PSU possibly broken

[sander17]

Hi,
Since a few days, whenever I start my PC up, it boots for about ~2 seconds, then shuts itself down... to start itself up again after ~2 seconds and to shut itself down again.
It does start up after about 15-20 minutes, but then it gives me this message:

I haven't overclocked anything, and when I enter setup, it goes to my bios, I don't have any option that would help me here.
When I exit and save, my computer shuts down to start the starting up and shutting down cycle again, but when I chose continue with default values it gets me in to windows.

I have a strong feeling this is my PSU, the back of my PC case (the psu was the standard stock thing that was already in there) says "230V ~" but I have no idea if that is to give you guys any sort of indication what kind of PSU I have.

Is it safe to say that my PSU is the problem?

Intel Core2Duo CPU 6600 @2.40GHz, 2 gigs of RAM, and I have a ATI radeon 5550

 

[thechief73]

Hello sander17,

First off when you get the screen you have posted above, have you hit F2 to load the default settings?

This may help solve the problem if somehow your Bios settings changed.

Otherwise your probably on the right track and are expirencing some kind of PSU failure.


[EDIT] Also do you live in an area where there is 115v in your house or 230v?

 

[sander17]

Hello sander17,

First off when you get the screen you have posted above, have you hit F2 to load the default settings?

This may help solve the problem if somehow your Bios settings changed.

Otherwise your probably on the right track and are expirencing some kind of PSU failure.


[EDIT] Also do you live in an area where there is 115v in your house or 230v?

First of all sorry for the resolution, ouch.
If I hit F2, it loads windows, but the next time I start my pc up it gives me the same stuff.
My area has between 220 and 230 I believe, but I haven't had this problem before, it just came up a couple of days ago.

Also, what PSU do you recommend for me and my PC?
Thanks for responding man

 

[thechief73]

Hey its no problem, Im glad to help.

One thing that you may want to try first, there is a battery on your motherboard that keeps track of your Bios settings and clock time when your PC is off and it may be going dead on you. Have you noticed if the time is correct or not when you have the PC on. If it is still on time then it probable is not the battery causing the problem.

And also you may want to try to re-flash the Bios with the latest update and see if that helps, maybe your current Bios has been currupted somehow, but this is VERY risky seen how you are having power troubles. A failed Bios flash will cause ALOT of headaches.

If you decide that you need or just want to get a new PSU, I recommend Seasonic or Corsair, after that Antec are good as well as PC Power and Cooling.

Tom's has just published an article yesterday on PSU and you may want to give it a read over also, before you make a choice.

Who's Who In Power Supplies: Brands, Labels, And OEMs

 

[thechief73]

Oh, one other thing I thought of, have you had your ATI Radeon 5550 card long befor you had problems? Its a long shot, but it may be overloading the PSU (AMD suggest 400w PSU or higher)

And lastly here is a PSU calculator: http://www.antec.outervision.com/ , that will give you a good guide on about how many watts your system needs to run for when your looking for a new PSU.

 

[sander17]

Oh, one other thing I thought of, have you had your ATI Radeon 5550 card long befor you had problems? Its a long shot, but it may be overloading the PSU (AMD suggest 400w PSU or higher)

And lastly here is a PSU calculator: http://www.antec.outervision.com/ , that will give you a good guide on about how many watts your system needs to run for when your looking for a new PSU.

Thanks!
Interesting you say that, as I have my Radeon for about 2 or 3 months now. I used to play MW2 before my old gfx card died on me, but with the new radeon the fps got so low and 'shocky' that I stopped, maybe it has to do something with each other?

 

[thechief73]

It very well could be. Use the link to the PSU calculator I posted and see how much power it says your PC needs. Most companies recommend to use a 400w PSU or higher with thier ATI 5550.

 

[sander17]

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/Voedingen_tot_600_Watt/Antec/BP430_430_Watt/339654/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Voedingen&l2=tot+600+Watt

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/Voedingen_tot_600_Watt/Corsair/CMPSU-430CX/476025/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Voedingen&l2=tot+600+Watt

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/Voedingen_tot_600_Watt/Cooler_Master/ExtremePower_460W/227135/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Voedingen&l2=tot+600+Watt

I looked around and stumbled upon these three, as you can see they're not incredibly high prized as I don't really need such high performance. (only for HD movies) and I wonder which you would pick? (ofcourse if there is another option I would be stupid not to consider it)
Once again, thanks!

 

[sander17]

http://www.alternate.nl/html/produ [...] t+600+Watt

http://www.alternate.nl/html/produ [...] t+600+Watt

http://www.alternate.nl/html/produ [...] t+600+Watt

I looked around and stumbled upon these three, as you can see they're not incredibly high prized as I don't really need such high performance. (only for HD movies) and I wonder which you would pick? (ofcourse if there is another option I would be stupid not to consider it)
Once again, thanks!

I'd really like to go for this one, it's a corsair, has a sweet prize plus it packs a sweet 430 of watts.
http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/Voedingen_tot_600_Watt/Corsair/CMPSU-430CX/476025/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Voedingen&l2=tot+600+Watt

Would any of you agree with my choice?

 

[thechief73]

Yes, that Corsair CMPSU-430CX is a nice PSU and I have recommended it to many others on Tom's before and as it also seems to be the best deal for you. The Antec you listed is also a nice PSU, but I would not recommend going with the CoolerMaster though.

Did you use the link I provided above ( http://www.antec.outervision.com/ ) to double check you PC's power requirement? I belive the Corsair CMPSU-430CX will work for you just fine, but best to check just to be safe.

 

[shovenose]

what psu do u have right now? open up ur pc and look at the label of ur psu

 

[sander17]

what psu do u have right now? open up ur pc and look at the label of ur psu

350watt

 

[shovenose]

brand?

 

[sander17]

brand?

some crappy stock thing, it came with my pc case, doubt it even is a 'brand'

 

[thechief73]

^sander17^ You may want to find out what it is just by opening up your case and taking a look. From what I have seen so far shovenose knows ALOT about PSU's and will most likely be able to give you some good advice. Just my 2cents.

 

[shovenose]

thats probably the problem. it probably cant even deliver 350w some generis are worse than others, it may be helpful if you checked to exact model