Rev. Night
03-31-2004, 10:41 PM
Ok, a lot to say here so might as well start it at the beginning.
A few weeks ago, I upgraded from my old computer (on sale HERE (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=748366&perpage=15&pagenumber=1) ) to an AMD Athlon 2800+, abit nf7, 1x512 pc2700 ram, 9800xt. All ran fine, perfectly, but the past 2 weeks or so I have noticed my computer getting louder. MUCH louder. Like so loud you know something is fucked up under the hood.
Lo and behold, something was.
It was my PSU (and no, not Penn State University). It got to a point where the fan was so loud, that if I were to lightly press down on the psu, my computer would turn off. Finally, one night when I was playing Tribes 2 until who knows what ungodly hour, the whole comp just goes dead. No brilliant flash of light, now huge sound, just plain shut off. My psu died peacefully.
How do I know that its dead? I have two boards on hand right now. One that is my system, one that I am selling. Both had power LEDs that come on automatically if they have power. So I plugged the psu into both of them, and the LEDs did not turn on. Neither did the computer. Sooo...with this in mine, I went to find a new power supply. After choosing on a few (including a powmax, which I then subsequently cancelled the order when I was told by many people on many forums how bad they were) power supplies, I finally bought a Thermaltake Silent Power 480 watt off of Newegg for $66. THG and Anandtech, as well as their forums, all had positive things to say about this psu.
After 5 long days of tracking the psu over fed ex, it finally arrives. Praise Vivec! So anyway, I take out the old psu (a 400 watt CompUSA brand that came with the CompUSA case when I bought it about 18 mos ago), and put in my new psu. I was ecstatic when the red LED came on in my case, it was getting power! But.....It would not turn on. I plugged in the chassis plug to the mobo (the chassis power switch) perfectly, I even checked the manual, but the computer still will not turn on. The cpu, power, and chassis fans do not turn on, no booting, it is as if the computer is off. The only difference is the red LED light is on.
So I am like ok, since that was the mobo that was in my computer when the psu died, maybe it is bad now (I have heard of PSU's taking out whole systems). So I take it out that whole system and put in the one that I am selling. I get the power LED light that says it is receiving power....but again, the computer does not turn on. No booting, no fans going on, nothing. So am like wtf. I double and triple check that my power switch (chassis --> Mobo) is on the correct pins and correct orientation. It is. So I call my dorm computer help guy, he comes over, and says that I have everything plugged in correctly. The psu is on (which is how the mobo is getting the power to turn on its light), so there is no reason why the comp should not turn on. I even changed the chassis power on switch to my reset switch, and then put the reset plug where the power on plug was at the mobo, to see if that would work. My line of thinking here being that maybe it was a physical/mechanical problem with my chassis switch. Nope, that still didn't work. So I am getting the same results (power light on, but no booting) on two different mobos/rams/cpu combos.
So did my psu come dead on arrival? If so, when I RMA it, should I keep the brand or getting something else? I really don¡¦t want to spend more here, I am but a poor college student.
A few weeks ago, I upgraded from my old computer (on sale HERE (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=748366&perpage=15&pagenumber=1) ) to an AMD Athlon 2800+, abit nf7, 1x512 pc2700 ram, 9800xt. All ran fine, perfectly, but the past 2 weeks or so I have noticed my computer getting louder. MUCH louder. Like so loud you know something is fucked up under the hood.
Lo and behold, something was.
It was my PSU (and no, not Penn State University). It got to a point where the fan was so loud, that if I were to lightly press down on the psu, my computer would turn off. Finally, one night when I was playing Tribes 2 until who knows what ungodly hour, the whole comp just goes dead. No brilliant flash of light, now huge sound, just plain shut off. My psu died peacefully.
How do I know that its dead? I have two boards on hand right now. One that is my system, one that I am selling. Both had power LEDs that come on automatically if they have power. So I plugged the psu into both of them, and the LEDs did not turn on. Neither did the computer. Sooo...with this in mine, I went to find a new power supply. After choosing on a few (including a powmax, which I then subsequently cancelled the order when I was told by many people on many forums how bad they were) power supplies, I finally bought a Thermaltake Silent Power 480 watt off of Newegg for $66. THG and Anandtech, as well as their forums, all had positive things to say about this psu.
After 5 long days of tracking the psu over fed ex, it finally arrives. Praise Vivec! So anyway, I take out the old psu (a 400 watt CompUSA brand that came with the CompUSA case when I bought it about 18 mos ago), and put in my new psu. I was ecstatic when the red LED came on in my case, it was getting power! But.....It would not turn on. I plugged in the chassis plug to the mobo (the chassis power switch) perfectly, I even checked the manual, but the computer still will not turn on. The cpu, power, and chassis fans do not turn on, no booting, it is as if the computer is off. The only difference is the red LED light is on.
So I am like ok, since that was the mobo that was in my computer when the psu died, maybe it is bad now (I have heard of PSU's taking out whole systems). So I take it out that whole system and put in the one that I am selling. I get the power LED light that says it is receiving power....but again, the computer does not turn on. No booting, no fans going on, nothing. So am like wtf. I double and triple check that my power switch (chassis --> Mobo) is on the correct pins and correct orientation. It is. So I call my dorm computer help guy, he comes over, and says that I have everything plugged in correctly. The psu is on (which is how the mobo is getting the power to turn on its light), so there is no reason why the comp should not turn on. I even changed the chassis power on switch to my reset switch, and then put the reset plug where the power on plug was at the mobo, to see if that would work. My line of thinking here being that maybe it was a physical/mechanical problem with my chassis switch. Nope, that still didn't work. So I am getting the same results (power light on, but no booting) on two different mobos/rams/cpu combos.
So did my psu come dead on arrival? If so, when I RMA it, should I keep the brand or getting something else? I really don¡¦t want to spend more here, I am but a poor college student.