problem with antec power supply

[RumpMachine]

I've purchased two Antec 330W True Power power supplies (from Antec 660 Case) from Staples only to have the same problem with my system. I can start up my system with no problems, but when I restart it, sometimes it won't boot up. The hard drive shuts down (as indicated by the HD LED on the case) and the monitor does not recognize the computer. The boot up process comes to a halt, but the power is definitely on - the fans still run. When I am not able to restart, I have to wait about 5 minutes before being able to turn the computer back on (this never fails). The probability that my system is able to restart varies on a few factors:

1.) The more drives I power, the less likely I am able to restart.
2.) The longer I keep my computer on, the less likely I am able to restart.

I tried unplugging all of my drives and PCI cards with the same result. I tested my system with a friend's power supply (250w), and everything worked fine. I was able to restart with all of my drives plugged in, after the computer was on for an extended period of time.

At first, I thought that it was just a faulty power supply that I was shipped. Therefore, I ordered another one, but exactly the same problem occurred. Is there a problem with this line of power supplies? Are there compatability issues with my motherboard (MSI KT333 Ultra)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lars]

I recently got an Antec TruePower 550W PSU and it would not power up my system (XP 2000+, Soyo Dragon Ultra). It only worked for like 4 to 6 seconds and then went off. It only worked a few times when I unplugged all my case fans, and even then chances to boot were under 10%. I sent it back to buy.com and my system now runs fine on an ultra cheap generic 400W power supply. Go figure.

 

[newbiepcuser]

I got a refurb/return Antec True Power 430 watt. It had the weirdest quirk with a particular Panasonic floppy drive I had, it would not allow any floppies to be read. Put the original Antec 300 watt, the floppy would work fine. But it works fine with other floppy drives.

I have a friend with Antec 350 watter with MSI KT333 ultra, no problems, but its not part of the True Power series.

 

[Gaunt]

As long as we're discussing wierd Antec power supply problems...

I bought an Antec 303P case (pretty sure on model, could be wrong) with 300W power supply (should be an antec supply since it came in the antec box with the case, although I haven't checked for sure) and I've had 3 boards blow up in it.

All 3 boards have died the same death. The first I was cleaning inside the case and noticed black powder under and ontop of the capacitors around the chip socket... I figured static, and replaced the board with a refurb. About 3 months later, that board suffered the same fate as the first, except it was running at the time and would shut down after only a short amount of time, eventually getting to the point where it would only run for about 5 seconds. Upon opening the case, I found the capacitors in the same condition.

Third board... ECS board and new athlon 1.2 this time... Worked fine for almost 4 months, but died while running again. This time I found the cover off one of the capacitors about 2 feet from the case (was open being worked on at the time) and the power was on, but machine wasn't working. Looking at the board, there was 1 capacitors without a cap destroyed, 2 oozing black powder, and almost blown off the board, and 1 voltage regulator cracked in half.

Scary stuff... I don't know if the Athlon 1.2 and the rest of the system components lived through that last one. Hopefully they did. Definately not using that power supply anymore. 🙂

 

[mechBgon]

It almost sounds like your motherboard is in a Suspend or Sleep state there. At any rate, one of Antec's strong points is their 3-year warranty, so don't overlook your option to contact them about the problem. 🙂