I think my PSU is broken..

Kanaric

Kanaric

Kanaric

Associate
Joined
8 Apr 2009
Posts
7
Hi all,


I’ve bought a few components from ocuk over the years and browsed the forums for all the user reviews – you seem to be a knowledgeable bunch so I’ve come here for some advice because I think my psu is knackered… I was playing L4D when my brother, for god knows what reason, turned my pc off from the plug. Since then when I turn my computer on it starts up for about a second then goes silent for ~2/3 secs, then boots up. It starts loading vista but when its about to get to the password screen my monitor flashes up a no signal screen and goes into standby mode – the pc still runs tho (fans & lights still on).


My PC specs (bought it Jan/08):


Q6600 2.4Ghz @ 3.4Ghz
Asus p5k-e
Sparkle 8800 GT 512mb overclocked
Western Digital SATA2 320Gb
OCZ reaper 4 Gb DDR2 memory
580w Hiper type M
X-FI xtreme gamer 7.1
Antec 900


All the fans work (including graphics card), the motherboard isn’t making any error beeps and the HD sounds normal.


I think the psu got damaged and now it can’t produce enough power to start the system – is it possible that any other components were damaged? I’ve only had the confidence (and parts) to change the memory and there don’t appear to be any problems on that front.


If its just the psu I might just get a new one and possibly throw in an HD4890 in with the order, ocuk have been tempting me with the 4870 for weeks and then they drop the 4890 prices like a week after release – kinda glad I waited.


If I do need a new psu what would be your advice bearing in mind I’ll be upgrading the graphics card as well.

Thanks for your help.
 
its more likely to be a software corruption, can you boot into safe mode? If so try uninstalling (do a full driversweep) and reinstalling the gfx drivers
 
Have you tried booting into Safe Mode as it could be that the power down affected your Win installation, it's worth a try anyway.

It could well be your PSU, those Hiper's don't have a very good reputation around here - if you search you'll find a whole thread somewhere as the 'Dead Hiper's Owners Club' - I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions from that!

If you are looking to upgrade then whatever PSU you go for will need at least 2 x 6pin PCIe connectors for the 4870/90 series, (although pretty much all the decent brands on sale here will have that). You'll also need to decide if you want to go for a modular PSU giving better cable mgmt and thus case airflow.

People here will recommend (in no particluar order) Corsair, Coolermaster, BeQuiet!, Seasonic and Zalman.

For your setup I would think anything in the range of 500-600W shoulc be more than adequate and also give some room for expansion.

I would suggest Coolermaster RealPower 520W here or Corsair TX650 On this week offer here.
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

I just managed to boot up in safe mode so I'm gonna try to repair my vista install.

Even if it works I think I'll get a new psu - I just don't trust my Hiper anymore.

I might buy the BeQuiet! 650w modular psu and the Asus HD4890. I was checking the PSU thread on the same page and people seem to be favour of the BeQuiet! - not sure if its overkill for my system but the next one down is 550w.
 
Right, I'm stumped by this one.

I booted up in safe mode and uninstalled my graphics drivers then ran driversweeper. After I restarted windows managed to load up normally and vista automatically re-installed the graphics drivers. However, after restarting I got the same issue as before - no signal after the vista loading screen.
So once again I booted up in safe mode and uninstalled the graphics drivers- this time I deleted installation folders for previous drivers and right clicked computers\hardware and clicked don't check for drivers in the hope that I could re-install the correct drivers (185.12). I re-booted in safe mode to reinstall the drivers but once again vista installed some drivers. Well after cursing vista I re-started in normal mode but once again no signal after the loading screen.

So vista boots in safe mode and boots normally after I uninstall the graphics drivers but can't boot up with graphics drivers installed. Is the problem with my graphics card? PSU? Vista? Or am I just doing something incredibly stupid??
 
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Sound like the graphics card, I was gonna suggest that on reading your first post, the newer posts seem to confirm that.

If you can borrow/find another card and see if it works would be the easiest way to confirm.
 
Just some suggestions:

Clear the CMOS by taking out the battery.

At your own risk - edit the registry:-

When uninstalling the drivers before rebooting can you go into the registry (start, run, regedit) go to local machine> software>nvidia corp and look for NVidia entries - delete these.

Reboot, then you should have the option of installing fresh GPU drivers.
 
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