Power supplies keep failing

[TD77077]

Has anyone seen a intermittent problem causing power supply, motherboard failure involving an Audigy 2 ZS sound card or a Logisys case with neons? I've built about 25 systems before for family, friends, work and I try to keep up with things pretty well, and have a US Navy electronics background.

I built a comp for a friend in Nov. '04 with the following items:

Logisys case w/lights, neon fans (3) (he likes flashy lights)
Thermaltake 480w PS
Gigabyte Ga-K8NS MB
A64 3400+ CPU
2 Gb DDR PC3200
Albatron GF 6800 video
Seagate 120G/7200 HD
Sony floppy
Samsung 16x DVD-Rom
NEC ND-3500A DVD R/W.

This system lasted about 2 months before the PS, MB and Video card failed. Turns out the PS was probably barely enough for this system and my friend added an Audigy 2 ZS sound card he got for Xmas that year.

So, we rebuilt with a Puma II 450w PS, a Chaintech VNF3-250 MB and a BFG GF 6800 GT OC video card. System lasted for about 3 months before PS and MB failed.

We replaced PS and MB with better ones (in our opinion) - an Enermax Whisper II 460 w PS and an ABIT KN8 MB. Everything else tested out OK. We also added a UPS to the system to protect against any power line funny-business. This time the system lasted almost a year before, you guessed it, PS and MB failed. The DVD R/W had also failed somewhere near that time.

This time we replaced with another ABIT KN8 (no reason to be suspicious about the MB) and an Antec TruePower 480x PS (always upping the +12v capacity). We also replaced the DVD R/W with a Samsung, and tested the Logisys case for shorts and all the fans. Everything looked OK, but, two months later, THE PS and MB FAILED AGAIN.

At this point we're planning to replace everything that hasn't been replaced before, starting with the case, BFG video card, and Audigy 2 ZS sound card, in addition to the PS and MB. We plan to keep using the CPU, RAM, HD, floppy and DVDs.

Has anyone out there had any similar experiences or observed similar things with an Audigy card or a case with neon lights & fans? If something would dead short, we'd be fixed easily. But that's not happening. Do you think it will be OK to keep using the same CPU, RAM and drives?

So, there's my story and I'd be interested in hearing any similar stories, opinions, or any ideas what might be going on with this system.

Thanks, TD

 

[Green Man]

I see alot of bad caps on motherboards.
Sure to take out the PS if you let it go until it fails.

 

[TD77077]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't found any obvious bad caps.

And I forgot to mention - temps all look fine - CPU @ 42 C idle, maybe 47 C at load w/stock cooler and MB around 37 C. Voltages have always looked good whenever tested.

Any other ideas??

 

[bruceb]

Why would you go from a 480W power pack to a 450W unit ? ? That makes no sense whatsoever ... I suggest putting a Wattmeter
or an Ammeter on temporarily and measure your actual power consumption .. It is also very likely that where you live, you are
experiencing either Brownouts or Line Voltage Spikes .. both are sure to kill a power supply .. I suggest you get a very good,
very high capacity UPS from a place such as www.apc.com ... not only will you have some backup power, it will also smooth
out the input voltage ... if your ac power is really bad, then you may need to have an electrician wire in a Constant Voltage
Trasnformer from a company such as SOLA ... not cheap, but it will protect a lot of expensive equipment from damages

 

[nomagic]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Why would you go from a 480W power pack to a 450W unit ? ? That makes no sense whatsoever ... I suggest putting a Wattmeter
or an Ammeter on temporarily and measure your actual power consumption .. It is also very likely that where you live, you are
experiencing either Brownouts or Line Voltage Spikes .. both are sure to kill a power supply .. I suggest you get a very good,
very high capacity UPS from a place such as www.apc.com ... not only will you have some backup power, it will also smooth
out the input voltage ... if your ac power is really bad, then you may need to have an electrician wire in a Constant Voltage
Trasnformer from a company such as SOLA ... not cheap, but it will protect a lot of expensive equipment from damages

Whole-heartedly agree. It does seem more like power issue.

 

[TD77077]

Thanks for the replies.

Went from a 480 to 450w PS because the 450w PS had better specs, more +12v supply. Check out the specs on the PSs I listed and you'll see what I mean. And a decent 450w PS with good +12v should be plenty for this system. I have an almost identical one running at my home (The one I'm using to type this on), and it has always been fine with a 450w e-Power Puma II PS.

We were also very suspicious about brownouts, so we've had the system running on a Sola UPS for the last two failures. That's why I'm getting suspicious about either the Audigy card or the monitor or case, although if the case had a short somewhere we should have found it. And since the MB keeps getting fried with the PS, I'm guessing it is something running through the MB like the sound or video card. But I realize this isn't the only way the MB can get fried.

Anybody had any experiences with a system with an Audigy card or GF6800 that keeps blowing PSs??

 

[imported_taku]

seems you have isolated everything except the case. If you have another case i would try that. if not check the buttons and led's on the front panel. No idea what to look for on the front panel buttons. A new case sure seems like a cheap test for the problems you are having.

 

[imported_nocturne]

PSU's are usually blown from either crappy quality or line noise. Make sure he is using a good quality power strip. Also, you can check the power socket in his wall with a multimeter to see if it's getting overvoltage. Another good option is to replace the power outlet with a GFCI outlet (even better if you install an isolated ground circuit.

Lights can also cause some power problems.... but that's one of my personal revelations...

 

[TD77077]

Thanks for all the good info.

We are going to put things in a new case, with new video and sound card also.

I will also check out his power situation to see if it can be improved, or to see if anything that might be problematic is on the same circuit.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know what I find.

 

[BadThad]

You've done everything that I would have. I'd have to say this is worse than just rotten luck. The UPS was an important step and the best thing you could have done.

 

[TD77077]

Well we're off and running again with a new case, MB, video card and sound card. They weren't all bad but they were the last of the original components not swapped yet. I'm leaning towards the case being the problem. We'll see how long things last this time.

 

[Maximilian]

Yea... bad luck could be the problem... But personally, after having an antec truepower fail on me, i would suspect the actual wall socket. Could be somthing to do with that, or the wiring in your house. Ive only ever heard of one case where this has happened, but it is a possibility.