PSU failure/confusion

jstreett · 10-28-2009, 05:33 PM

When I woke up this morning my computer would not start. It was somewhat expected though since my PSU was acting funny the last 2 weeks and I figured it was going to die on me since it is over 4 years old. I need to replace my PSU as soon as possible but I am clueless as to what PSU will work with my motherboard and fit in my case. My specs are the following:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Moth...ProductID=1928
Case: Aspire X-plorer http://apevia.com/ProductsInfo.asp?KEY=ATXB8KLW-SS
Processor: AMD 64 X2 4200+
Ram: 2 x 1 GB DDR
Graphics card: MSI Geforce 8600 GTS
2 DVD drives with SATA connectors
harddrive connects with SATA as well I think
The case and motherboard are ATX
I want get a PSU with 650-750 watts since I plan on upgrading the graphics card to a geforce 9000 series card eventually. Can anyone recommend me a few PSUs that would work with my setup? I'd really appreciate any help.

Whiski · 10-28-2009, 05:35 PM

Ultra LSP 550W
Ultra LSP 650W
Ultra LSP 750W

makinu1der2 · 10-28-2009, 05:40 PM

Use this chance to get a quality PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006

This is a great supply at a great price. Same price as the 650w.

Will work fine with current setup.

Whiski · 10-28-2009, 05:45 PM

Good quality, great service and AWESOME PRICE

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sku=ULT-LSP750
ULTRA LSP 750W
but as mankinu1der2 said corsair is also great quality...

jstreett · 10-28-2009, 06:08 PM

Thanks for the help! I think I'm going to go with the Corsair

**Tyree** · 10-28-2009, 08:42 PM

Good choice on the Corsair. Ultra PSU's are basically junk.
$50 for 750W is a good indication of the quality.
The 750W Corsair is normally $180 and a 750W Seasonic (5 yr. warranty) is $160.

jstreett · 10-30-2009, 02:43 PM

So I received my corsair 750W power supply today. I took my old PSU out and then replaced it with the corsair. I plugged in both the cords for the motherboard (4 pin and 24 pin), both my DVD drives, my harddrive with a SATA cable, my graphics card with the PCI E cable, and my fans. I finally plugged my computer into and the wall and hooked up my monitor. I press the power button and long story short my computer still does not turn on. No noise at all. Is my motherboard most likely fried or is there something I'm missing here?

makinu1der2 · 10-30-2009, 05:33 PM

Any fans running?

Check the MB for any damage (blown capacitors,burns,)

Try to remove video,RAM, any add on cards to see if getting any beeps.

How to Bench Test Your System

jstreett · 10-31-2009, 01:02 PM

no fans or noise at all. I didnt notice any burns on the motherboard but ill check again today as well as take out the video card and 1 stick of RAM and see if I can get anything.

Tumbleweed36 · 10-31-2009, 01:10 PM

I am happy you purchased a good power supply, the Ultra power supplies are very weak and not reliable.

You might serve yourself well by doing a bench test:

Bench Test Your System

jstreett · 11-02-2009, 10:49 AM

So it turns out it wasn't my motherboard, just a firewire card that went bad. I plugged everything in but that and it worked fine for about a day. I turned on the PC this morning and my BIOS could no longer find my harddrive. I put in my windows 7 DVD and tried to repair but it says if there is a harddrive connected it is not responding. I guess the HD went bad from when the old PSU went out? Also, my HD has 4 screws mounting it to the case.. Is there anyway for me to reach the 2 screws inside the case? I don't see how it is possible without taking everything apart...

**greenbrucelee** · 11-02-2009, 10:56 AM

take both sides of the case of to get all the screws out.

With you old PSU dying it is likely it damaged the drive BUT did you make sure the cables were in the correct way. It is possible to reverse the cables but in doing so you damage the drive when you turn the pc on, usually you will see some smoke but it can just stop working without the smoke.

jstreett · 11-02-2009, 03:13 PM

Well I went out and bought a new SATA western digital HD and I put it in, but windows 7 is not recognizing the drive and neither is my BIOS. I have the CD for the ATA drivers for my motherboard but I think those only work on Windows XP. So I tried installing windows XP instead and since i only have the drivers on a disk and not a floppy (I dont even have a floppy drive) Windows XP doesn't find them because it only checks Drive A. Do I have to somehow find an ATA serial driver for Windows 7 and put it on a CD? Or did I possible just buy a faulty HD from bestbuy?

**Tyree** · 11-02-2009, 03:16 PM

Set SATA to IDE in the Bios.

jstreett · 11-02-2009, 03:29 PM

So I enable IDE for the slot i plugged the HD? I know when I press detect HD IDE in primary settings on bios it takes longer for it to not detect a drive in the slot I plugged it into then compared to the empty slots.

jstreett · 11-02-2009, 10:26 PM

Bad ATA serial cable this entire time.. I think my computer problems have been solved for the time being, thanks for all the help!

Whiski · 11-03-2009, 02:03 PM

Good for you... sorry for the misleading information earlier... I guess next time i should look it up a bit more and i should stop being a cheapo... Lol. Have fun with ur pc.

10-28-2009, 05:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	PSU failure/confusion When I woke up this morning my computer would not start. It was somewhat expected though since my PSU was acting funny the last 2 weeks and I figured it was going to die on me since it is over 4 years old. I need to replace my PSU as soon as possible but I am clueless as to what PSU will work with my motherboard and fit in my case. My specs are the following: Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Moth...ProductID=1928 Case: Aspire X-plorer http://apevia.com/ProductsInfo.asp?KEY=ATXB8KLW-SS Processor: AMD 64 X2 4200+ Ram: 2 x 1 GB DDR Graphics card: MSI Geforce 8600 GTS 2 DVD drives with SATA connectors harddrive connects with SATA as well I think The case and motherboard are ATX I want get a PSU with 650-750 watts since I plan on upgrading the graphics card to a geforce 9000 series card eventually. Can anyone recommend me a few PSUs that would work with my setup? I'd really appreciate any help.

10-28-2009, 05:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
Whiski Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 32 OS: vista sp1	Re: PSU failure/confusion Ultra LSP 550W Ultra LSP 650W Ultra LSP 750W

10-28-2009, 05:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
makinu1der2 Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 2,013 OS: Vista Home Premium SP1,Win XP SP3,Ubuntu 9.04,Sabayon 4,Windows 7 RC1 x64 My System	Re: PSU failure/confusion Use this chance to get a quality PSU. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006 This is a great supply at a great price. Same price as the 650w. Will work fine with current setup. __________________ "The dumbest people I know are those who know it all."

10-28-2009, 05:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
Whiski Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 32 OS: vista sp1	Re: PSU failure/confusion Good quality, great service and AWESOME PRICE http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sku=ULT-LSP750 ULTRA LSP 750W but as mankinu1der2 said corsair is also great quality...

10-28-2009, 06:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion Thanks for the help! I think I'm going to go with the Corsair

10-28-2009, 08:42 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,393 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: PSU failure/confusion Good choice on the Corsair. Ultra PSU's are basically junk. $50 for 750W is a good indication of the quality. The 750W Corsair is normally $180 and a 750W Seasonic (5 yr. warranty) is $160. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-30-2009, 02:43 PM	#7 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion So I received my corsair 750W power supply today. I took my old PSU out and then replaced it with the corsair. I plugged in both the cords for the motherboard (4 pin and 24 pin), both my DVD drives, my harddrive with a SATA cable, my graphics card with the PCI E cable, and my fans. I finally plugged my computer into and the wall and hooked up my monitor. I press the power button and long story short my computer still does not turn on. No noise at all. Is my motherboard most likely fried or is there something I'm missing here?

10-30-2009, 05:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
makinu1der2 Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 2,013 OS: Vista Home Premium SP1,Win XP SP3,Ubuntu 9.04,Sabayon 4,Windows 7 RC1 x64 My System	Re: PSU failure/confusion Any fans running? Check the MB for any damage (blown capacitors,burns,) Try to remove video,RAM, any add on cards to see if getting any beeps. How to Bench Test Your System __________________ "The dumbest people I know are those who know it all."

10-31-2009, 01:02 PM	#9 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion no fans or noise at all. I didnt notice any burns on the motherboard but ill check again today as well as take out the video card and 1 stick of RAM and see if I can get anything.

10-31-2009, 01:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,621 OS: XP Professional	Re: PSU failure/confusion I am happy you purchased a good power supply, the Ultra power supplies are very weak and not reliable. You might serve yourself well by doing a bench test: Bench Test Your System __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread. Last edited by Tumbleweed36; 10-31-2009 at 01:11 PM.

11-02-2009, 10:49 AM	#11 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion So it turns out it wasn't my motherboard, just a firewire card that went bad. I plugged everything in but that and it worked fine for about a day. I turned on the PC this morning and my BIOS could no longer find my harddrive. I put in my windows 7 DVD and tried to repair but it says if there is a harddrive connected it is not responding. I guess the HD went bad from when the old PSU went out? Also, my HD has 4 screws mounting it to the case.. Is there anyway for me to reach the 2 screws inside the case? I don't see how it is possible without taking everything apart...

11-02-2009, 10:56 AM	#12 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,778 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: PSU failure/confusion take both sides of the case of to get all the screws out. With you old PSU dying it is likely it damaged the drive BUT did you make sure the cables were in the correct way. It is possible to reverse the cables but in doing so you damage the drive when you turn the pc on, usually you will see some smoke but it can just stop working without the smoke. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

11-02-2009, 03:13 PM	#13 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion Well I went out and bought a new SATA western digital HD and I put it in, but windows 7 is not recognizing the drive and neither is my BIOS. I have the CD for the ATA drivers for my motherboard but I think those only work on Windows XP. So I tried installing windows XP instead and since i only have the drivers on a disk and not a floppy (I dont even have a floppy drive) Windows XP doesn't find them because it only checks Drive A. Do I have to somehow find an ATA serial driver for Windows 7 and put it on a CD? Or did I possible just buy a faulty HD from bestbuy?

11-02-2009, 03:16 PM	#14 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,393 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: PSU failure/confusion Set SATA to IDE in the Bios. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

11-02-2009, 03:29 PM	#15 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion So I enable IDE for the slot i plugged the HD? I know when I press detect HD IDE in primary settings on bios it takes longer for it to not detect a drive in the slot I plugged it into then compared to the empty slots.

11-02-2009, 10:26 PM	#16 (permalink)
jstreett Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 7 64 bit	Re: PSU failure/confusion Bad ATA serial cable this entire time.. I think my computer problems have been solved for the time being, thanks for all the help!

11-03-2009, 02:03 PM	#17 (permalink)
Whiski Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 32 OS: vista sp1	Re: PSU failure/confusion Good for you... sorry for the misleading information earlier... I guess next time i should look it up a bit more and i should stop being a cheapo... Lol. Have fun with ur pc.