psu help
 

hello, my pc has just died and i think it is the psu as it will not turn on at all i have changed all the fuses , i have looked around and you can not buy the same psu any more only on ebay . i will add a pic of it can any one tell me of the best one to get to replace it , thank you for any help i get daz300

Re: psu help
 

It dose not have be the same make as long as the output power is sufficient, there are plenty of sources for a 550 watt, take a look at Novatech. http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...powersupplies/

Re: psu help
 

Most are a standard size, though some builders use odd shaped ones (e.g. Stone Computers).

A quick check that might help you:Turn the PC on at the wall, and see if your optical mouse lights up when moved. The mouse uses the "always on " 5v supply that the PC uses to switch on via on the ON switch. If it does light up, the ON switch might be faulty. If it doesn't light up at all then I would go for a new PSU as you have already decided.

I use a PSU tester I got from ebay to quickly diagnose PSU faults as they are a right PITA and not worth the risk of opening..... they bite!

PSU testers only cost about £3

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2014/09/28.jpg

Re: psu help
 

thank you for all the replys ,

the pc is dead is is not turing on in any way at all ,taf

---------- Post added at 21:53 ---------- Previous post was at 21:51 ----------

so as long as i get a 550w psu i will be ok , and will it have the same plugs ?


thnks daz

Re: psu help
 

Yes

Re: psu help
 

I know this is a long shot, but I have seen it happen,... is the switch on the back of the PSU on?

Re: psu help
 

Test the PSU with a paperclip.

Re: psu help
 

Good point.

Re: psu help
 

Ignor adzii nufc's advise unless you want to get killed. Have you checked the internal fuse, you will need to open the power supply up and look near the input socket there should be a fuse there, they are usally fast blow fuses that you can pick up from RS Comonents, Failing that check the caps and see if the bridge rectifier has not blown.

Re: psu help
 

If the OP needs to ask whether another brand of PSU is going to be OK, then asking them to 'test' it with a paperclip isn't going to end well :shocked:

Edit - madmax215 beat me to it

Re: psu help
 

No way is anybody going to kill themselves on 3v.

Re: psu help
 

You may be right but would you do it then. also if it does work you might blow the transformer, which means you will need to buy a new PSU.

Re: psu help
 

I would and have many times. It works fine and always has. It's common knowledge that you can trick a PSU into powering up with a paperclip, I'm not telling him to put his tongue in a plug socket

http://m.wikihow.com/Check-a-Power-Supply

Re: psu help
 

Agreed. I even have some PSUs permanently wired with a paperclip.

Re: psu help
 

Often a high value starting resistor goes open circuit. Unless you know your switchers best to get a new unit. Beware switching supplies can kill!

Re: psu help
 

I use a paper clip or a piece of wire all the time to power up a psu and have never damaged a psu from it, or even shocked myself.

All you need to do is make sure you only connect I think it's the green to any black cable on the 24 pin connector, and it will power up the psu as if you had pressed the power button.

I now have a 24 pin extension cable that I use for it, as it's the safest way to power up a psu to fill a water loop and it's a common way to do it, if you don't have a external power supply for doing it.

Re: psu help
 

I have not done the paper clip test , and I have looked at the switch on the back of the PC .


Any one have any idea what psu I would be best to get ? Do you thing I would be better geting one with more power , maybe a 600w one ?


Thanks for all the help so far

Daz300

Re: psu help
 

Have you added any more components (memory, drives, fans, etc.) to the machine since you bought it? They are usually sold with the lowest possible power rating PSU, so adding components can demand more power which will eventually kill the PSU.

As for the paperclip trick, it does work but will hit the PSU hard as it's expecting a resistive short not a total short to kick it into life. And as Heero yuy said, it's not a good idea to go inside a Switched Mode PSU without a lot of training... they bite hard even after being powered down for ages!

Re: psu help
 

While I do not wish to insult the original poster as I do not know what level of technical knowledge they have, but bearing in mind they've come on a forum asking for advice on buying power supplies as they appeared not to know that PC PSUs have standard fittings, do you *really* think it's a good idea to advise him to poke around inside a device that has mains electricity running round inside it with a paper clip?

Re: psu help
 

Hi , I do know something's about pc I just have never had to get a new psu

My mb is a P5N-E SLI

I all so have 2 DVD drives and 2 GeForce gts450 g cards and a fan controler and 2 sets of blue LEDs.

Any help will be brill even a link

Hope that helps

Thank you

Daz

Re: psu help
 

As I said, I didn't mean any insult. Just don't think it's a good idea to advise someone to poke around in a device that has mains electricity inside when you don't know their level of ability.

Re: psu help
 

I would recommend looking at the average-high power draw of the components you have and buying a PSU with 20% more capacity than that.

Buying an excessively overpowered PSU is just a waste of money - both for an unneccessarily overpowered PSU, and also because the higher the power the PSU, the less efficient it is at lower output levels, where your PC is going to be operating 90% of the time. Power supplies are most efficient when operated at around 80% load.

---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:41 ----------

To be fair the 'paperclip test' does not involve poking around inside the PSU in anyway, nor does it involve going anywhere near any cpmponent that has mains electricity running inside it.

The paperclip is meant to replace the power switch on the mainboard. It's not meant to be randomly poked around into any hole you find.

Re: psu help
 

Have a look at this web site for a power supply wattage calculator. http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx?SLanguage=en Ken

Re: psu help
 

Your Recommended Minimum Power Supply is 750 Watts

But I only had a 550w psu in the PC when it came .

Re: psu help
 

Perhaps that is why your power supply failed!:( Ken

Re: psu help
 

You maybe right there ken

Re: psu help
 

My daughter got a Stone PC with only half the RAM it really needed to run properly, so I offered to buy the extra RAM.

The bill appeared with the cost of the RAM, but also £45 for an "upgraded" proprietary-shaped PSU... that was a whole 50W extra.

"No more powerful PSU, no warranty" I was told.

Re: psu help
 

Highly unlikely. To exceed the output of a quality 550w power supply you'd need an ultra-high end gaming PC with two £500 graphics cards running at full throttle along with a 4-8-core CPU also at 100% at the same time.

That site, like most sites trying to sell you overpowered and overpriced power supplies, overestimates your needs by a huge amount and borders on being a complete lie.

Just to prove how ridiculous it is it thinks my PC needs a 1000w power supply. It's been running just fine off a 430w supply for 5 years. Average usage is 90w while idle, 350 while gaming.

It also thinks my machine at work, a fully certified Dell server with 100% Dell certified and guaranteed components, needs a 750w supply yet Dell supplies it with only a 550w - and it barely uses 120w most of the time.

Re: psu help
 

Ok more info on the PC I have

Motherboard : Asus psn-e sli
Graphics cards : 2x he force gts 450
Hard drives 80 gb and 2 tb
2x blue ray drives
8 gb ddr2 ram

Thank you for your help .
Daz

Re: psu help
 

What CPU?

Re: psu help
 

A central processing unit (CPU) is the hardware within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system.

Ken

Re: psu help
 

No sh.. sherlock...

Re: psu help
 

Core 2 Duo 6600 I think

Re: psu help
 

A 300w supply would be the bare minimum for that but you should do fine with a good quality 400-500w. There's no way the system would use more than 450w (65w CPU, 2x107w GPU, 50w MB, 10w RAM, 20w HDD, 20w others) - and that's maximum even including inefficiencies. Quality PSUs can burst to 10-20% higher than their rated output.

Unless it was a really crappy PSU or a fault somewhere, there's no chance you would have broken a 550w PSU by overloading it.

Re: psu help
 

Do we still do most helpful post of the month? You've made my day sir.

Re: psu help
 

I am not sure but I know you can add to a user's reputation

Ken