Having a REALLY bad day!

chameleon · 30 Dec 2012 at 04:44

I have had no luck at all today with computers. First I fire up my old machine for the first time in ages and it gets virused

Then an hour or so later my main PC ups n dies on me without warning. It was trying to power up, over and over but cutting out immediately. I turned off the power for a bit, checked it for overheating, nothing amiss.

When I plug it in, the board and graphics card LEDs light up but as soon as I try to turn it on, it dies immediately. There is a very brief flash of the CPU light but I dunno if that's just part of the startup test?
After that it stays completely dead (apart from aforementioned. LEDs.)

I have a P8P67 pro mobo, a OCZ 700w supply, 8g of corsair memory and a i5 2500k CPU.
I dunno where to even start. Does it sound like the psu is on the fritz? How do I test it?

Bromhead · 30 Dec 2012 at 04:51

Paper clip test the psu? Try the psu from your virused computer with your main pc?

They would be my first two suggestions. Hope your day improves

zakblood · 30 Dec 2012 at 06:51

h88p://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/265607-10-dead-paper-clip-test

or use a spare if you have one is better, or borrow one etc

illuz · 30 Dec 2012 at 10:35

Sounds like something is shorting somewhere and cutting the power, definitely test the PSU mate!

chameleon · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:18

Oh poo. I've tried the paperclip test, the psu powers up for about two seconds then shuts down. I'm guessing it's goosed then?

illuz · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:12

Sounds like it mate

wazza300 · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:15

its an ocz psu what do you expect

chameleon · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:17

So what is a good reliable make then? I have had several die on me over the years so I dunno what to get.

MatsyLR · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:18

Corsair or Seasonic.

wazza300 · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:18

anything seasonic,or xfx as they are seasonic made also

hardkore · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:31

wazza300 said:
its an ocz psu what do you expect

My OCZ psu is fine after 4 years of use. Fitted lots of OCZ psus before and had no problems :rolleyes:

setter · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:32

Enermax are another quality brand id reccomend.

Sparx · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:34

wazza300 said:
its an ocz psu what do you expect

Used plenty (15+) OCZ PSUs over the years for builds I've done. Not had a single one fail to date [touch wood].

wazza300 · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:56

Sparx said:
Used plenty (15+) OCZ PSUs over the years for builds I've done. Not had a single one fail to date [touch wood].

good for you,ive seen plenty fail and lots of compatibility issues with ocz psu and gigabyte boards over on tweaktown

i dont wanna upset anyone but me personally i wouldnt buy one same goes for their ssd's,they make good memory though or used to,i had lots of ocz reaper memory and not one failed/faulty stick

chameleon · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:59

Bit of an odd one this. I unplugged the mobo and cpu connectors and the GFX card (both plugs)to test the PSU. I noticed when I did the test that the GFX card led briefly lit up. How could it do this if I unplugged it? As far as I can see, all I've left in are case fans and hard drives. I have no idea where it is getting a squirt of power from.

wazza300 · 30 Dec 2012 at 15:01

the motherboard stores power,it willl light up brielfy even after disconnecting all power cables,its just whats stored on the motherboard ect

setter · 30 Dec 2012 at 15:09

wazza300 said:
same goes for their ssd's,they make good memory though or used to,i had lots of ocz reaper memory and not one failed/faulty stick

Got a vertex 2e and im a bit wary of it tbh, a mate has been through 3 of them in a year. But, ocz's memory was excellent. Reaper kits were my ram of choice on my last four systems, heat pipes were a bit cumbersome though.

cammy5477 · 30 Dec 2012 at 15:12

wazza300 said:
its an ocz psu what do you expect

+1
OCZ psu are mince
any that I have had anyway

wazza300 · 30 Dec 2012 at 15:23

setter said:
Got a vertex 2e and im a bit wary of it tbh, a mate has been through 3 of them in a year. But, ocz's memory was excellent. Reaper kits were my ram of choice on my last four systems, heat pipes were a bit cumbersome though.

ive still got 3 kits of reaper tri channel,its great stuff,and yeah id keep a close eye on that ssd and get it backed up regularly

setter · 30 Dec 2012 at 15:44

Thankfully i dont keep much on it, bf3 being the most sizeable install. Have it backed up to another hdd and an external. Still using the reaper tri channel in my second system. Iirc, it cost £160.00 when new, nice tight timings of 7-7-7-24. Handled a nice oc as well to 1800mhz ono with the timings relaxed a bit.