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What can a bad power supply do?

R

Research

Senior member
I was wondering what can be the effects of a bad/overloaded power supply? The reason why I want to research this is because if these effects are not fatal, then I do not need to change my power supply .. On the other hand if is risky to continue with such a power supply, then I think there's no point waiting for something terrible to happen ...

Here is an initial ist which I can come up with:

- mysterious reboots of your operating system or a failing hardware device
- degraded performance of video card/hard drive (how?)
- overheating


On a side note ... have an ATI AIW video card which screws up every now or then (words get corrupted).. Then I have to restart (or if I'm lucky, it automatically recovers after the message "VPU recover has reset your graphics accelerator"). Long back when I contacted ATI, they told me that even though you have the recommended power supply, it's good to have more ... since this is something which might be responsible. Haven't tried their advice .. but might depending upon your suggestions ..
 
Here is some more information on effects of bad power supply that might be helpful for you ..

1. Volts X Amperes = Watts, for a typical PC, it is calculated for the +3.3V,+5V, and +12V rails and the Amperes for each device(mainboard, cpu, etc.), then the Watts for each voltage rail are added for Total Watts. The amperes for each component appear on the device label or are estimated from tables. Individual volatage rails must also meet demand, so it is not just Total Watts that must be considered.

2. Damage is usually due to overvoltage(improperly high voltage), data corruption is usually due to insufficient current. Systems do not BOOT properly when underpowered because of peak current draw at start-up. Individual components may fail likewise. Tight specification of voltage regulation is considered %5,+/- while loose tolerance of +/- %10 is acceptable.

3. Power supplies generate a great deal of heat. Improper case ventilation will effect other components. Cooling efficiency of the cpu hsf will be reduced if the interior of the case heats up.
Better to buy a high quality psu that meets the power requirement of the system that just a high watt rating, and not it will not use excess power.
 
Many...

1. Unstable voltages
2. Capacitors blowing up
3. Depending on if/what line is stressed, you might see reboots, lock ups, HDD acting funny(Starting up and slowing down constantly), BSOD, ect.
4. I've seen and heard of very isolated cases of fire.
5. Probably the bigggest danger: It could take other components with it.
6. As temperatures rise inside a PSU, the total wattage it can provide decreases. This is true for all power supplies, but generics are far worse when it comes to it.

Don't risk your stuff with generics. I had a no-name 400W PSU back when I didn't know much. It turned out to be OEM'd by Leadman( VERY bad company ). Although stable, The VCORE would swing wildly. Also, the 3.3V and 5V lines combined only provided a pathetic 180W. To put that in perspective, a 300W Fortron provides 200W max on 3.3V+5V. I dumped that POS and got a 400W Fortron.

There are still decent options for those of us with not much money. Chances are, you won't need much more than a 300 watter for your system. If you were to start looking for a new PSU, what would your budget be?
 
Thanks sonic ...

Currently I have 350W Antec true power which I heard is pretty good ... But I have ..

P2.66
2x512 crucial memory sticks (333)
5 hard drives (2 in raid and + 1 SATA)
ATI AIW 8500
n number of usb devices .. scanner .. printer .. ATI remote, card reader, jump drives etc.
Pioneer A105 DVD writer
Liteon CD writer
Iomega ZIP drive
Some generic floppy drives
6 fans (3 Antec Tricolors + 3 Generic)
Few PCI cards (1 usb2, one firewire and one fax-modem)

I heard Antec is pretty good. Will the power supply handle this load? Do you think the ATI guy is telling the truth that my power supply is weak to and hence my display gets corrupted?

Also, do you guys know some effecient method for optimal power supplly connections .. I mean reconnecting power cords to various devices so that the video card get proper voltage/power?

I have no restriction on my budget. I saw Antec True 550W for 93 bucks shipped at buy.com (after 10 bucks coupon). Also Enermax 460W at new egg for $100 is another option.
 
Ohhh, I took it you meant generic stuff. Those side effects you mentioned are pretty common with no-names. You can ignore most of what I said above.

Your ATI rep is smoking crack. A 350W Antec is decent for what you're running. You may be running a smart power, however. I can't seem to find a 350 True Power. You shouldn't be overloading anything, though. What does MBM5 tell you about your voltage rails? Have you tried unplugging all not needed components and seeing if it's still unstable? That should tell you if you got a power problem. Most likely, your 8500 is being unruly.

Exactly what problems are happening to you and when?
 
Thanks sonic .. That's what I was thinking ... the ATI rep seems really crack especially since they specify minimum power requirements as much less than 350W for 8500 card.

Yes, you are right, I have smart power and not true power ...

Well, my problem is this:

Everything is working fine, and all of a sudden my desktop icons, words etc. start crumbling to dots (first I though it was Japanese). Then as I move my mouse, all the words 'swept' by the mouse crumbel. Eventually the screen is unreadable and I have to reboot. None of the proicess (viodeo encoding etc.) get disturbed. I can take guesses where the X is, and close those programs.

This problem happens one or twice a week .. Any thought will be greatly apprecited ...

Thanks!!
 
Originally posted by: Sonic587 What does MBM5 tell you about your voltage rails? Have you tried unplugging all not needed components and seeing if it's still unstable?
Click to expand...

What is MBM5? I have a multimeter .. can I use it to find out whether my power supply is working fine?
 
Chances are you won't need to test the voltages since this problem is happening when you're not putting it under any load(Web-surfing I assume?).

This is starting to sound like a driver issue. Are they the latest cats? If so, have you tried any older versions? Or vice versa? Does this happen in games as well?

Also might wanna run a few spyware/antivirus sweeps and make sure that's not a problem.
 
Thanks for your quick response .. I have been updating drivers continuously since last one year ... every single update! And you are right ... this happens when I'm usually on the internet .. or doing some viodeo thing ...
 
If this curruption isn't happening in any games I'd assume this is a software issue.

Did this just start happening recently? How long has this been going on? I'd try dropping back to around cats 3.2 and see if this is still a problem. Maybe something in the newer drivers isn't being friendly with older models.
 
One odd thing I had, a dvdrom tray ejected much slower when using a cheapo codegen (300 or 350w) supply. Swapping to a better brand solved that problem.
(I used the same drive (a liteon ldt163) on two different computers, and the other one was slower)
 
Originally posted by: Research
Originally posted by: Sonic587 What does MBM5 tell you about your voltage rails? Have you tried unplugging all not needed components and seeing if it's still unstable?
Click to expand...

What is MBM5? I have a multimeter .. can I use it to find out whether my power supply is working fine?
Click to expand...


I'd guess he means Motherboard Monitor 5. Try a google search.
 
An inadequate PSU can be the root of just about any problem in your system. It may even only act up when running certain very intensive applications. I came across one system that exhibited symptoms of a dying HDD (Clicking noises during heavy access, stalling, extremely horrid performance...), but it was simply the result of a terrible PSU bundled with an HP system. The guy had upgraded his video card and the PSU couldn't handle the extra load.
 
The absolute worst thing that can happen with a bad PS is that as it dies from being over loaded, it generates a big time spike and takes every component in your system with it.

Antec is excellent, but your 5 HDDs and 6 fans worry me. I think if you have to ask about the PS, it is time to upgrade.
 
Also antec does not make a "true power" 350 (they have 330 and 380), they do however have a "smart power" 350, the difference lies in the voltage rails,

I am using one of the smart powers, I too have a bunch of devices (5 hdds temporarily, 2 opticals, 9700pro, 2 fans) and I feel that 350 is pushing it for my usage. A better power supply might be in order (a quality higher watt supply of course, not a generic high watt, of course you mentioned antec and enermax as options so you seem to know better than to take a change with generic)

If you can easily sink the extra money into a stronger supply it can be worth it just for the piece of mind value so you know that the problem isn't a lack of power, plus gives you headroom to upgrade to even more demanding hardware in the future.

As far as the power to each device goes, as far as I know the circuitry will generate the same amount of power to all devices (depending on the load) the biggest danger when adding more devices (typically those that involve splitters) is that the molex connectors could be loose and vibration might disconnect/reconnect the power to the device(s) and cause damage due to sudden power failures (I have seen a faulty connector damage the hard drives FAT that it was connected to, making the drive unusable.)
 
Here's a post I made in another thread; any suggestions?

I'm trying to decide between this and this. The OCZ one is more expensive but not by all that much and has a 12V rating similar to the much more costly corresponding Enermax and PCpowerandcooling models.
Click to expand...
 
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