new computer instability.
 

ok so I just built my new computer and for the first week everything was great.

it has started crashing tho. I'll just be using it and the screen will go black, the power light will turn off, the fans will stop spinning and if I push the power button nothing happens.

the status LED on the motherboard will still be lit up.

to get it to come back on I can wiggle the powersupply cables where they plug into the powersupply (its a modular one) When I wiggle the right cable the computer just turns on. Its the cables for the hd/cd/floppy

at first I could just wiggle the cable and it would come on, and then do it again in a day or 2.

now it is only staying on if I hold the cable, and its not always the same cable.

I'm pretty sure I must have gotten a bad power supply... or maybe its too weak, not really sure.

I was just wondering what you guys think.





heres a list of the parts I got, and I am also using a dvd burner and a 300gb ide hard drive and floppy that I already had before this computer.



<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148231">Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131149">ASUS Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003">Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116213">Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121025">ASUS EN7950GT/HTDP/512M GeForce 7950GT GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Splendid Video Card - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194002">ENERMAX Liberty ELT400AWT ATX12V 400W Power Supply - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145168">CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4D - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835209003">Antec 761345-75092-9 92mm Case Fan - Retail</a></strong><br>
<strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129018">Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail</a></strong><br>

Just a thought - the PSU doesn't look up to the task........


Fitz

Keep in mind that that 400 W on the PSU is MAX output, not consistent output. You look like you're actually close to that limit just with the parts you have. If you have another PSU of higher wattage, strip it and try it out. My novice opinion is just that it's an underpowered PSU; the symptoms sound just like the symptoms I had with an underpowered power supply.

If the ratings are correct the PSU _should_ be adequate. Real 400W supplies go a long way used correctly. That thing has modular cables and two rails. Make sure you're balancing output between the two 12V rails and not lumping everything onto one.

Try disconnecting power from the optical and maybe the extra HD and see if it lasts longer.

Edit: And of course make sure the fan is working. I see plenty of DOA temp-controlled fans take out power supplies.

I'm not sure how to tell which plugs are on which rail... assuming that the plugs on the top row are on one rail, and the other plugs are on the other, then I've tried it with all the peripherals on one rail and the vid card on another and the peripherals pretty balanced between the 2.

I disconnected my optical, extra hard drive, floppy drive and the 2 92mm case fans and it appeared to have no effect on it... it would only run for a few seconds.

The fan in the Powersupply IS working

The motherboard manual had a few tables in it describing the recomended powersupply for different devices included. the diagrams are on pages 2-33 and 2-34

heres a link to the pdf http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...8_commando.pdf

for the normal loading it recomends 394 Max watts

and thats for a system with an nvidia 8800 vid card and 4 sata drives and one ide drives and 4 usb devices... and everything else is comprable to what I have.

I need to get this figured out this week or next so I can RMA whatever part before spring break.

Just play around with the cables, the slots they're in and all that jazz. If you cant get it to improve, you may have to RMA it. The best way to figure if its the PS or not is to test with another one. However, I don't have to tell you how frustrating it would be to get a new PS and have the problem persist. Could be your mobo. Could even be your power socket.

the 7950 needs more then 400 watts, the 7950GT i have (evga) needs 450 watts. i'd go with a 600 watt PSU just to have some room to grow,my 600 had no trouble with my dual 680 ultra and 4 hard drives.

Dilbert, I don't think that's correct. Those are very efficient cards.

Here are some numbers from a full-tilt draw test over at xbit labs:

(single card requirements)
7950 GX2 ________ 110W
7900 GX2 ________ 143W
7900 GTX ________ 84W
7950 GT _________ 49W
7900 GT _________ 48W
7900 GS _________ 45W
7800 GTX 512_____ 94W
7800 GTX ________ 80W
7800 GT _________ 56W
7800 GS _________ 52W
7600 GT _________ 36W

The cable wiggling thing doesn't say anything good. I'll go along with the idea this one (or its cables) is toast. The rating is adequate.

BTW, regarding splitting the power correctly: I found a bad picture of the modular jacks. It looks like they're labeled with stamps in the case. Can you see better whether those indicate anything about 12v1 or 12v2?

Have you tried checking the PSU outputs? Even running speedfan would be enough. If the 12v is low it can cause all kinds of unstable badness.

reading from the box that came with my card, it says 450 required.

Yea, the mfg's are notorious for posting bogus power requirements for their cards. Doesn't help that dealers love to oversell on parts. I've heard more than a couple salespeople claim the higher the power rating the better the card. So much for silicon progress.

GigaWatt PSUs have become the builder's chrome wheels.

If wiggling the cables didn't point to a real problem I'd say that Enermax (with two 20A 12v rails!) is more than enough for his system. With his choice of video cards he could get by with a good 350W supply.

For grins, this is a pretty good PSU calculator.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

The PSU may or may not be up to the task (IMHO it's probably up to the task, but just barely, so any loss of efficiency and he's sunk), but I'm wondering if maybe the PSU wasnt' damaged from excessive heat. According to the parts list there's only one case fan. I can't see how you could cool that computer with only one fan. One of my boxes is a lot less powerful and still has 4 case fans. The daily driver (i.e. the powerful one) has 4 as well, and if they weren't 120mm (with one 9cm one on the side) I'd need more than that.

If I were you I'd add a case fan or two, and replace the PSU with something that'll be a bit more comfortable. I like Sparkle and Thermaltake Toughpower PSU's. Get a 600 this time ;)

I Added 2 92 mm case fans to the front of the case that didnt come with it.

putting my hand behind the 120 theres a good bit of air moving, and behind the powersupply the air was moving more slowly, and was pretty warm, but it was still moving pretty well.

but yah, I'm gonna go ahead and return this and get something a bit more powerful.

It sounds like a bad power supply, 400 watts should be adequate, but you could go up to a 480 just to be safe. I just built my rig with a 480 W thermaltake PS, I'm running dual 7200 rpm hard drives, 256 mgb pci express graphics card, sound card, thermaltake fan controller, athlon 64-3700 processor, 2 gigs corsair ram, dvd burner, floppy, ethernet....and yada yada yada....I still have power to spare.

from the PSU:

Rails
+12v1 20A
+12v2 20A
-12v 0.6a
+5v 28A
+5v sb 3A
+3.3v 26A

however, the sum of the 12 volt rails cannot exceed 30 amps. that is not mentioned on the newegg page but is reference on the enermax page.

the GPU is about 4 amps, if you balance the load between the 2 rails, you may be able to get it to work, personally I'd just throw a bigger PSU at it, the PSU will not have to work as hard, reducing heat and noise.

I'm able to return the 400w for a full refund...

getting this one as a replacement
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153040

Nice, but that is way overkill unless you have big plans for your box.

Heres a 470 watt for half the price. I bought all my computer parts here, I think you're in Texas so shipping should be fairly cheap for you.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?MfrId=1182&Nav=|c:1078|&Sort=3&Recs=10

tiger direct sucks
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/n...igerDirect.com

the 650 is over kill, however, it should run nice and quiet, due to the low load.

agreed Dilbert. I prefer having overkill in my setups, and the toughpower line is excellent.

yah I know its overkill... but better too much then not enough..

and eventually I'd like to get a few more hard drives so this leaves some room

Well thats strange, I built my whole computer from parts from tiger direct, they have the best prices, excellent customer service, and fast shipping. I've run my processor at 100% for hours on end, never had a problem with any part.....if that sucks then I'll take all that I can get!:)

then you are a lucky one.

Why do you say that??? :confused: If you're on the west coast, why would you order from a co in Fl.??? I order from there because shipping from CA. is to high, If I lived in CA, I probably wouldnt order from tiger...thats just me...

Rebates. Tiger drives people crazy with their fulfillment. I've bought a few things from them but ignore the rebate price. My head hurts already. :)

Zipzoomfly is pretty good for power supplies. They ship fedex ground for free, and since their prices are about neweggs you can save. Probably not worth splitting a 1piece order but I feel it buying several at once.

Jstrider, watch your +12v and you could save $100. If you're interested, connect a simple ammeter to your power cord, spin everything up and watch the load. Double it for sleep/startup safety and I'm betting you'll still see 375-400W. The reserve lets you do things wrong and get away with it, but that's an expensive fudge.

Just an example: My most recent RAID/HTPC box is an AMD 64 X2 4400 with 1GB, X1950Pro video, PCI Audigy, 4xWD RE 500GB drives, 2xpata boot mirror, 2xopticals, 3xcase fans (@7v), and it runs cool and quiet under 24/7 full exercised load on a $50 PSU.

Tigerdirect has screwed me on a number of rebates. I am awful certain I completed them accurately (I spent a good deal of time going over them), and I don't think I've ever got them. The hardware has turned out to be excellent (250gb external, works like a dream and has covered my ass daily!), so I'd gladly pay full price - but I'm very cautious when dealing with TigerDirect.

@cyrnel - Now I feel bad. What's this 2x PATA boot mirror? Care to share details? I'm curious.

It's just a mirrored pair of PATA 160's. Barely any point to it, but old 120's and 160's are coming out my ears since I gutted my old servers. The 4xWDs are RAID5.

The PSU is an FSP 450. No bling, crude cables, but very clean output and they're cheap.

@cyrnel, hope those are on different channels... ;)