is this a power supply problem?

[jeremiah]

hey all, i just recently built a computer, which had been working fine
for a week or so. it's usually on all the time, so the other night
when i came home, it was a little odd that it was off. when i
attempted to boot it up, the fans spun for a second, and then stopped.
it refused to turn on again, and after turning the power supply switch
off and on, it came up, but only for a second like it had done
previously. i continued this cycle for about ten minutes, unplugged
all of the molex connectors and tried with just the motherboard hooked
up to the power supply. same thing. i was concerned about the quality
of the power supply (the case was cheap), but i'm not actually sure
what the problem is. is this symptomatic of a power supply failure?
any help would be appreciated. here's what i've got in the box:

powmax case with slide view window (model CP03294HL-5)
asus a7n8x-x nforce 2
sempron 2400+
2 sticks of kingston value ram 512 mb
asus 9200se video card
maxtor 40 gig hard drive
sony cd burner
soundblaster live platinum sound card

like i said, it was working fine before. i'll probably just buy a
decent power supply, but would like to hear from others who may have
had similar problems because i don't want to rule anything out...
thanks for any help!

 

[Dave C.]

hey all, i just recently built a computer, which had been working fine
for a week or so. it's usually on all the time, so the other night
when i came home, it was a little odd that it was off. when i
attempted to boot it up, the fans spun for a second, and then stopped.
it refused to turn on again, and after turning the power supply switch
off and on, it came up, but only for a second like it had done
previously. i continued this cycle for about ten minutes, unplugged
all of the molex connectors and tried with just the motherboard hooked
up to the power supply. same thing. i was concerned about the quality
of the power supply (the case was cheap), but i'm not actually sure
what the problem is. is this symptomatic of a power supply failure?
any help would be appreciated. here's what i've got in the box:

powmax case with slide view window (model CP03294HL-5)
asus a7n8x-x nforce 2
sempron 2400+
2 sticks of kingston value ram 512 mb
asus 9200se video card
maxtor 40 gig hard drive
sony cd burner
soundblaster live platinum sound card

like i said, it was working fine before. i'll probably just buy a
decent power supply, but would like to hear from others who may have
had similar problems because i don't want to rule anything out...
thanks for any help!

It could be a power supply problem. It could also be a bad CPU fan. (is
that plugged in and running?) Try removing and reseating the CPU, memory
and video card. While you are at it, try running with just one stick of
RAM, and then the other one. Also try clearing CMOS a few times. -Dave

 

[DaveW]

It sounds like your cheap power supply unit has failed. I would invest in a
higher QUALITY one this time, before you damage your motherboard, etc.

 

[Zotin Khuma]

hey all, i just recently built a computer, which had been working fine
for a week or so. it's usually on all the time, so the other night
when i came home, it was a little odd that it was off. when i
attempted to boot it up, the fans spun for a second, and then stopped.
it refused to turn on again, and after turning the power supply switch
off and on, it came up, but only for a second like it had done
previously. i continued this cycle for about ten minutes, unplugged
all of the molex connectors and tried with just the motherboard hooked
up to the power supply. same thing. i was concerned about the quality
of the power supply (the case was cheap), but i'm not actually sure
what the problem is. is this symptomatic of a power supply failure?
any help would be appreciated. here's what i've got in the box:

powmax case with slide view window (model CP03294HL-5)
asus a7n8x-x nforce 2
sempron 2400+
2 sticks of kingston value ram 512 mb
asus 9200se video card
maxtor 40 gig hard drive
sony cd burner
soundblaster live platinum sound card

like i said, it was working fine before. i'll probably just buy a
decent power supply, but would like to hear from others who may have
had similar problems because i don't want to rule anything out...
thanks for any help!

In all the cases I've encountered, the symptoms you described are
usually a sign that the 5-volt rail of your PSU has failed. The
12-volt line is OK and supplies power to the fans for a moment, but
the feedback system detects the absence of the 5V line and quickly
shuts down.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, you could try replacing the
5-volt rectifier in the PSU with a properly rated rectifier. Your
system's not all that power-hungry.

Here in India where we often don't get to choose from a wide range of
PSU models, cheap units sometimes use a 10 or 15-amp diode for the 5V
rectifier which may have to supply as much as 30 amps. Sometimes the
diode is simply not properly fastened to the heatsink.

I've done the said replacement many times for others and they've never
broken down again.

 

[Mike]

thanks everybody for all your help.

it turns out it was the power supply that was faulty. i traded it out
for an old 250-watt one that i had and it worked fine. so i guess i
should buy a new one... any suggestions? -j

 

[Mac Cool]

Mike:

it turns out it was the power supply that was faulty. i traded it out
for an old 250-watt one that i had and it worked fine. so i guess i
should buy a new one... any suggestions? -j

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566