System likes to eat different PSUs

dijon270

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Jul 18, 2011
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I built this system with a XFX 680i LT, Intel Core2 Duo E6550, OCZ SLI PC2 6400 4gig, PNY 9800gt 1gig, Cooler Master Elite 330 case, a fairly old Lite-on CD DVD burner with IDE interface, Seagate 7200rpm 320gig HD SATA. The case has 120mm fan as an exhaust and two 90mm fans pulling in cool air, one on front and one directing air down a tube directly onto the stock Intel cpu cooler.

Okay, so the original PSU was a 500watt unit from Ultra that ran great since I built the system in 2007. I upgraded video cards in 2009 and still didn't have any issues. Several months ago the fans died on my Ultra PSU. So I rigged a case fan to blow into the PSU. I came into some spare cash, so I picked up a Corsair GS600 PSU so my setup would look clean again, plus I figured it would be a matter of time till that PSU died. That PSU died after 2 weeks. It just shut off and would not turn back on. The power led would come on on the motherboard, but nothing else. I have a tool from antec that shows if a PSU is dead, and only the +5VSB was the only voltage showing up. So I returned the PSU thinking I got a bad one. They were out of the GS600 so I got the GS700. Same thing happened after a couple of hours this time. I wondered at this point that maybe something in my computer was causing the issue. I still was able to return the unit, and I tried a Mushkin Volta 650 and it died after fifteen minutes. This time it died with a pop when I tried to turn the system back on after it shutdown. I live in a brand new apartment with no wiring issues and I used a quality surge protector which has my girlfriends Core i7 system running in the same outlet, so I am certain its not my power. Sorry for this being really long, just trying to get all the info out there that I know. If I was to look at a culprit in the computer that is killing my PSU, where is a good place to look? My best guess is the 8 year old DVD rom. IS there anyway to test components without sacrificing PSUs to the electronics gods? Truthfully, at this point, I am not opposed to starting over fresh, but if I could salvage the GPU at the least it would cut the cost of new components down for a new build.
 

dalethepcman

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Jul 1, 2010
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The odd's that you would blow up three power supplies and not another component from your system lead me to believe there is a problem with your power, not your computer. Buy a cheap $50 UPS, plug it into a different wall outlet, and replace your power cable that leads to your power supply, and see if your problems go away,.

You can also paperclip a Corsair power supply to test if its working, just youtube corsair power supply test.
 

dijon270

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Jul 18, 2011
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The antec tool I have does the same thing as the paperclip test. I checked all the units before I plugged them and they all powered up. As I said, my girlfriends Core i7 is currently at my house and it is running in the same outlet and surge protector, also the old Ultra PSU was plugged into the same outlet and worked other than the fans dying. I guess just to rule out any issues I could probably have my apartment complex check the power rating at the outlet too. I regret throwing my Ultra PSU away, as it would be a worthy guinea pig to see what may be the short if it is something in the system.
 
remove all the PC components from your case. Run with a minimum setup (1 ram stick cpu and display only) jsut load it into BIOS and see what happens. Maybe there is a short somewhere in the case, usb ports, hard drive etc etc. Try a PSU that has overcurrent/short circuit protection with multiple 12v rails. Antec make some good ones.