PSU died after OC'ing CPU??

[tecmo34]

Last night I was trying to overclock my Q6600 to 3.0, since I found a forum page on MSI ( http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=f631b8c159c55d9d17c50b39200b03c7&topic=119464.msg902180#msg902180 ) where someone showed what they had their settings at. I matched the settings except started at 1333 for 3.0. PC boot up just fine, which all my other previous attempts have failed. It looked good to start but when I went to run Prime95, it started and last for 5 to 10 seconds than my whole PC shutdown. Now my system won't even kick over... HELP!!!

I've tried the paperclip in the 24-pin connector to see if that makes it power on but all I get is a flash than nothing. Does it sound like my PSU died or much worse??? When the PSU is plugged in, I do get the little red light on my motherboard but nothing happens when I turn the bottom on. I would figure if the motherboard was bad, I still would have the fans on the case kick on but they don't. I'm leaning heavily towards the PSU but could the motherboard have fried and taken the PSU with it? All the vottage changes were within the safe limits in my BIOS, so I won't think that was the issue. Another step I might try is see if I can get the computer to at least boot with my daughter's 350W PSU, but of couse I'll have to take the 9800GTX's out and put in the 7600GT to see if the computer will start up or can I just connect the 4/8pin connector and 24-pin connector and hit start and see if I get beeps and the CPU fans kicks on than power it down, which to me would say the board is okay??

My PSU is a ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ900-V2 900W ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814007 ), which I though is powerful enough for all of my components. If my PSU is dead... what do you recommend me getting to replace it? It is under warranty still but I don't know if I want to risk putting it back in my computer again when (or if even) replaced by Tagan. I thought 900W was high enough but was my +12V rails too low, which cause it to die. I looked on Cosair's webpage and they recommend their 850W PSU but if 900 died, will 850W die too?

Thanks for your feedback!!

 

[slopez]

Out of interest have you tried to reset the BIOS (via the on board jumpers)? Just, that if you are still trying to boot with non standard CPU parameters it could cause a power up issue!

Also an 850w or 900w PSU is more than ample for what you have it seems, unless of course your case is rammed with 25 HDs

 

[tecmo34]

So that could cause nothing to power up?... Hmmm didn't realize that but will try that as well. Previously on bad OC's the screen would just stay black but the power would be on.

I have a BIOS reset button on the back panel, will that work or do I need to do it by the board jumpers?

Thanks for your input...

 

[slopez]

Well in truth all manner of things can go wrong! Did you gradually increase your OC settings till you reached the 3.0 value you were after, or just slam it in at a high value? Few overclockers out there will disagree that what is good for one person may not be for another! Bottom line as I see it, to give yourself some sort of a fighting chance is to reset everything you can to defaults (BIOS and I would use the jumpers), remove ALL unnecessary components and start again. If this still fails and you have a spare PSU, there is no reason not to try this also.

 

[tecmo34]

I pretty much slammed into high. I've always heard the Q6600 can go to 3.0 on stock settings, so I tried that first than adjust my vot. when that didn't work. I do have my daughter's computer I could use to test to see if the computer will start with another PSU. I'm getting a PSU tester today from Microcenter to see if the PSU is truly bad. I've also read that if the CPU goes out nothing will power up either. Again, I would think that the case fans would come on even if the CPU was bad, as with the motherboard.

 

[Kill@dor]

This is another case of...if you are going to overclock, you need to make sure the power is not too low, and not too high either!! Not to necessarily say you're PSU wasn't a good choice, but it was a faulty product that was deactivated for that reason. Stay with reliable PSU makers...and unless you are using 2 graphics cards in crossfire/sli...dont bother going over 700W. Also, i'm positive its your PSU because the fans would still turn on if the PSU was still working. I had the same problem too, it SUX

Even so, you want to try turning it on by what slopez suggested!! Isolate the true culprit before you go out and buy the wrong thing...

 

[slopez]

Humm, I always used to think Tagan were reliable PSU maker, that said I had a whole batch of Tagans that refused to even power up on supermicro boards! Enough said!

 

[tecmo34]

I was under the same assumption that Tagan was a good PSU maker myself. At the time it was the best deal for the price, which is why I chose it over Corsair and others.

Kill@dor... Where did you review it was a faulty product, which is why it was deactivated? Trust me I believe you but in the future it might help me search for an acceptable power supply review / feedback.

I'm looking at purchasing the Corsair CMPSU-850TX Watt ATX 12V Power Supply ( http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0306530 ) to replace it. It looks like it gets great reviews on Newegg and is at my local Microcenter, so I can pick up today and hopefully be up and running later tonight. I know I can get it cheaper at Newegg, so I'll have to way the decision over price versus right now!!

I'm RMA the ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ900-V2 900W back to Tagan for a replacment. It will at least give me a secondary back-up in emergencies I guess. It is under warranty so no reason not to send it back.

 

[slopez]

Actually, I found this site which gave some fairly sturdy reviews which you should check out

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/page/power

 

[jsc]

Probably a coincidence that your PSU died while start overclocking. At 3.0 GHz., if you did not raise the CPU voltage much, your CPU current did not increase. My Q6600 running at 3.6 GHz at vcore of 1.42 volts pulls 9.5 amps (up from about 8 amps at stock) as measured with a calibrated clampon amp probe.

"When the PSU is plugged in, I do get the little red light on my motherboard ..."

Doesn't mean much. Each PSU really has two sections inside: a main power section that powers the whole computer and a small (10 watts or so), always on, 5 volt power supply called the standby power supply. The standby ps powers the motherboard LED.

I have one of those power supply testers that you were talking about getting. Very handy. Butit tests the PSU under only a minimal load.

 

[tecmo34]

The WORSE has happened... my CPU and motherboard were taken down when the PSU died. I got the new PSU and tried to start up and than I got a nice little puff of smoke for the CPU area and now all is dead!! I guess that is what I get for trying to take the easy route with OCing by what someone else had setup. I should've known that every CPU and motherboard are different and the fact I couldn't get my CPU to OC on stock vottages over 2.7. I learned my lesson the hard and expensive way!!

I've post another thread looking for upgrade options if you want to add you input... http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261166-28-q6600-died-recommended-upgrade

Thanks!!