope with a 10% brown out)!!

Quoting from Newegg:
"When I powered up for the first time everything was operating normally. I did however notice a distinct odor of hot electronics. Thinking it would probably subside, I continued on. The voltages while in tolerance were all on the low side esp. 5v. After about 5 hours the computer shut off never to restart. The power supply had blown. I replaced it with a spare that I had and everything returned to normal confirming the power supply failure. I am returning it for a replacement, hoping that it was bad luck. If I do have another failure, I think I will look for another brand."

A good supply doesn't still 'smell' after one month because basically that means the efficiency is too low or it is overloaded (or both of course) leading to excessive heat build-up. If you think you can afford to fry that Core Duo, RAM and 3870 then continue on with your "experiment"!!

Bob