I think my PSU is dying

[CheerUpEmoKid]

hey guys, ive got a problem with my PSU here, i think. at random times, my computer will just shut itself off. i cant power it back on unless i unplug it for about 5+ seconds then plug it back in. ive asked about this a bunch of times so far, but i havent really gotten a clear answer or found out if its my PSU.

ive heard / think that its either my PSU or my MB. my specs are in my sig.

i submitted an RMA form to antec about this. i want to make sure its my PSU firs though before i waste my money shipping it.

anyone have an idea on whats wrong here? let me know

ask if you need more information. thanks

 

[mpilchfamily]

Its definitely a PSU issue. Replace it ASAP and try not to use the system till then. The PSU could die hard and take out system components if you continue to use it.

 

[heymrdj]

Stop using it completely, you never know when it could blow. REPLACE NOW.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: CheerUpEmoKid i unplug it for about 5+ seconds then plug it back in.

Sounds like a heat issue. Shutting down just allows whatever is too hot to cool down. Could be the PSU, but also CPU/Memory/Video card.

Can you hook up a volt meter to a spare 12v molex and check voltage?

What temps do you see under load?
Have you looked at Event Viewer to see if there's any indication of the problem there?

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

haha ok i better stop using it. ive just been using it and when it shuts down i turn it back on and try to get another 20 mins out of it. didnt realize it cold kill my other parts

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

ok well i have my brother's PSU hooked up to my pc now, testing it out. gonna try to crash this thing to make sure its my PSU and not my mobo

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

ok well with my brother's PSU which i am certain is working correctly, my pc still shuts itself off. i guess that leave the motherboard.

does this mean that its definately the motherboard? im almost positive its not the video card cause this never happened to him when he used it.

so do i need a new mobo? what do you guys think?

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

guys, i cant believe it took me this long to think about and consider this buy, could it be my power strip where i plug all my stuff in? could it just be trying to suck too much electricity and cant handle it? it seems like its pretty old.

Right now, this is what I have hooked up to it:

Speakers
Two Monitors
My Computer
My cell phone charger
A fan

all of this is hooked up to my power strip, which has a small (not heavy duty) extension cord hooked up to it so it can reach the wall

could this be my problem? and not a hardware issue? i just realized there is no switch on my power strip for emergency turn off or whatever.

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

ok guys well so far ive plugged in a different power strip and a heavy duty extension cord so it can reach.

so far, everything is working great. all i have plugged in are my 2 monitors and my pc, nothing else, no speakers, fan, or cell phone charger

ill keep you updated

EDIT:

looks like i spoke too soon, about 3 seconds after i submitted this post my pc shut off on me. now its worse than before. when i turn off the power supply for a few seconds and turn it back on to try again, the pc powers on for like a quarter of a seconds and shuts off, have to unplug psu to get it back on and keeps shutting off, so im on my laptop now cause i cant use my pc.

so what do i do now? how can i test my motherboard? my brother has pretty similar parts to mine. how should i go about testing this now?

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

well i have a bit of bad news. when i was pulling out my heatsink to remove the processor, apparently my cpu was stuck onto the heatsink. it didnt just stay in there so i could pull up that little lock thing then take it out, it just came out stuck to the heatsink. so i took a look at the bottom of my cpu where all the little pins are, and there are a few bent pins... bad, yes?

also, i was doing what i usually do to make my pc shut itself down, and it wasnt going. so then i start looking a my processor and out of no where, it restart itself. it didnt shut off like it normally does though. it just rebooted, i didnt have to unplug it.

i have my brother's parts in my mobo right now. all that is running is his video card and processor, and 1 stick of his 512mb corsair ram. so what do i do now? anyone know what i can do to try to make my pc get overloaded and shut itself off like it was before, so i can make sure its my mobo?

EDIT

ok well i googled on how to fix bent pins, it worked, somewhat. i still have 2 pins that are bent pretty bad, i cant get the, to stand up. one is right in the middle of all the pins and one is on the outside. how can i get these pins up? am i out of luck?