My PC just died

[SonOfCrusader76]

I'm typing this on my nephew's laptop.

OK, so I went to turn on the PC, it turned on for a split second, then turned off and at the same time a few other electrical items in the room turned off as well. Sort of the thing that happens when you turn on a light and the bulb blows? It triggers one of the switches on the electricity panel downstairs - upon turning that back on, all the other devices are fine but the one that blew remains dead of course.

Going by what I've said, what do you think is the likely cause? My money's on the PSU - although it is a good PSU, a Corsair 650w. Also, I need to find out what the likelihood of any of the components being taken down as well, because if enough of them have it makes more sense to just buy a new PC. Otherwise I'll get it bought to my usual PC shop so they can sort it out.

If the PC is salvageable, then I'm going to take the chance to upgrade the GPU at the same time its in the shop, so any suggestions with a budget of around £120-200 would be great. I hope the HDD can at least be accessed so I don't have to start completely from scratch. I was meaning to buy a backup external HDD for a while now, but the prices have been so high recently, I was waiting for them to come down.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Bolkonsky]

Probably the PSU, how old is it?

[Totalheadache]

do a paperclip test on the psu and see if it powers up a fan.

http://www.overclock.net/t/96712/how...and-components

[SonOfCrusader76]

Probably the PSU, how old is it?

I've had it for a few years, but I'm pretty sure it's not past the five year warranty mark. In fact I'm sure it isn't - I got it at the same time I got my GPU, that was around two or three years ago. Surely a PSU, especially from a company like Corsair should last a bit more than that?

[Bolkonsky]

I've had it for a few years, but I'm pretty sure it's not past the five year warranty mark. In fact I'm sure it isn't - I got it at the same time I got my GPU, that was around two or three years ago. Surely a PSU, especially from a company like Corsair should last a bit more than that?

I don't have a Corsair PSU so I'm not sure how long the warranty is, but if it's still in warranty, they have great customer service, so try testing it like Totalheadache said (just be careful though ) and if it's busted RMA it.

[SonOfCrusader76]

'Be careful though' - that's my concern. I don't have the first clue about what to do with that test, so I'd rather let the guys down at the shop run any tests for me.

Anyway, if I do go for a new system, I'm looking very closely at this one, possibly with some tweaks here and there, such as more RAM - what do you think? Great price in any case; it looks like a very solid machine to me.

http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/-b-NEW...hz-94p1110.htm

And if I do go with a new system, I'm gonna keep the old one to 'experiment' on - so I can get completely comfortable with installing/uninstalling any component.

[GasMask]

Mine died basically the same time as yours my pc turns on and off all the time i cant even enter the post screen and this is a newly built pc with all new parts.

[SonOfCrusader76]

Mine died basically the same time as yours my pc turns on and off all the time i cant even enter the post screen and this is a newly built pc with all new parts.

Really? How long have you had it for and did it come with any sort of warranty? I'd get them to sort you out with a new one - a new PC should not be turning on and off all the time.

[Totalheadache]

Mine died basically the same time as yours my pc turns on and off all the time i cant even enter the post screen and this is a newly built pc with all new parts.

mmm sounds like a "short" somewhere. make sure everything is grounded ok.

only time this happened to me is i had forget the stand-off screws in a build.

[Phier]

Mine died basically the same time as yours my pc turns on and off all the time i cant even enter the post screen and this is a newly built pc with all new parts.

Mine did that with unstable bios settings when I was OCing. I had to reset the board to get it to post.

[SonOfCrusader76]

I'm going to get a 6850HD GPU - it's only just over £100 at amazon, yet it can throw games like Skyrim around at 40+fps at ultra high, which is great for me. I'm also looking at a 60gb SSD to put my O/S on, and possibly going to 8gb RAM.

Would I have any problems installing a SSD with my current motherboard - and is the GPU I've chosen compatible? And will sticking with a 650w PSU support everything I've mentioned? I'm looking at Coolermaster or OCZ - maybe another Corsair, but given the one I have now has blown I'm less confident in Corsair.

Of course, all that depends on the PC being recoverable - that the PSU hasn't taken down too much with it. Otherwise, it's a whole new machine for me.

Thanks in advance.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

I'm going to get a 6850HD GPU - it's only just over £100 at amazon, yet it can throw games like Skyrim around at 40+fps at ultra high, which is great for me. I'm also looking at a 60gb SSD to put my O/S on, and possibly going to 8gb RAM.

Would I have any problems installing a SSD with my current motherboard - and is the GPU I've chosen compatible? And will sticking with a 650w PSU support everything I've mentioned? I'm looking at Coolermaster or OCZ - maybe another Corsair, but given the one I have now has blown I'm less confident in Corsair.

Of course, all that depends on the PC being recoverable - that the PSU hasn't taken down too much with it. Otherwise, it's a whole new machine for me.

Thanks in advance.

i personally dislike OCZ
Coolermaster PSU's are usually subpar vs the competition

brands to look at

Seasonic
XFX
Enermax
Antec
Thermaltake (Tougherpower and Tougherpower Grand only)
Superflower
make sure to grab an 80+ Bronze or better unit, if it has that badge it means its passed 20 / 50 / 100% load tests and meets a standard for efficiency etc

[SonOfCrusader76]

Why do you dislike OCZ then - and how do others feel about them?

If I could go for the OCZ, then I can get it (OCZ-ZS650w) and the Sapphire HD6850 GPU for around £165 including postage. That particular PSU seems to have got decent reviews - and it does pass the Bronze specification you mentioned. I'll find out tomorrow what the verdict on my PC is - with any luck, it is just the PSU but I'm feeling pessimistic - I'm sure it would've taken down something else with it. With luck, that's just the RAM - which doesn't matter because it was a spare stick I was using while I wait for Corsair to RMA my 4gb.

[Totalheadache]

well doing the paperclip is pretty easy. just make sure you do it right...that thread shows you what to do.

p.s they will charge you £35 for something that could take you a min or so....really i spent £ in pc stores when i first started building which i needent have done.

and yeah def a good idea to practice on your old setup...have a go at applying paste etc. also taking apart gpu's is worth learning...cable management etc etc.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

yea sounds like a short or like in my case where my 850 HX went belly up the 5v Rail was shot and was way out of spec causing constant restarts could be the PSU is just dead, or running into an issue that one of the many protection mechanisms forces a shut down to preserve the hardware if it can

[mrmouth]

Is it a properly grounded outlet? I mean, obviously you tripped the breaker, but damage to your PC or PSU would suggest a failure in overcurrent protection somewhere along the line. Maybe it (a surge) got bounced back to the PSU on an ungrounded outlet/receptacle? A power strip/surge protector is not a failsafe against this stuff.

As breakers get old they handle less and trip more often. But this sounds like it could be something more serious than that. Electricity is doing things it shouldn't. My father was an electrical engineer and Ive learned not to mess around with electricity. Im in the US and I know that when I have problems, I can call the power company and have them come out. This likely isn't on them, but engaging them in face to face conversation typically helps. Or you hire someone.

Point is: even if you replace the PSU and everything fires back up, you still have an issue. And a potentially dangerous issue.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

i just feel they are sub par and ive had bad luck with them pretty much dying constantly,
Darkpriest on the other hand has had good luck with them,

but considering
OCZ had crap reliability with their SSDs
OCZ pulled out of the memory market do to horrible products aka listing 1.65v ram as 1.5v then wondering why it didnt work or was unstable happened fairly often
OCZ bought PCP&C to improve their PSUs then merged the product designs with lower tier units and the men behind PCP&C that made said company ended up quit instead of working for OCZ
That said PCP&C still make good units just check reviews before purchase but that goes for EVERY PC PRODUCT YOU BUY

for PSU reviews

Hardware Secrets
JohnnyGuru
Techpowerup!

are the best places to check.

there track record as a company is spotty in almost every segment they sell products in, but thats just my opinion,
everyone loves Corsair for instance, but i know there 5v rails tend to be over rated, and there engineers informed me even with all the sata plugs on their wires you cant use all of them, because the voltage drops to much, (its how i got them to replace my HX 850 with a larger more powerful unit cause it failed to meet specifications)

right now

Enermax is decent they are hit and miss
Antec High Current Gamer and High Current Pro are fantastic with HCG line being great value for money
Thermaltake often overlooked their Toughpower and Toughpower grand series are good just stick to silver or gold rated
Seasonic great OEM manufacturers alot of other peoples PSUs, included Corsair, XFX, and many others
Silverstone is pretty decent some units are better then others,
Superflower has one of the best 80+ Gold rated designs available right now

this post is a bit old but
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=124912

still worth looking at to give you an idea of whats really going on with PSU manufacturers etc again take the above link with a bit of salt its a year old, but again gives a good account of things

Right now defacto best PSUs on the market are Antec High Current PRO units but they are expensive,

[Totalheadache]

yep i agree with crazy. no personal experience of ocz but what I have picked up on

for me psu has to be antec/corsair. or seasonic in us.

although the other day i was looking at a 1kw coolermaster gold..

[Crazyeyesreaper]

never be brand loyal always look for the OEM, aka UL numbers are your friend
example some Cougar PSUs are actually Enermax units but with 50% off the price in some situations and heres the kicker inside and out its exactly the same just color differences lol,

i dont expect normal people to look those up however, but the UL numbers can sometimes let you get say a Superflower 1250w PSU for half price

example

Rosewill Neweggs brand has a 1300w 80+ gold unit its a rebranded Superflower design, but its was also last i checked $55 cheaper then every other PSU in its class, it was ugly to look at for sure but, inside out same as a unit $50-75 more expensive

example

Rosewill here: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=258
Superflower here: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=240

same units at the time of review
Superflower = $300
Rosewill = $270
but was almost constantly on sale with a MIR nocking it down to $250

so when it comes down to it look up reviews of the products that catch your eye and see whats out their, sometimes you might end up happily surprised.

[SonOfCrusader76]

Absolutely, I always check reviews of any PC component I buy. No one's got a bad word to say against the Radeon 6850, the OCZ has got good reviews. Maybe it is a matter of luck sometimes - Corsair are widely considered to be a very good PSU manufacturer, indeed a good manufacturer of PC components full stop, yet my PSU packed up - a PSU that's supposed to have a MTBF of 100,000 hours. In actual fact, it didn't even make a quarter of that.

Anyway, assuming I don't have to get a new mobo, will the 6850 play nicely with my current mobo and would you say that pretty much any decent 650w PSU made by a good company will power a midrange gaming setup like mine OK?

One other thing - a new guy who's started working at the PC shop told me that Amazon sell refurbished PC components, even when they claim to be new (I mean Amazon themselves, not one of the random Tom, Dick or Harry third party sellers). For example, a Coolermaster was available at Amazon for £66 or so, yet this guy pointed me towards the same unit, but for £132, because it was an 'original' apparently. Personally, I smell a bit of a rip off attempt: charging me £132 for the PSU, when he'll actually buy it for around £60. That's further reinforced by the fact that the Corsair 650w PSU that I ordered from them was around £60. I reckon I'll trust my instincts and buy the components from Amazon (not Marketplace though) because they're all available there at excellent prices. Let's just say that I don't really trust this new geezer that much.

Hmm... just found this one at amazon:

Corsair CMPSU-700GUK Gaming Series GS700 High Performance 700W Power Supply


It's less than £70 there.