has my PSU had it?

[Stripe]

howdy!

I think my specs are in my sig. I'm basically running a m-atx rig in a sff case. Recently I've had some trouble with getting the damn thing on.

When I turn it on it makes this repeated clicking sound like something is caught in a fan then it turns itself off between 3 and 60 seconds into boot up. However, every so often it will manage to get up and running and it seems that as soon as I get it into windows or FC4 that the clicking stops and it will stay on until I turn it off.

I can't really identify where the sound is coming from but the PSU does seem the most likely source as nothing is caught in the heatsink or fan. It's a 420watt PSU that came with the case btw. I could give the specs of the amperage on each rail if it would help.

any ideas what could be wrong please? It's just impractical to never be able to turn my pc off for fear of it not getting back on again. i'm happy to replace the PSU but I don't really want to if it's not the source of my trouble.

thank you.

 

[iraiguana]

if u think it is ure psu then i would try an alternative normal psu and see if it runs fine, if it does then u know u need to replace it.

i assume they are not beeps but clicks and so dont relate to detection failures.

sorry i dont know any more clicking things but that and the hdd which could be on the way out.

 

[Stripe]

i assume they are not beeps but clicks and so dont relate to detection failures.

yeah, they're definite clicks as though it's some sort of mechanical fault.

thanks for your help. i'll see if i can get a spare PSU from somewhere.

 

[Leporello]

The fault may lie on the motherboard circuitry rather than with the PSU, or it could be something as simple as a power connection being faulty. Sometimes the female end of the PSU to mobo connection can "bell" i.e., open up a little so that the connection can be intermittently broken by expansion through heat or movement.

I wouldn't assume that your PSU is broken.