• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Is this a power issue?

N

Nighthawk69

Golden Member
Hey all-

I'm putting together a little system for my sister who does not have her own computer and it is from parts that I have had in my parts bin. I had to go out and buy her a cheap case and PSU and I went with a CompUSA case and "300 watt" CompUSA PSU which was included for 60 bucks. OK, good deal, since I wasn't putting many things in the puter. Here is what it has:

MSI K7T Pro
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.1Ghz
4.3GB ATA33 HDD
old NVidia TNT1 8MB video card
old 16x CDROM

That's it!

I figured even a crappy CompUSA PSU could handle this, since it's rated at 300 watts, but when I go to install Windows 2000 Pro it will make it into the installer, but once the CDROM spools up and things start copying, the fans (there is 1 case fan, 1 PSU fan and the HSF fan) start fluctuating audibly in RPM's, then after a few minutes it was randomly just shut off the computer. Now, if I just sit in the BIOS it will stay on forever without shutting off, and I believe the BIOS pegs the CPU at 100% or close to it so I don't think it's a temperature issue.... the CPU is at about 50C in the BIOS and it could take that when I used to run it in my system.

So what do you guys think? You think it's possible that this PSU is just really bad, bad enough to not run this system? I'm guessing the Athlon is being a power hog....

Ideas?

Thanks! 😀
 
Are your fans plugged into the fan headers on the motherboard or directly into the plugs on the power supply? A number of things could cause the problems you are experiencing. If the fans are plugged into the motherboard, it is possible that maybe one fan is drawing too much current from the board and that is causing the rpm fluctuations, so try to plug the fans only into the power supply and see if that helps. However, most likely your psu is just a piece of junk. It's been my experience that most newer cpu's are never really 100% stable unless you have a decent 350w or better power supply. By decent, I mean something like an Antec, Enermax, or Sparkle Power. The Sparkle Power are a good value if cost is the main issue. I have an overclocked P4 1.6A, G4 Ti4200, and Asus mobo with only a CD burner and 2 harddrives, and the computer won't even boot with an Enermax 350w.

A computer that restarts itself is most often a case of an overheating power supply, but can also be caused by bad RAM (I've experienced this before).

The easy way to test if your power supply is bad is to download the motherboard monitor program and see what the voltage readings are. The most important thing is the +5V reading. Try making the cd-rom spin up and see what the voltage drops to. If it drops to like ~4.5V your system needs a better power supply.

 
Found the problem. It was the old CDROM drive I had in here. I found that it wouldn't boot to any of my Linux CD's and the diagnostics said the CD's were bad, which I knew they were not. So, I tried a good newer CDROM drive from a different PC here and all worked perfectly. Has been ever since pulling it....

Thanks!! 😀
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top