Think my PSU failed

[PK|Conflict]

Hey guys bit of a problem here - started up my comp there and it started smoking from the PSU and i have no idea what caused it, though i have been getting a chip fan start up failure message and increasingly slower load ups for ages now but im thinking thats unrelated.
Would appreciate if someone could help me out here, needa know basically what damage its done ( ie ive heard i could have damaged by mobo as well as other things ) and what i should replace the PSU with considering the last one was 600 watt and i have SLI?
Much appreciated lads :D

[PK|ReUsed]

I remember my old monitor started smoking when i was playing AOE2.... Still, a flaming monitor didn't panic me too much, i calmly saved my game and exited, so I could do a proper shutdown.

Upon reflection, it would have made sense to switch off the monitor and do this blind after having saved my game though. And before you question whether I should have been saving or not, I was on a hard mission of genghis khan's and made real progress. I'll be fucked if i was to lose that :|

[PK|Cerro]

Here's a list of tiered PSU's - gives you a good outline of who to trust, what to look for and the kind of thing you need!

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

Note: Mines the Silverstone ST75ZF (750W) - as I intend using a high-end SLI solution later!

If you want to know pretty much everything in detail about PSU's read this:

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/PSU-101-ftopict198276.html

Follow up the links at the bottom too - covers alot more indepth stuff. But if you'd rather just pick out a reliable PSU choose one from the first link (Tier 2/3 should do your needs - Tier 1 if you intend upgrading heavily.)

As for what the PSU might have taken with it... could be anything - Hard disks, Mobo, cpu, gfx cards - anything that is hooked directly into it is at risk (thats why you should always buy a good one). Mine's cost £90ish but thats cheap for a high end PSU - last thing you want is an expensive PC being destroyed by a cheap PSU.

[PK|Lemming]

*If* anything else has failed, its most likely going to be your mobo, however you probably wont find out until after you've got the new PSU.

If it still wont start with a new PSU installed, fully dismantle it, then find a friend who's prepared to help you "test" parts. Use thier PC to test each of your bits, RAMM CPU HDD Graphics 1 item at a time. so thats 1 stick of ram, 1 card from your SLI setup etc.


It takes a while, but a dying PSU can take out the mobo AND sometimes other bits with it, so its a good way to build a 1 time shopping list for replacements.

[PK|Cerro]

Chip fan failure sounds like an issue with the chipset fan on your mobo - probably not related. If you replace your PSU and find it still gives that error then get that fixed or your mobo will soon be on its way out!

However when a PSU is on its way out it tends to create all sorts of problems, so randomly generated errors like the one you got was perhaps a sign of it dying - i'd have expected other problems with your PC, like random reboots, freezing, lost configuration (like sli or bios settings) or BSODs - so maybe you've been lucky and the PSU hasn't taken anything with it since it hasn't completely died yet.

[PK|Conflict]

Yea computer wont turn on anymore fullstop no fan turning no action what so ever when i flick the switch, though unsurprising since I had a chance to take everything apart today - psu is well and truly melted, im pretty sure if i turned it off any later it would have went up in flames.
Funnily enough now that you mention it an odd time I would boot up my comp and leave the cpu failure message up for awile then continue to load up it would randomly restart my comp as soon as i got into windows, no real random restarts if i got into windows successfully though.

Really wouldnt mind if my mobo failed hopefully taking the processer with it, pile of crap AMD X2, btw will me testing parts in a friends computer damage it at all if a part has failed ?

[PK|Cerro]

Nah testing dud parts won't do anything to your mates PC. Might fuck up the configuration - since a lot of stuff is automatically configured or installed for his hardware. Like drivers for his gfx card - won't work unless they are the same brand and possibly range and bios settings, since swapping cpu's and mobo's will mean a completely different system (as far as the bios is concerned anyway).

Best bet is to try your mobo and cpu as 1 first - that way, if it works you've no need to test them seperately. Then HDDs, gfx (pain), soundcards etc... If the cpu/mobo combo doesn't work it means that one part is dead or both, then you can test them seperately or just bin it and build something new.

If the PSU melted then something went seriously wrong :eek: Mind you i'd be glad to be rid of an X2 as well.

Whats your PC spec, you might be able to get away with a simple upgrade of parts. But if you have to replace the mobo and cpu, might as well switch to C2D.

[PK|Conflict]

Think ill bin my X2 its not worth its weight in shite anyway, any recommendations for a new mobo/processer ?

[PK|Cerro]

I posted some suggestions in 3fps's thread but there's a few alternatives depending on what you want to spend. If you want cheap - go with what I put in that thread but not for SLI. (http://www.clanpk.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2134)

Although I know the E4300 is going down in price soonish along with the E4400 coming out at the same price - but i've no idea how good it will be (but like the 4300 it will have very good overclocking potential). If you're not bothered with an OC but want a better processor look at the E6300/6400 but again newer revision of those chips are coming 6350/6450s - more cache, same price.

Mobo's well some 965P's do SLI but they've got mixed results (Im assuming you want to keep your gfx cards). Best bet is the new nforce boards, 650i (mainstream/budget) or 680i (enthusiast) - since both of these chipsets support SLI fully - with higher express lanes. If you want I can give you a list of boards that are I'd recommend and are reliable! You just need to decide if you want to overclock or stick with stock - I recommend OCing because its cheaper and very easy these days and you can get alot, doing very little (more than you'd get paying for sticking with stock stuff)

Also remember if you switch to C2D you'll need DDR2 ram.

[PK|Colonel Ames]

Think ill bin my X2 its not worth its weight in shite anyway, any recommendations for a new mobo/processer ? it depends on yer budget. if you want top of the line get the Intel quad core (you could wait for the AMD quad core that'll blow Intel to shit but you might be waiting a while.) Intell have the edge at the top ATM.
if your budge is mid range tho, head for a high spec AMD X2. they are slighly fast than the Intels of the same spec.

[PK|Cerro]

X2's are a nightmare... they are nowhere near the potential of the mid-rang core 2's. E4300 is the low end CPU and it beats most AMDs and once overclocked (which is easily done to 2.6Ghz on stock cooling or 3Ghz with aftermarket) it annihilates AMD, especially in the price-performance ratio! Name an AMD that will do that for less than £100? And remember, Core 2's do more per clock cycle than AMD's now...

New AMD's have been bleating about "improved power" and early indications have shown the new AMD is not going to be a vast improvement - and its 6 months off. That's why AMD have bought ATI so they can package their deals and go with graphics as much as cpu's. AMD are worried, because they have to make up alot of ground, so if they can't they will at least have two areas to focus on, so if one stuggles (cpu) they can focus more on the other (gfx). Plus intel have the lion's share on inbuilt gfx - which AMD are trying to cut into.

Conflict already got a spec - Evga 680i (dodgy board but vastly improved with latest bios) E4300 and some new ram that will handle a modest overclock.

[PK|Deep Blue]

My northbridge fan hasnt worked in yonks, nothing wrong with my pc :D

[PK|Cerro]

hehe my NB doesn't even have a fan!

[PK|Colonel Ames]

was gonna make an Intel Joke there but thought better of it. Cam would start crying again

[PK|Cerro]

Why would I? Intel are whopping ass! AMD are losing money hand over fist - they just can't complete because intels are better in every way, on every level and AMD can't even get enough stock of its low end junk - its so bad, they are looking at "cost cutting"