Windows 7 Power Supply

seekermeister

Honorable Member
I need to order a new power supply for one of my computers, and I have a pretty good idea of what to look for, except in one respect...brand. I ask this question because of problems I've had in the past with two well known brands...Antec and Gigabyte, which I don't want to repeat anything similar with.

I'm familiar with the major brands, at least by name, but is there one in particular that stands out from the others in ~750 watt modular unit? Anything new that has come out in the last 3-4 years that I should know about.
 
Thanks, but my thinking has taken a turn...it might be a good time to get a new case, instead of just a PSU, if there is such a thing as a good case that already has a good PSU with it? I know that in the past, the PSUs in such cases were low-end units, but is there something new that would fit the bill? The case I have is a very good one {Antec SX1040BII), except that it crowds the components too much, making it difficult to assemble and disassemble, plus the cooling is not all that good either.
 
As far as cases go, the key is size, air flow and cable management. Brands are subject to trends and preferences. I use a full tower case, which has plenty of room for future components and water cooling if I wanted to go that route and plenty of options for cable management. My PSU is a fully modular PSU, which means I only use the cables I need, which helps with cable management and air flow. Here is my case and PSU.

Just some ideas for you....check out my full specs in my profile area under the information tab.

Case - Thermaltake Overseer RX1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133194

PSU - Ultra X4 750 watt full modular http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1583410
 
It now looks as though my testing was wrong. Previously I just pulled the ATX cable and connected it to my PSU tester, and got no indication of power, but after pulling the PSU totally out, it now tests as okay. Now I've got to put it all back together again, and see what happens.
 
It now looks as though my testing was wrong. Previously I just pulled the ATX cable and connected it to my PSU tester, and got no indication of power, but after pulling the PSU totally out, it now tests as okay. Now I've got to put it all back together again, and see what happens.

Not good...could mean either part of the mobo or the whole mobo has died or the CPU has died. Do you have a back up or can barrow one for testing? Once the PSU is back in, does it boot to the BIOS and into the OS?
 
As far as cases go, the key is size, air flow and cable management. Brands are subject to trends and preferences. I use a full tower case, which has plenty of room for future components and water cooling if I wanted to go that route and plenty of options for cable management. My PSU is a fully modular PSU, which means I only use the cables I need, which helps with cable management and air flow. Here is my case and PSU.

Just some ideas for you....check out my full specs in my profile area under the information tab.

Case - Thermaltake Overseer RX1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133194

PSU - Ultra X4 750 watt full modular http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1583410

That's a nice case, I especially like the integral docking station. I noticed that the specs said that it is made of steel and plastic...how much plastic is there?
 
the top and front removable panels where the fans are is all...rest is steel.
 
Not good...could mean either part of the mobo or the whole mobo has died or the CPU has died. Do you have a back up or can barrow one for testing? Once the PSU is back in, does it boot to the BIOS and into the OS?
The only answer that I have to those questions now is the the computer was totally dead, so no BIOS, fans or anything else. Even if the motherboard had died, it seems as though I still should have gotten a power indication on the tester via the ATX cable.
 
The only answer that I have to those questions now is the the computer was totally dead, so no BIOS, fans or anything else. Even if the motherboard had died, it seems as though I still should have gotten a power indication on the tester via the ATX cable.

Yes, you should have....which tells me either the tester is bad or more then likely the PSU is bad.
 
Yes, you should have....which tells me either the tester is bad or more then likely the PSU is bad.
Either is possible, but the question now is how to determine which? I guess it would be a safe bet that it is the PSU, if it still won't power on after reassembly...unless if it's possible that one of the other output cables I had left connected before caused the problem by way of some kind of short in the motherboard?
 
The only way to physically check is to get a known good working PSU...check it with the tester to verify the tester works. Then install the known good working PSU into your system to see if it boots up. If both check out, then you'll know it's your PSU.
 
I did as suggested and tested with another PSU and the tester appears okay. I then re-installed the original...at least as far as the ATX and CPU cables and the fans and lights came on. Haven't had time to complete the installation, but think it will work. The only reason that I can imagine for the problem is if it did as with an older Antec PSU once, and tripped some kind of protection, and wouldn't reset itself normally, but disconnecting the power for a time didn't fix it, as it had in the past. This reason alone is enough that when I do replace it, it won't be with another Antec. Hopefully I won't need to replace it any time soon. I would prefer to spend the money on a new case and another Noctua cooling fan for the CPU.
 
I started to finish the job of reconnecting the PSU, but ran into exactly the opposite problem as before. Now, with only the ATX and CPU cables connected, the computer attempts to boot as soon as I plug in the power cable in the back. Even with the front power button disconnected and after checking that nothing else might be shorting across the power pins on the motherboard, it powers on in this fashion every time the power cable is plugged in. Something is going crazy and I don't think it is me.
 
So we know the original PSU is OK, now re-connecting it gives you the problem described in post #14 which tells me it's either the mobo, the mobo ATX slot that might be the culprit.
 
I concur that there must be a problem with the motherboard, but the question is whether it can be fixed...by a means within my grasp?
 
Yes and no.... If you want to painstakingly go through each solder point on the mobo with a multimeter but you have to know what each part on the mobo and their voltages. For the everyday user or home IT technician, this beyond there means and would require the mobo to be sent off to the vendors repair site. Mobo's can and do go bad from time to time, I had one go down which started me off on building my PC's.
 
The only problem with it being a bad motherboard, is that the computer it is in is my secondary (HTPC), which is an old socket 939 system. If I replace it with something newer, it means replacing the CPU and RAM also, which is more expensive than I care to consider. The only option left is to buy another used motherboard, which doesn't thrill me either.
 
Yeah....I know...damned if you do and damned if you don't. What is the brand/make/model of the mobo, maybe we can find a new one some where for next to nothing.
 
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. I believe that finding a new one is a futile hope. Even the used ones go for $110-$160 or more on eBay at this time, and new ones is just a faint memory.

EDIT: Surprisingly I found what apears to be a new one on Amazon, but they want $330 dollars for it, which is more than I'm willing to pay.

EDIT: The Amazon offer is even worse than I thought, because it is only for an A8N-SLI Deluxe, not an A8N32-SLI Deluxe.
 
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