Sporadic shutdown - Power Supply Problem?

whisper

whisper

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 16, 2003
Messages
466
I've been busy at work and hadn't sat down at my system for a couple days. Now, suddenly, it will not stay powered for more than 2-3 minutes at a time. At random moments it simply shuts off - no shutdown routine, no blue screen and no red flags in the event monitors. Just looses power and that's that. The mobo is at least getting a little juice because the on-board lights remain on even after the system itself has turned off. Does this seem likely to be a power supply issue or something else:confused:

Specs are in my sig, expect that I added a 1TB western digital hdd back in June with no problems until now. It's a dated rig I realize but sufficient for my needs. Power supply is definitely the oldest component as I carried it over from my previous build in 2003 (AthlonXP 2100+ system). I am really hoping I can just plunk down $100 on a new PS and get back to normal...

Thanks everyone
 
This definitely sounds like a bad PSU. Complete shutdowns shortly after booting with no warning are definitely symptoms, and sometimes you might even catch a burning smell before this starts happening.
 
Okay, that's what I was thinking but I just hadn't experienced this before. Not sure I've noticed any burning smell but I'm not taking any chances with the rest of my equipment - seems I should probably replace the PSU before attempting to power up again.

Still seems weird that it was perfectly fine one day, then suddenly it just craps out. I guess this is pretty typical for a PSU failure?

Thanks again.
 
Is your sig up-to-date? I hope you aren't running the older TruePower...
 
Mav451 said:
Is your sig up-to-date? I hope you aren't running the older TruePower...
Click to expand...

The sig is up to date, at least for now. It's an Antec "True430" PSU that came with a case I bought back in 2003. I had been been running it almost every day for the past 6 years, first in my old AthlonXP 2100+ and then in the newer Opteron system, until a couple days ago when this started. I'm guessing it's a miracle it lasted this long?

What do you guys think of the Corsair TX 650 PSU? Seems to get pretty good ratings, and one of the only ones I can find in its price range with the single dedicated +12V rail. That's what I'm thinking of grabbing this weekend.
 
I went down to Micro Center and ended up with a TX750. With all the rebates it was only $10 more so definitely seemed like the right choice. I've been running with no problems for 20 minutes now:) Seems silly but that's actually a good sign. I literally couldn't go more than 3 minutes without losing power before.

Btw, for anyone looking for a new PSU the TX750 seems pretty sweet. I have tons of connectors now and all the cabling is nicely sleeved, plus I believe the quality in general is very good. I don't think I'll need to upgrade this PSU for quite a long time, though maybe I'll think again before I let it go another 6 years:rolleyes:
 
the CPU over heat can also do this. Mine was couple days ago, cranked up all the fan, and now it's stable to run WoW/Aion for hours. GL.
 
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