New Build (Possible) PSU Issue?

[morellomre]

Just completed my first build this weekend. I got over 1st time jitters and didnt hit any real snags during assembly. Boot up and OS install went fine. Was able to put in my first long session (4 hours) with the build yesterday and didnt run into any problems. I left it on over night for the first time and when i woke up it was off. When i came home i powered up to check out what was wrong, after booting up I couldnt tell what went wrong (im a noob) so i went back to normal. After 10 mins of nothing special (just itunes + web browsing) power cut out. I switched a lamp onto the same power strip and powered up again to see if maybe i was pulling too much power and it was a surge. This time after maybe 3 mins the power cut again - and no surge. I'm new to self built so i have no real clue what the problem could be, could anyone help?

I mentally ruled out too little power for too big a system because my GPU is only a ATI 4670 and my PSU is a Antec Basiq Plus 550 Watt.

 

[WR2]

Agree that 550W PSU isn't likely to be underpowered running your system.
How about pluging the computer directly into the wall socket and avoiding the power strip for now. Test and see if the same problem occurs.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

You have two PSU cables powering the MoBo ? 8 pin EPS and 24 pin job ?

have a Kill-o-Watt meter...plugs into wall records amp / power draw.

Antec's Basiq is their "economy line" but it's still a good performer
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/792/10

 

[morellomre]

i popped the case open and checked the connections to make sure they were tight. when checking i thought i heard a slight click and thought that might have solved it. powered back up but after 20 - 30 mins of web surfing power cut out again.

have a 24 pin and 4 pin connected to the mobo.

 

[morellomre]

OK, I tried sticking my old PSU into my new build. It's an off brand, but 400W so it should work fine to see if the PSU is the problem. Much to my dissappointment the power cut about 10 minutes into the test, again with just general computing.

I think that crosses off 'defective PSU' from the top of the list. Seeing as how im a noob with this stuff, and that was the ONLY thing on my list, does anyone else have any suggestions? Your help would be greatly appreciated..getting mighty frustrated here.

 

[WR2]

Are you still using the power strip?

 

[capt_taco]

Honestly, it sounds like the system could be shutting itself off to avoid overheating. If you're not 100% confident that you got the heatsink on and the thermal compound applied correctly, that's the first place I'd look.

You may also want to open up the case and be sure nothing's blocking the flow of air from the intake fans. If air flow is obstructed to the CPU or GPU area, that could be causing problems as well.

Also: This may sound dumb, but since you just built the system, check to make sure all the case fans are pointed in the right direction -- meaning ONE exhaust fan blowing air out at the back, and the rest all blowing inward. I've seen examples of overheating because the exhaust fan was accidentally blowing inward, or because all the fans were blowing outward, or because two fans next to each other were blowing in opposite directions. In any of those cases, the fans work against each other, and only a tiny bit of air will make it in through gaps in the case and/or "against the grain" of whichever fan is weakest.

Also, if you're using a quad core or above, you may want to consider an aftermarket CPU cooler anyway. Those things get HOT.

 

[morellomre]

i do have a quad core, an AMD Athlon 620 quad core. im using the stock cooler that came with the processor. with no overclocking i figured it would be fine.

case only has one fan, which is blowing air out the back. processor fan is working. in fact, i thought it was kind of loud - maybe it was blowing hard trying to cool off.

yes, i tried without the strip - same result.

 

[aford10]

Try downloading realtemp and speedfan to monitor your temps.
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

You can also leave the side of the case off, and point a box fan at your system to see if the problem subsides. If there's no change, it's not the temps.

 

[capt_taco]

i do have a quad core, an AMD Athlon 620 quad core. im using the stock cooler that came with the processor. with no overclocking i figured it would be fine.

case only has one fan, which is blowing air out the back. processor fan is working. in fact, i thought it was kind of loud - maybe it was blowing hard trying to cool off.

yes, i tried without the strip - same result.

wait ... you have a case with ONLY an exhaust fan? That doesn't sound right. I don't think they even make those. Or do you have a case with some fans not installed? I'm just not getting it. At any rate, a good case for cooling a quad core is going to have one intake fan at the bottom front, at least one intake fan on the side at mid-to-low height, and an exhaust fan at the rear near the top (in addition to the power supply's built-in fan near the same location). If you don't have all of those, you're going to have heat problems. So if what you're saying is correct, lack of air getting into your case is almost certainly the problem.

If your CPU fan is loud, that's almost always a bad sign, which is further evidence of heat problems to me. You are almost always going to be better off replacing the stock CPU fan on a quad core -- you don't have to go crazy; even a mid-range cooler like this will probably be a significant improvement and more importantly, shouldn't give you too many problems with installation.

If you're ever in doubt about whether your case fans are getting enough air in, I'd seriously recommend just replacing them with Thermaltake Smart Case Fans. They're cheap and don't make much noise at regular settings, but they're adjustable all the way up to 75CFM jet-engine power if you want. That can singlehandedly cool down an overheating system regardless of any other issues. I've ended up using them on just about every system I've built recently because of that flexibility.