Multiple blown PSUs!

alex.mc

alex.mc

alex.mc

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5 Sep 2012
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8
I have a problem that has been going on for some time, and I've yet to get on top of, mainly through not having the time, and the usual life gets in the way stuff!

Built a PC last year, the essentials are:

Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Z68 Socket 1155
i5 2500K
16gig G-skill ripjaws 1600mhz DDR3
OCZ Aglity 120gig SSD
XFX HD 6870 video card

The video card came about a month after the build and I fitted a bigger power supply, of about 600 watts?
All was fine for about 3 months. Then one day I came back in and the PC was dead and wouldn't fire up. Dead power supply so replaced it under warranty.

Another month or two, and then "Bang!" the PSU went pop and all was dead! The shop who supplied the PSU said they only replaced a faulty PSU once as policy, and so in desperation I went elsewhere as I needed to get the PC working pronto!

I won't bore you all with the details, but due to a massively difficult past few months the PSU's (650, 750 and 880 watts!) have all gone bang, but leave the motherboard and all other components apparently fine and working!

I've just taken apart the last PSU to have a look (Not returning it, they would bolt the doors seeing me coming!) and there's a small 8 leg chip with it's top blown off. The source of the bang I reckon.

Cutting to the chase, I feel it's the motherboard causing this. I guess the other culprit could be the XFX 6870, but it would apparently fail when the card was at idle, and be fine when the card was working hard?
I've had the Motherboard out earlier nin the process and checked for any possible shorts/correct stand-off placement etc. I'm confident that nothing was ever wrong on that account.

Anybody had anything similar? I prepared to replace the motherboard if needed, but would like some opinion.

Many thanks.
 
Hi and welcome to the forums. :)

Can you remember the makes and models of these psu's? Were they generic/unbranded or cheap ones? Cheap psu's will never get close to delivering their stated outputs, are built down to a price using substandard components, have weak rails, are inefficient and lack any decent protection.
 
Very unlikely that it's any of the components causing this. Cheap PSU or external power supply (wiring in the building) are more likely to cause it if it's not on a UPS. UPS can usually tell you what the problem is too and protect against it.

I'm assuming it is connected to a surge protector?
 
First was one of these "removed"
Second was one of these "removed"
Third was an XFX PSU "removed"
And fourth was "removed"

PSUs will always fail at the worst possible point of course and I should add that In each case I was desperate to get my PC working again so I could access my data for invoicing customers etc. So it was generally a case of dashing out and buying something to stick in to get back up and running!

I thought the XFX should do the trick being better rated!

It was on a surge protector yes..... but it's the same surge protector my previous two PCs were on.

The failures seem random? It has failed when firing up a game and therefore the 6870 card...... and yet it would also fail when doing nothing and merely being in standby.

I'm in a different house now, with different wiring of course. I wonder if I ought to invest in another PSU of quality, and try again without the old surge protector? The other PC here has not had a problem.
 
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The XFX should have been ok as it's a good psu but the other 3 were rubbish. You may have a wiring fault in the house as it seems to be too random when they blow. It's highly unlikley that a component could cause the psu's to blow.

I would remove the link if i were you as they are classed as a competitor and breaks the forum rules.
 
Ok, done..... new here so don't want to upset the mods!;)

I can pick up an OCZ ZS750W-UK reasonably locally for an OK price. So I might give that a try under the new conditions?
 
A 500w reliable PSU is enough, but yes, give it a go with the surge protector. The XFX should have been fine since it's made from Seasonic, so something is causing these PSU deaths...
 
The old house had several PCs over a few years, all on the same surge protector. The last PC is the one spec'd in the original post and is the one which has had all these problems.

The new hause has recently been Electrically tested for it's certificates and comes up fine.

So..... I will purchase a new PSU, the OCZ mentioned, and a new surge protector..... and give it a try. In a slightly cynical frame of mind, I will at least get one return or swap to the retailer if the problem continues in the new house and wiring set-up.
I'm not going to shed any tears really for the retailer though if I do as it's that large one with branches everywhere!
 
Dont waste money on buying cheap PSU as it gets expensive in the long run, invest in a seasonic and stay far away from corsair great RMA but their quality has gone downhill.
 
Reigan said:
Dont waste money on buying cheap PSU as it gets expensive in the long run, invest in a seasonic and stay far away from corsair great RMA but their quality has gone downhill.
Click to expand...

VX550, TX750 & 850, HX1000 are CWT. The rest are made by Seasonic.
 
Not any more they're not. All Corsair psu's are now CWT apart from the HX 650, AX 650/750/850 which are made by Seasonic and the AX 1200 which is made by Flextronics. Breakdown of who makes what here.
 
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Well my HX1000 was probably the least likely thing to fail I've bought and it caused a huge explosion lol sacred the heck out of me. everything else was ok though. I've not had a blowout on coolermaster gold yet fingers crossed. The xfx wouldn't blow up with that card no way it's a good brand of psu. Something must be wrong here.
 
So the surge protector was used on every PSU in both houses - yet you plan to buy another surge protector? It obviously isn't doing anything and as I mentioned, is more than likely the cause of your problem.
 
I popped out yesterday and picked up the OCZ 750w PSU I mentioned above, and amongst a busy day managed to install it.
I didn't have much time, but fired it up (without surge protector) but got BSOD'd straight off! I got an irql_not_less_or_equal so I'll have to have a look at that....... but at least the PSU hasn't gone bang! :-)
I did use the same surge protector on all my PCs the past 8/9 years yes..... but this is the first time I've really had any major trouble. I have to say I'm not overly convinced by their use.
 
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