MB causing PSU fail ?

unrevived

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Hi, I'm having a weird problem with my MB (i think). I just installed a new PSU in my computer: a RASURBO BP-XII450 that failed in 3 days of use (installed it thursday and it failed sunday while I was trying to play something more demanding of my system - Two Worlds 2). So, this is the 3rd PSU that fails in my system in the last 3 months and something is kind of fishy since my roomate uses the same latest PSU and he's been fine with it for the past year or so. I had prior problems with my mainboard. Actually a long list of weird issues that didn't pinpoint to any diagnostic, even after it came back from the shop i bought it from (being still under guarantee). The guys from the tech support said that my whole system runs fine, but they usually use programs from UBCD suite to test the RAM, the VRAM, something like Prime95 for CPU, 3dMark2001 for video stability test and the HDD manufacturer's tests and that's about it. I know there is no actualy MB test, but I'd like some feedback or ideas. At the moment I'm using a low power PSU and I'm trying to use my pc for basic tasks only, no heavy duty gaming :).
My system is made of: 2x1GB DDR2 800 CL 5-5-5-12 Adata vitesta KIT, Intel Core2Duo E8400, MSI Nvidia 250GTS, HDD Western Digital, Model WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B0, HDD Western Digital WDC WD10EADS-00P8B0 and the motherboard in question is a MSI P43 Neo-F
 

cheesesubs

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it look like it's an active pfc psu but when close look at it it is not even pfc certified power. not sure what it will do with out pfc protection and i never hear of this brand so thing for sure that you need to find better vendor like cooler mater/antec/cosair/ seasonic with 80 plus certificate.
 

unrevived

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you haven't heard of it because it's german and it usually only exports to european countries. Also PFC doesn't do much protection in voltage fluctuations compared to the other types of protection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correction#Power_factor_correction_in_non-linear_loads. Also this is exactly the type of PSU my roomate uses and he has a much greater power consumption in his system (AMD Phenom II X4 940, AMD Radeon 4870, 4HDDs, about 6 fans and so on...) for a year and he did not have any problem.
The main question I'm asking is: Is it possible for the MB to cause a PSU failure ? (because this is not the first PSU that failed in my computer, there have been two previous PSUs of 500W and 650W that failed in my computer)
 

cheesesubs

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well theonly solution is find another psu and test it on your computer while putting the faulty psu on other pc for cross platform testing. that's the only way to find out what cause it to be non bootable.
 

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non bootable ? I didn't mention anything about being unable to boot my system. I've already replaced my PSU with an older one (bulk 500w - or so it says on the case) for the time being until i'm reaching the shop and return the faulty new one (which doesn't work, i tested it in another PC). The problem right now is that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to play a game or run some software that would make my PC use more resources because this temporary old PSU will probably fail too. Maybe it is indeed an unexpected high use of power from one of my components but, how can i detect that ?
 
First, yes it is possible for external componets (MB/GPU even a HDD) to damage a PSU due to excessive power consumpusion - the lower the quality of the PSU the more likely this is to occurr - A good PSU will shut itself down to prevent damage.. HOWEVER this is normally detectable as other problems such as poor stability, BSODs under stress (ie gaming).

Your system is probably under 325 W
Ref: http://www.desktopreview.com/default.asp?newsID=656&review=NVIDIA+MSI+GeForce+GTS+250

What I would do is invest in a cheap watt meter (ie kill-a-watt approx 15->20 bucks @newnegg - for Gr I'd est about same but in Euros. Look at wattage both at Idle and load. For load run Prime 95 to stress memory and CPU, run Furmark to stress GPU. Also down load a program to monitor voltages (I use CPUID HWMonitor) Note the voltages at Idle and at load.

On PSU - Although your friend has this model, DO NOT go by the performance of one unit. Even a few good units can slip thru (Not saying this model is good/bad - But with out a review it is an UNKNOWN).

Never buy a PSU that you can not find a reliable review as to quality. Many of the lower end PSU specs may sound good, but in fact are poor as there are specified at lower temperatures. When operating in a normal system at NORMAL temperatures you will find that they only provide about 50->70 % of specs.