My old PC won't turn on. I think it may be power supply related.

[tuesday0180]

It's one of those old E-Machines with a Intel Celeron Processor. It was working fine before, but the other day it just stopped working.

When I press the power button nothing happens. I opened it up and took out the motherboard battery and put it back in to reset it. Nothing.

I think it may be the power supply, but when I plug the cord into the power supply there is a little green light on the motherboard that lights up.

Is this a power supply issue? If it is, then why does that little green light on my motherboard light up when I plug in the power cord? If it isn't a power supply issue, what can it be?

Thanks in advance.

 

[aford10]

That LED simply means that the PSU is plugged into the wall and switched on. It doesn't mean that there is sufficient power output to the hardware. You likely have a dead/weak PSU.

 

[Zinosys]

How old is the PC? Have you made any recent hardware changes to the computer?

 

[shovenose]

emachines: bleh!

 

[Zinosys]

shovenose, I agree with you, but come on.

BTW, you can tell your dad to throttle, so he can have the performance advantage and save power at the same time xP

 

[shovenose]

hmm...i actually told him that but he's too stingy it guess. he claimed that it "didnt work well". whats a good program to use to do that?

 

[shovenose]

also,
OP
what model emachines do u have?
whats the specs?
thanks

 

[Zinosys]

tuesday, I really don't want to hijack your thread, but I'll say that you can go into the BIOS and enable speedstep. That will throttle the CPU. The only problem is I don't know if the P4s support it.

...And getting the model might help. What's the wattage on the PSU BTW?

 

[tuesday0180]

Hey guys the E machines is old. I don't know the exact model number, but it uses an Intel Celeron chip. Iknow this because it has an Intel Celeron sticker in the front.

I just tried the computer again and this time when I plug the cord into the power supply the fan turns on and keeps spinning really really fast at full speed. When I press the power button nothing happens.

I haven't made any hardware upgrades to this pc. Infact I haven't even used it myself. I was just told by a family member two days ago that it stopped turning on.

 

[tuesday0180]

Oh and the motherboard also uses those old serial connectors. You know, those large flat wires that attaches the hard drive to the motherboard. It even uses the old power supplies that have the white end connectors.

I think I may just go out and purchase a discount power supply and see if that fixes it. I know discount power supplies tend to suck, but this pc isn't worth spending much money on. Plus it's only used for word typing and internet browsing anyways.

 

[Zinosys]

Eh, well it's celeron, so it must be ATX. Can you find any sticker with a number on the side or back of the case? Perhaps (although unlikely) underneath the case?

And by Serial connectors, I think you mean IDE/ATA. Which case, (because I can't resist) is a parallel connection. SATA is serial. :|

Well, that can't be too bad. A good power supply would be this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

You can't go wrong with that. 80 plus bronze, active PFC, and a good name.

 

[aford10]

You don't have to spend a lot of $$ to get a decent PSU. Measure the dimensions of the current PSU to see if it's a standard ATX or slim PSU. Here's a link to a quality standard ATX PSU. Check out the dimensions of this PSU, and compare them to yours.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022&cm_re=ocz_550w-_-17-341-022-_-Product

 

[shovenose]

OP: please look at that computer and give us the model number. it should be on the front, on a sticker on the back, or somewhere else.
we can better advise you when we actually know something about the computer besides that its an emachines with a celeron cpu.

 

[tuesday0180]

I found the old manual for the Emachines.

It's a T2862 model with an Intel D 330, 60gb of hard drive and 256megs of SDRAM.

Haha it's older than I thought.

 

[Zinosys]

Mmm, most emachines are regular ATX, and not slim. aford's PSU is better than mine. Go with his if it fits in your case.

But a model number would really help.

 

[Zinosys]

Yup. Confirmed. it's a standard ATX case, and aford's OCZ PSU should fit in your case.

and LOL, this looks like a common problem:

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=212481&start=0

 

[shovenose]

sure the other guy's might be better but u dont need a 550w psu with a celeron emachines!

 

[aford10]

It's not about wattage, it's about the 12v rail. For the same price, it's a no brainer.

 

[Zinosys]

Its modular and OCZ is a better brand. They own PC power and cooling now, and their PSUs are the same. The only difference is that mine is marginally more efficient, and is cheaper if you don't want to deal with rebates. His also looks cooler and has "Fatal1ty" written all over it.

But then again, you can always take mine, whip out a magic marker, and scrawl "EXTREEM EDISHUN" over it. xD

But if I were you, I'd take the OCZ. Even after the computer dies, there is a good chance the PSU is still working and it will be of use somewhere else. It's more future-proof, and for the same price (after rebate), it should serve you well.

Cheers.

 

[tuesday0180]

Hey I saw this on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709010

It's only $14.00 +shipping+ tax it comes out to around $30.00.

Think this would be a good idea? I might just go down to my local frys and pickup a cheap power supply for $15.00. I appreciate the power supply recommendations though. At this time I don't want to spend that kind of money on this old pc.

 

[Zinosys]

While having a single rail is better than two for electricity, the opposite can be said for the modular design.

Regardless, I'd still go with the OCZ.

 

[aford10]

Sunbeam PSUs are garbage. I would strongly advise against it.

 

[Zinosys]

Rule of thumb: any cheap power supply is bad. End of story. You might get some use out of it (at less than half it's rated spec), which is why you can find 700w PSUs for $30 at fry's, but will it work? probably not. Is it efficient? Nope.

I had a cheap PSU in a box, and I found out (the hard way) it was putting out 16V on the 12V rail. Poor board.

Well, I learned my lesson. Don't make the same mistake I did! Invest in a quality PSU!

 

[aford10]

To save a little $$, this is also a quality/well priced PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

 

[tuesday0180]

To save a little $$, this is also a quality/well priced PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

Hey thats great. The price of that psu after mail in rebate works for me. I don't think those plugs will work for me though because the plugs I need are those old 4 pin white ones. Would I be able to buy this PSU and buy some plug converters to conver those thin black plugs into old 4pin white ones? Is that safe?