Can a pulsating PSU damage my hardware?

[Trente]

Hi all..

I have the same power supply and motherboard as this guy, only difference is mine pulsates all the time, while the intervals between each pulse grow bigger.

I checked the inside and all the fans are operating while the PSU is pulsating (CPU fan, chipset fan, chassis fan, PSU fan) but optical drives are not responding to an 'Eject' and the HD is off.
Obviously the minute I power down the system I cut off electricity to the PSU but as a direct result of normal human responses, it still manages to pulsate a few times.

Am I risking damage to all, or some of my components while operating like this?
If so, which ones are affected the most? I have to state that I experience NO stability issues and voltage values read by a monitoring program seem fine.

I was told that the motherboard could also be the blame but it seems that most likely the PSU is the culprit.

Is FSP considered a reliable brand among PSU manufacturers?

Thanks.

 

[Overkiller]

I would stay away from using your computer until you can get the power supply fixed. What are your system specs? Everyone forgets about power supplies when they build systems. I would stick with a Seasonic power supply. You pay a little more but you will get a quality psu that will last you a very long time; potentially multiple rigs. You do not want to save 30 bucks on a psu and end up frying $800 worth of pc parts. Just my .02..Good luck

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Overkiller
I would stay away from using your computer until you can get the power supply fixed.

QFT

If you have the original receipt, and you've owned it for less than 3 yrs., you may want to contact Antec support for an RMA. While the receipt isn't absolutely necessary for an RMA, if the decal with the mfg. date on the psu is beyond 3 yrs. you are out of luck.

Is FSP considered a reliable brand among PSU manufacturers?

They are respectable, but there are better alternatives. A low-cost and popular solution is the Seasonic built Antec EarthWatts. They feature a single 12V rail, quiet fan, 3 yr. warranty, full power output rated @ 50C, and 80+ efficiency.

EarthWatts reviews:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=51
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article684-page1.html
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com...wer-supply-review.html

If you want to step up to a higher end Seasonic built psu you may want to consider the Corsair VX450/HX520/HX620/TX650 depending on your power requirements and future component upgrades. Like the EarthWatts, all feature a single 12V rail, but a few key differences are a 5 yr. warranty, better components/build quality, and they are some of the quietest psu's on the market.

 

[SparkyJJO]

John, IIRC the VX and TX are not Seasonic built. Still good units though.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
John, IIRC the VX and TX are not Seasonic built. Still good units though.

VX450 & TX650 = Seasonic
VX550 & TX750 = CWT

 

[Yellowbeard]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
John, IIRC the VX and TX are not Seasonic built. Still good units though.

VX450 & TX650 = Seasonic
VX550 & TX750 = CWT

Thanks for the clarification John. To the OP, in general PSUs can damage your PC in 2 ways.
1. Slowly over time time, by providing dirty unstable power. Read up on ripple and noise if you want more info.

2. BOOM! Catastrophic failure. When PSUs go boom, they occasionally take other components with them. As noted, don't use that PSU any more, replace it.

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: Overkiller
I would stay away from using your computer until you can get the power supply fixed.

QFT

With all due respect, I'd have to agree with that advice. If I had a known flakey PSU, I would immediately pull the power and not plug it back in until I had it replaced. Seriously! I've had about 6 PSUs blow on me over about 8 years (just personal systems, not work-related) and all but one of them took at least half the system with them by the time they finally went out (I had one take out 6 sticks of RAM, 2 at a time). The one that didn't take anything out was an Antec and that has made me quite biased towards them.

But anyways, I think Overkiller had good advice there.

Just my $0.02 worth...

-Jax

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: Jaxidian

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: Overkiller
I would stay away from using your computer until you can get the power supply fixed.

QFT

With all due respect, I'd have to agree with that advice. If I had a known flakey PSU, I would immediately pull the power and not plug it back in until I had it replaced. Seriously! I've had about 6 PSUs blow on me over about 8 years (just personal systems, not work-related) and all but one of them took at least half the system with them by the time they finally went out (I had one take out 6 sticks of RAM, 2 at a time). The one that didn't take anything out was an Antec and that has made me quite biased towards them.

But anyways, I think Overkiller had good advice there.

Just my $0.02 worth...

-Jax

I had a catastrophic failure from an Antec TruPower 420W PSU that destroyed the majority of the components in my computer. I ignored the signs, (My HDD's would randomly stop being seen by the BIOS from one boot to the next) because I thought it was an issue with the Mother Board, as it was the first time I had used a Gigabyte MB. Since I was a systems engineer at Delphi at the time, and my job was to test out components for electrical failure , I took the system in to the lab over the weekend, and found that there were no shorts anywhere within the system, and there were no tell tale signs of any failures anywhere outside the PSU (A short that causes such a catastrophic failure usually leaves burnt silicon, at least in my experience; but then automotive components are far more robust than computer components.)