New PSU advice for an AGP Socket 478 system

sachinbadiani

sachinbadiani

sachinbadiani

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27 Mar 2005
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Kent, England
Hey,

I've had my computer for 3 years and I've never had a problem like this before.

My computer just switched off this morning. I'm wondering what the problem is. It now powers on for less than a few seconds. Then it oes off. There is no video on the screen (then again it needs a lot more seconds for video to come on the screen). Then it won't power on, unless I switch the on/off button on the back of the PSU. The PSU I'm using is an Antec 350W Model SL350SP (which came with the Antec Tower I bought 3 years ago from OCUK).

I've tried changing the cable for the power and reset switches on the motherboard and it makes no difference. The motherboard light and the network card light's are on. I've tried changing the power supply cord as well.

I've looked on this website and someone has recently mentioned about multimeters which I will get hold off today and testing the PSU. My guess is that the PSU is not right. I've checked the graphics card and it's spinning... I've disconnected the power cord from the graphics card, expecting a loud beep when power is switched on, but I still get the above problem.

My CPU is a P4 3.0 ghz Socket 478 processor and I'm using a Abit IC7 motherboard which is AGP (using a Geforce 7600GT). Now lets assume now it's the problem with the PSU, because some people have had the same problem and found a new PSU cured their problem.

Can anyone recommend a new PSU for this system. I want one which will work with an AGP system and works on an Ver ATX2.0 motherboard (which most do :p) and has a high enough PSU wattage and one which is reliable and stable and has a good reputation. Even if PSU's say they come with PCI-E leads, it should still come with normal 4 pin connectors (of which I can plug more 4 pin connectors (and SATA power connectors))? This would allow future use for a new system?

Thanking you in advance.
 
Lets say £100 or below. As long as it will work now on AGP system and in the future on a new system (such as Core2 and PCI-E motherboard and devices). And it's a good make and model.
 
A Corsair HX 520w or 620w is the obvious suggestion if you need a new PSU, both within your budget and they are quality plus modular so you don't need to connect every lead if you want to keep it neater. :)
 
I'll third the Corsair suggestion - everything about it just says quality. The other one I might be tempted to look at is the Enermax Liberty.

EDIT: All these are probably overkill for your current system, but since you want to keep it for future upgrades and obviously keep your PSUs a while, they're worth it I'd say.
 
Thanks guys,

I'll go for the Cosair PSUs. I'm going to decide whether to go for 520W or 620W - I got till the end of today before I place the order.

Is it true what they say, it's not the total wattage, but the reliability of the railings that is more important?

I'm off to get the multimeter.
 
I'll be purchasing the arctic thermal compound syringe just in case as well since I can't find my old syringe. This is just on the of-chance the PSU doesn't solve the problem.
 
Checked the CPU Fan is still spinning correctly and not clogged with dust etc? Could be automatically shutting down due to overheating.
 
I used the compressed air cannister to clean out the dust and cobwebs. Once the new PSU comes in on Wednesday, I'll be doing the hoover in the case, and taking the CPU fan out of the Zalman (the flower heatsink one) and cleaning the fins. I've removed quite a lot of dust today though.
 
Thank you all. :D OCUK have delivered once again.

As you can tell from the smiley, all is well. It was the power supply unit of the Antec which was the culprit. I will be very sad to see this PSU go which has served me well since I got the case :(

I therefore welcome Cosair 620W PSU into my life. I can't believe its cabling is so tidy. Granted the motherboard power cable is short - I bought an extension cable (which I don't need in this case, but will be useful in future build). I tested the PSU out of the case to make sure it was working (no harddrives were connected - only the motherboard and video card). Then I installed into the case, and connected the harddrives (the 7 internal ones in my case).

You should have seen the shock when my C: drive and other were not detected! :eek: So I checked the cabling and found the two were loose (the SATA cable that is). So I connected them properly and my sweat disappeared.

Thanks again guys for recommending me a very good PSU. May it live a long long life. :cool:

My next question in the future will be what good, but cheaper, PSU do you recommend to replace the Cosair for my current build once I get a new build...
 
At the same time, I used the hoover to clean the case - including the fan and in the harddrives cage and all round the graphics card and pci cards. So much dust and cobwebs. The heatsinks (both the northbridge and the cpu) are cleaned.
 
Good you got it working again, if you want a cheap(ish) PSU for the future then my suggestion would be to look towards Akasa and FSP, anything in the 400w or above range should do it. :)
 
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