A couple months ago I started having intermittent power issues (computer would be asleep and when I came back into the room it would be off, etc) until eventually all I could get was a light flicker on the case and the cpu fan spin for 1-2 seconds before power off. Also, I could only get this effect if I turned the PSU off then on again (I could not do it 2 times in a row with the PSU set to on). I figured my old 430W PSU had died after its good 3-4 years of service and bought a Corsair 600W PSU. That one had the same problem, only much faster–I think it only lasted 1 month.
I can’t seem to pin down what the problem is so I bought a new motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
And a new CPU (not overclocked):
AMD FX 4100 4-Core Processor, 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ FD4100WMGUSBX
New RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
and for good measure, a new case and a new DVD drive (Sony DVD-RW, not sure of exact specs but I can get them if it would help)
The only original items left are the graphics card and the HDD.
HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
(I can get HDD specs if needed)
I took all of the components to a shop to have them installed since having so much trouble made me worried that I was doing something wrong. My guy tells me the PSU is bad, that the voltage is fine but it is giving a PG number that was so high his meter wouldn’t register it.
The guy installs everything with yet another new PSU:
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 700W RS-700-PCAA-E3
Everything powers up fine, I take it home. The computer has turned itself off twice since then so I get a new surge protector and plug it into a different outlet. Last night it turned itself off in the middle of a program and won’t turn back on. No lights or anything, flicked the switch on the back does nothing.
If it is the PSU, I’ll be on my 4th in 6 months so I would love some help trying to figure out what is going on.
If you need specifications, I am more than happy to provide them but a little guidance as to which ones would be really helpful.
Also, I’ve built all of my machines (but would still consider myself to be an amateur) and I have never had a problem like this. No one seems to know what is going on–both on the internet and in person at shops.
Four in six months is crazy. From what you’ve described, I would have a professional electrician check the current to your house or apartment. Too little can do as much damage as too much. Surge protectors are not foolproof either.
You CAN have a wiring issue in your home or apartment that CAN cause problems with electronic equipment and some may be more susceptible than others. Ground faults, reverse connections (hot and neutral) are the most common, but overloaded circuits, a/c’s and refrigerators that are not on their own circuits and other things can also cause problems. You can purchase a plug in tester, probably at a home center that will test ground, hot, and neutral connections as far as the outlet is concerned, but I would suggest a professional, especially to check your breaker panel for overloads and improper wiring in general.
If the electrician reports that the wiring is good then ask him to do a number of voltage tests to see if possibly you are getting short periods of higher than normal voltage. This could mean that the power company’s transformer (usually on a pole nearby) is bad and he will need to report that to the power company.
If it is possible, you should have your refrigerator on a separate circuit as well as any air conditioners and the kitchen outlets at least should be on their own circuit. You also should have 100Amp service into the house and a main breaker that is marked as such. An apartment would need less but 60Amp service would be minimum.
When I first got married we lived in an apartment that was the upper floor of a converted house and we had only one 15Amp breaker for the entire apartment (in the basement apartment) and we had to turn off the a/c to run the toaster oven or the hair dryer. At the time the extent of our electronics were an old TV and a stereo (lots of puzzles though). Not great, but we were young.
I would recommend that you purchase a decent UPS rather than just using a surge protector, it will offer you much better, more sophisticated protection and battery back up to give you time to shut down during major power problems.