AnimeSuki Forums

Register Forum Rules FAQ Members List Social Groups Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   AnimeSuki Forum > Support > Tech Support

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 2012-04-07, 20:45   Link #1
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
I think my power supply died

So I'm on a different computer than my own right now. I was on the computer last night, and everything was fine, and I did a normal shut down of the computer. When I next went to turn it on today, it wouldn't start. I tried some different outlets and a different power cable and nothing would help the problem. I opened up the computer and didn't see anything wrong with the power supply, but there could still be something wrong with it, right? Another thing, I have a USB powered speaker set, and if the computer is off but that is plugged in, there is a bright blue indicator on. Plugging that in today didn't produce the blue light.

Do you guys think the power supply died? Can they sometimes die when a computer powers off, even if that is rare? I believe my PSU is a cheap quality one, too.

Also, I had a malicious URL blocked a couple hours before I turned off the computer. Let us say a virus slipped through. Are there any viruses that can destroy a power supply? I figure I should ask.
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 20:58   Link #2
Dist
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Finland
Age: 33
Send a message via MSN to Dist
Viruses that can destroy physical equipment.. Yeah .. I'd like to see one of those. Yeah, no. They don't exist. That definitely is not the cause here.

And yes, your PSU is dead. I don't know why but it's a cheap one so this was to be expected. The question is ; Why are you using a cheap PSU? You were lucky ; Only? your PSU died. With a cheap '' bomb '' as they call it, aside from PSU dying it might take out several parts on your PC. If you value your computer, buy a new PSU to it from a well known brand that has good reviews. Just because it's Corsair, for example, doesn't mean it's good.
__________________
The joys of a universe made and unmade, friends across time, shall be your ray of light
Dist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 21:10   Link #3
Random32
Also a Lolicon
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Your PSU died. Get a good PSU. It's probably the most important component in your machine since if it breaks, it has the most chance of taking something else with it.

In theory a virus can screw up your hardware. Overwriting your BIOS or screwing with voltages (that can be set with software) are possibilities. The last time I recall anything like that would be StuxNet which would run centrifuges for nuclear fuel enrichment in a way that would break them. It is extremely extremely improbable for a virus to do this though since there aren't many cases where the virus writer would gain anything by physically damaging your machine.
Random32 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 21:27   Link #4
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
Anyone have a recommendation for a good, reliable power supply unit? Any brands that stand out as very reliable? Are they one size fits all? I have a typical desktop (so that means typical components, nothing compact or miniature).
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 21:48   Link #5
Random32
Also a Lolicon
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, SilverStone, and PC Power and Cooling are good brands.

Make sure that they have the right number of pins for your mobo (usually 24, most PSU's are 20+4 so it doesn't matter), and have all the right connectors for graphics cards, hard drives, etc., and can supply enough power. Modular is convenient but far from necessary. Bigger fans are generally quieter if that matters.
Random32 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 21:53   Link #6
sa547
Senior Member
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
^
I second that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Urzu 7 View Post
Anyone have a recommendation for a good, reliable power supply unit? Any brands that stand out as very reliable? Are they one size fits all? I have a typical desktop (so that means typical components, nothing compact or miniature).
All current PSUs will fit into a standard ATX casing. Also, make sure the new PSU matches or slightly exceed that of your old one's wattage.

Just in case, here's my favorite PSU calculator.
__________________
sa547 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 21:59   Link #7
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
Major components:

Radeon HD 5750 1 GB
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 4 cores at 3.2 GHz
750 GB HDD I believe it is 5400 RPM
4 GB DDR 3 PC 1600 RAM

Anything else I should list? I can't recall the specifics of the motherboard. Is that an issue?

I was thinking of getting something around the 650 watt to 750 watt range in case I ever wanna upgrade the GPU to something better. If I choose a better card sometime, it'll be something comparable to a Radeon HD 6850. That is if I upgrade the GPU, I might just get a new computer 18-24 months from now. Also, I was given a free external HDD, and may use that with that computer. So 650 watt PSU is all I would need? Or 700 watt PSU or 750 watt PSU instead?
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 22:11   Link #8
sa547
Senior Member
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
If you have any upgrade plans, especially with cards asking for extra juice, you can opt to use a PSU with a higher wattage, so no problems going for 700-750w.
__________________
sa547 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 22:59   Link #9
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
Major components:

Radeon HD 5750 1 GB
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 4 cores at 3.2 GHz
750 GB HDD I believe it is 5400 RPM
4 GB DDR 3 PC 1600 RAM (Two 2 GB sticks)
DVD-R/DVD-RW Drive
Card reader
USB powered speaker set

I can't recall the specifics of the motherboard. It isn't a high end board. It is a typical board from 2008 or 2009.

I'm looking at this PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371016

It has 20+4 pins for a connector, which is what I need. Anything else I should look for when comparing it to my old PSU? Take a look at the components I listed. Now, if I were ever to put a Radeon HD 6850 on that machine and hook up an external HDD, would that thing have enough watts? Should I go with a 600 watt or 650 watt PSU instead? 700 watt PSU?

I'd hate to have to get a PSU with more watts. That Antec one is $65 with $10 shipping. The best rated 700 watt PSU is $109 with $5 shipping. I found a 620 watt PSU with great ratings, but it has a 24 pin connector, not a 20+4 pin connector.

Edit: I used that PSU calculator, and even put a Radeon 6950 in the calculation instead, and it gave a recommendation of 419 watts. So maybe a 550 watt PSU is all I need?

That site said total amperage available is very important. What total amperage should I look for for +12V, +5V, and +3.3V?
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif

Last edited by Urzu 7; 2012-04-07 at 23:19.
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-07, 23:16   Link #10
Random32
Also a Lolicon
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
If your motherboard is 24 pin (which it probably is), it doesn't really matter whether you get a 24 pin or 20+4 pin PSU.

The power supply you selected is good, though it might limit your future upgrade options.

I refer you to the psu calculator for playing with you minimum psu wattage for future upgrade plans.
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Random32 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 00:45   Link #11
iceyfw
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Age: 35
600w-650w should be plenty for your setup for 1 gpu and whatever else you use or plan to add (adding a second gpu is a no-no in this case). if you want, i can help you pick out a psu from newegg. just need to know your price point, if you want it modular or not, and the maximum power wattage you're looking for in a psu.

if you were to post this a few weeks or a month back, i'd just pinpoint you to the seasonic x650 (99.99) or x750 (109.99) psu they had on sale a while ago ):
iceyfw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 01:54   Link #12
synaesthetic
blinded by blood
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oakland, CA
Age: 39
Send a message via AIM to synaesthetic
650W is excessive for a 5750. I run a GTX 570 with a 600W PSU. As long as the current on the 12V rails exceeds system draw, you're good.
__________________
synaesthetic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 08:45   Link #13
Dhomochevsky
temporary safeguard
 
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Germany
Just a short note to be sure... I agree with everyone else, that this is most likely a case of dead PSU.
But the (front)power switch is a function of your mainboard and the USB power is rooted through the mainboards power supply. So a dead mainboard (with for example a fried condensator) would actually look the same as a dead PSU even though this is less likely the case.
Dhomochevsky is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 09:01   Link #14
spikexp
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Quebec
Age: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by sa547 View Post
^
Just in case, here's my favorite PSU calculator.
My favorite http://www.overclock.net/t/1140534/p...-final-release

Yeah, I would also look in the motherboard.
You could start the powersupply with a paperclip, if it start (fan spin), or just put a plug a fan on it), the problem is the motherboard.
spikexp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 10:21   Link #15
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
Thank you everyone for the help. I'll respond with more later, with some more questions.

Before I get a new PSU, I will figure out whether or not the motherboard is the problem.

If I can do well with a 550 watt PSU, so long as other factors are good with it, I might get the one I linked to. You guys think that 550 watt PSU would be good for me? Currently, my second choice for a PSU (I'm still looking around) is a 620 watt PSU.

I'm only going to buy a PSU from new egg with many reviews and a 5 out of 5 ratings, which means that the reliability for it is high. The two PSUs I'm looking at are from recommended brands and both have over 550 reviews and 5 out of 5 for ratings.

I looked at a PSU that is very similar to my dead PSU (same brand, same wattage, almost exact same model number) and it has 9 reviews at newegg and a 3 out of 5 rating. Pretty bad.
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 15:43   Link #16
Dist
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Finland
Age: 33
Send a message via MSN to Dist
Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic View Post
650W is excessive for a 5750. I run a GTX 570 with a 600W PSU. As long as the current on the 12V rails exceeds system draw, you're good.
Indeed. I run a GTX580 with i5-2500K at 625W with no problems. I doubt my setup even takes 500W, let alone 625W. My PSU is Enermax 625W so I'd like to recommend that as it has lasted me 3 upgrades on my computer and it's still kicking.. But, it probably costs too much for your budget ($140). Quality comes with a price, after all.

Like I said in my first post, don't forget that just because it's a well known brand, say, Corsair, doesn't mean it's good. Read some reviews on the web for the PSU before you buy it.
__________________
The joys of a universe made and unmade, friends across time, shall be your ray of light
Dist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 19:23   Link #17
synaesthetic
blinded by blood
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oakland, CA
Age: 39
Send a message via AIM to synaesthetic
Yeah, I have an OCZ ModStream 600W PSU. OCZ isn't the best for reliability, especially their SSDs... but this PSU got a lot of good reviews and the price was right. It's also modular which reduces clusterfuck in the case.
__________________
synaesthetic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 21:07   Link #18
Dist
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Finland
Age: 33
Send a message via MSN to Dist
Though if you have a large case you can just hide the wires behind an extra '' wall '' of sorts. Mine is modular too but doesn't really matter since all my wires are hidden anyway.

I doubt the OP has such case though, as they tend to be expensive, so when looking for a new PSU you should get modular if possible.
__________________
The joys of a universe made and unmade, friends across time, shall be your ray of light
Dist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 21:34   Link #19
Urzu 7
Juanita/Kiteless
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
When looking for a new PSU, do I have to match up similar specs with my old PSU? Things like ampage and DC output?

My shoddy PSU is from Xion. Model number is XON-700P12N. Some examples of what I'm talking about. The +3.3V is at 30A, the +5V is at 28A, and the +12V1 is at 18A. Do I have to find matching numbers on my new PSU? Do I have to find matching values for things like input voltage, input frequency range, input current, and output? Do I have to find matching values for any of those?

In finding the right PSU, does a new one have to have anything to do with the one you have? What do I need to look for to get the right PSU?

I kind of expect what answers I'll get to some of those questions, but someone suggested I have to match certain values, and I decided I might as well ask, even though I'm not sure on that.

Do I have to look into what type of connectors come with a PSU? I already know I need a 20+4 pin connector for the motherboard. Someone here said that a 24 pin connector is also compatible with 20+4 pin connectors, IIRC. That is the case?

I'll check to make sure the PSU is actually dead before buying a new one, btw.
__________________
http://forums.animesuki.com/images/as.icon/signaturepics/sigpic38963_5.gif
Urzu 7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2012-04-08, 23:26   Link #20
Random32
Also a Lolicon
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
ATX mobos can either have 20 or 24 pin connectors for psu. The 20+4 works with both and thus generally is the one you find on psus.

Other connectors to worry about:
-GPU. They generally have either 1 or 2 6 or 8 pin connectors. Like mobos 6+2 works in both. Make sure you have enough of these. You aren't running a particularly power hungry GPU setup, so it should be really easy.
-SATA connectors. If you have tons and tons of hard drives, you should make sure that you have enough power connectors for all of them.
-The +12V rail(s) are really the only one that you might need to worry about. All wires on a rail go through a single over current protection which limits the amount of current you can draw total on those wires. The amp number refers to the maximum current that it will let you draw before shutting off. Some PSU's have multiple 12V rails meaning that they have multiple groups of wires that are 12V with their own overcurrent protection. I would try and find something with a 12V rail that is capable of supplying the same or more amps than your old psu to be safe. Tl;dr, the Antec that you listed is good.
-Input voltage/frequency. Make sure that the stuff coming out of your wall is something that the psu will take. Pretty much every PSU sold in America works on America's power. If you are interested, that is 120V at 60Hz.
Random32 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 19:28.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
We use Silk.