Power supply failure - hard to find

[Aleks]

I'm writing this just to share some experience that I had with a nasty PS failure. I had a 460W PS from Antec, running a Radeon 9800, 2 DVD's and 3 HD's on an ASUS A7N8X-E Mobo and it had been running OK for over a year.

Then the PC began to have a slower start and some unexplained crash to desktop while gaming. Also I seemed that lag increased in online gaming. I tried to scan my PC for virus and spyware but nothing was found. The slow start got slower and some HD failures started to occur. I scanned my HD's and repaired them but few day's later they crashed again.

I had to replace them a little later after series of crashes. I was getting really pissed. The graphic card seemed to be getting noisy and the unexplained crashes to desktop and sometimes with complete system crash. So one day when slow starting I opened the BIOS as I had done many times before and when checking everything once again I noticed in the power section of the BIOS that the 5V output level of the PS was only 4.45V!!! All other voltage values where OK. I got an old 400W PS and tried it and VOLA things went back to normal and it's still running strong after 3 weeks.

So after 6 months of slowly degrading PC, 2 HD losses, data loss + many hours of re-installing software, scanning my PC and searching on the net and in forums for a solution, I found out that a 0.55 V lover output on my 5V connection on my PS was the reason for this all.

Next time your PC starts acting strange and no virus/spyware is involved, try to check the voltage of your PS before checking anything else (takes a very short time) That could save a lot of frustration, time and money.

Regards

Aleks

[BURTON88]

well i dont think that if you have lower voltage that it will slow ur comp down all the time almost all my timings are lower than normal. I THINK!!!
5v i get 4.89v 3.5 i get 3.3v
my comp settings
am2 x2 4800+ oc to 2.75
2 gigs corsair xms2
700 watt ocz gamer xtream
2 7950gx2s in sli
dvd/cdrw drive
one 300 gig sata hd
thermaltake case alot of fans
creative xfi sound card

SO IS THIS OK CAN I GET MY COMPUTER FASTER IF I FIX THIS???? TY

[PrairieDawg]

BURTON88 the readings your are getting are in a normal range and should cause no problems. The 3.3v reading is exactly where it is supposed to be and the 4.89 is within tolerance I believe. The fact that Alexs' 5v was down to 4.45v would be a cause for concern and obviously was causeing problems. Hard to say if that was as low as it was getting during boot but it may have been even less as everything was spinning up.

[AMDATHLONFX]

Originally Posted by PrairieDawg

BURTON88 the readings your are getting are in a normal range and should cause no problems. The 3.3v reading is exactly where it is supposed to be and the 4.89 is within tolerance I believe. The fact that Alexs' 5v was down to 4.45v would be a cause for concern and obviously was causeing problems. Hard to say if that was as low as it was getting during boot but it may have been even less as everything was spinning up.

Ya, I also use to get 4.83-4.89 but 4.45 v is way too slow.I think this problem was only limited to the SMPS that he has.Antec is a specialized brand in these & they shouldn't have this kinda problems in their power supplies.Aleks, did u purchase the SMPS directly from Antec ? That's why I always buy stuffz from the company itself or from the Authorized Distributors & not from small shops although I can get them at a lesser price from these shops.

[Aleks]

Thx guy's for the help. The PS was bought with an ANTEC case (Sonata) from an authorized dealer. I did return the PS to the dealer but the guarantee was over so I had to buy a new one. I bought a 500W unit and things are running fine now, voltage is stable and I cross my fingers and hope that nothing fails.

[AMDATHLONFX]

Originally Posted by Aleks

Thx guy's for the help. The PS was bought with an ANTEC case (Sonata) from an authorized dealer. I did return the PS to the dealer but the guarantee was over so I had to buy a new one. I bought a 500W unit and things are running fine now, voltage is stable and I cross my fingers and hope that nothing fails.

All the best.It won't give u trouble nemore I think.

[wayout44]

Antec PSU's from 3-5yrs back used those bad green/silver GSC caps that always leak (just the same as the EPOX 8RDA+'s of the same period) and these will always wind up with the 5V rail failing.