PSU Failure?

PSP83

PSP83

PSP83

Associate
Joined
11 Aug 2008
Posts
52
Hi All.

I turned my PC on today and it got past the POST, the windows logo appeared on screen and then there was a loud pop and a yellow/blueish flash from under the desk.. the surge protector blew and the house electrics got tripped.

Do you think it was the PSU that blew? there was a smell of electrical burning and you can still smell it in the room now.

I don't really want to turn it on again just in case anything else happens.

Could you suggest a good replacement? the PC is a Dell XPS 8100 and the PSU is 350w.

The PC is not used for gaming, just web development work (photoshop, eclipse, VM etc) & runs 2 x 24 inch monitors with 1 x 1.5 TB HDD, 8 GB RAM & NVIDIA GTS 240

I am going to upgrade the ram and add another HDD soon so the PSU needs to cover future upgrades.

Thanks for any advice/help given.

Paul
 
It does sound the PSU that has gone from your description.

What brand was it, if it had a brand?

I wouldn't advise turning it on at this moment. Better to purchase a replacement and use that to attempt a reboot.

A good replacement which will be reliable and will cover upgrades would be either of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.95
Total : £181.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
IncognitoX said:
It does sound the PSU that has gone from your description.

What brand was it, if it had a brand?

I wouldn't advise turning it on at this moment. Better to purchase a replacement and use that to attempt a reboot.

A good replacement which will be reliable and will cover upgrades would be either of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.95
Total : £181.92 (includes shipping : £10.00).

Click to expand...

dacads said:
XFX or Be Quiet will do the job
Click to expand...

It says "LITEON" on the side of the PSU : http://psp83.co.uk/pics/psu.jpg

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
There seems to be more then a few instances of psu's blowing just lately (mine included).

Paranoia speaking ...Has something changed with the uk's energy supply that our equipment isn't handling very well....
 
MadMatty said:
There seems to be more then a few instances of psu's blowing just lately (mine included).

Paranoia speaking ...Has something changed with the uk's energy supply that our equipment isn't handling very well....
Click to expand...

Wouldn't surprise me it's somebody messing around with local cabling - power went out for a few hours with me (in a built up area, and a very unusual occurance) a few weeks ago and turned out it was somebody stealing earth cabling from a local sub station. :(

Happens a lot apparently - and they tend to trip safety systems to get at things which causes nasty spikes and ripples on the power lines.
 
PSP83 said:
I've been looking around the PSU's and been reading about these 2..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-052-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-095-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

What do you think about these? I'm looking at modular as there's not much room for cables in my case and I'm planning on building a new PC in around a years time.
Click to expand...

The HX650W would definitely be a good choice as it's made by Seasonic who are top dogs in the PSU game :)

Although for that sort of money I would be looking to get a XFX(all units made by Seasonic)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-000-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1497
 
Another one!

Looks like mine has just blown too. System was running for about 5 mins and just turned off. No noise or anything. Tried to turn back on, fans moved for a fraction of a second, then there was a buzzing from the PSU and then the power through the house tripped out. It was a Corsair HX520 that I've had for about 7 years.
 
So in the end I've gone with a Corsair Professional Series HX+ 750W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply

The 650W had some bad reviews about the fan making a loud noise.

Also from what I've been reading, Corsair or anything made by Seasonic (and rebadged) is the ones to go for.

Thanks for the advice and pointing me in the right direction of good PSU brands.
 
No-One said:
Another one!

Looks like mine has just blown too. System was running for about 5 mins and just turned off. No noise or anything. Tried to turn back on, fans moved for a fraction of a second, then there was a buzzing from the PSU and then the power through the house tripped out. It was a Corsair HX520 that I've had for about 7 years.
Click to expand...

7 years is good though, hope nothing else got damaged.

I'm also hoping nothing else got damaged on mine, guess I will know tomorrow.
 
Hoping the same here even though I am overdue an upgrade. Still using a Q6600 system but I could do without the expense. At least I've got everything backed up on USB drives should my HDDs have died
 
No-One said:
Hoping the same here even though I am overdue an upgrade. Still using a Q6600 system but I could do without the expense. At least I've got everything backed up on USB drives should my HDDs have died
Click to expand...

Same here, my main PC gets backed up nightly to a NAS drive in RAID 1, then the NAS drive gets back up in the early hours to 2 other USB drives. I also clone my hard drive once a month.

My CPU is first gen i7 870.. But I've been thinking about doing a complete rebuild sometime this year, that's why I got the above power supply.
 
PSP83 said:
So in the end I've gone with a Corsair Professional Series HX+ 750W '80+ Gold' Modular Power Supply

The 650W had some bad reviews about the fan making a loud noise.

Also from what I've been reading, Corsair or anything made by Seasonic (and rebadged) is the ones to go for.

Thanks for the advice and pointing me in the right direction of good PSU brands.
Click to expand...


According to this at least the HX750 is still produced by CWT, not Seasonic. That's why I spent the extra few quid on an AX760 when mine blew the other day..
 
Oh well, it has to be better than the crappy ones dell puts in.

A very tight fit though in the 8100 case with some DIY to the case, had to remove the top USB & headphone ports to get it to fit.

Any suggestions on a reasonable price case with cable management ?

I've been looking at the Fractal Design Define R4, could I just transfer everything over from the 8100 case to a new one ?
 
I stripped my entire machine down yesterday to check for any visible signs of damage and couldn't find any. Also used to opportunity to clear out a years worth of dust. New PSU arrived today and everything is working again. Guess I was lucky after all the storied I've heard of failed PSUs taking other components with them.
 
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