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PC exploded
JsT
Posts: 18,268 Skive's The Limit
in General Chat
Turned my PC on last night for the first time in a couple of days to be greeted by a big flash of blue light coming from the open case and a horrible smell of burning. It now won't turn on!
It doesn't sound too promising really. Anyone any idea what the hell has happened, or is it just new PC time?!
It doesn't sound too promising really. Anyone any idea what the hell has happened, or is it just new PC time?!
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If the PSU has gone, then that might be all that needs replacement. But it is likely to need a motherboard, CPU amd memory at a minimum.
If it isn't the PSU that went bang, then get it checked out by a professional as whatever is in there might be salvagable
Oh, if the fuse went in the PSU or plug, then it most likely won't stink. This would be the likely fail point if one of the molex connectors had earthed 12v to the case somehow...
The memory has been tested in another PC and looks to be OK, hopefully the CPU and motherboard are OK, if they are fucked then I will buy a new PC and hopefully manage to take the HDD over.
IMO, it is worth leaving the hard drive disconnected when testing the system out with a new PSU. If the motherboard, or anything else has gone, then there is no chance of it damaging the data on your hard drive if it is disconnected
Would be interesting to know what caused it, but hey-ho...
Hopefully the damage wont be too bad anyway, I'll be pissed off if I have to buy a new PC>
Both my power supplies have the P4 cable, neither of my systems is infected by Intel
15 quid for a PSU you have got to be having a laugh mate! If you spend those amounts then expect another bang sooner than later!
Always, and I mean always buy quality PSU's from quality brands or else you're asking for expensive trouble! You need stable power on 12v and 5v rails with as little fluctuations as possible. If you don't have quality power you are risking your machines components greatly!
Your case was open when you turned it on?
And I agree with the poster above me, go for a good quality PSU, if that fails your whole computer fails, and you might be unlucky and melt your computer.
I disagree. Last few cases I bought were a tad under £20 and had Jeantech 400w PSU's in them. Got to be honest with you, if you saw the power supplies in half the servers out there(which are more than slightly mission-critical...), you'd be happy with any PSU that had a decent load rating.
Not once have I had a PSU fail on me - and I only ever use low-end ones. Go back and look at the leaking cap sage a couple of years ago that gave problems for so many motherboard manufacturers - spot the big names in there? Do you really think that the majority of PSU manufacturers are going to shell out over and above what they need to, when filling the case with components?
Trust me, more often than not, they don't. And even the cheapies tend to offer decent voltage regulation these days - the biggest problem I've seen in recent years are supplies rated at400w+ and only giving out 40A on the 12v and 5v rails. Such a low rating, mixed with a high speed processor, a chunky video card, the increases cooling so many modern computers have, and the increased number of hard and optical drives over computers from 10, or even 5 years ago, really is asking for trouble.
But hey, it's your money, do with it as you please. There are plenty of folk out there who'll change the oil in their car/bike every 3000 miles using expensive synthetic stuff - I don't subscribe to that theory either, and I've never had an engine give out on me yet.
Personally I'd rather spend a bit more and get a decent component that can offer stable voltages, decent protection, good ampage and modular cable attachments.
You don't get owt for nowt.
And you do get owt for nowt, if you're smart about things, know what to look for and what you're doing. There is always a sweet spot, where the performance of an item, its build quality, and specification are by far the best you're going to get in terms of value for money. There comes a point where you have to spend significantly more on a product to get even the slightest hint of an advantage - diminishing returns and all that.
Like I say, if you're spending £1500+ on a system then put in whatever pleases you. For average Joe with his average PC doing his average daily stuff, you'll see little benefit in spending more than you would on an average nights drinking.
I totally disagree.
Unless you drink a lot.
Not when it comes to components for Pc's you don't, quality = more cash! If you think 15 quid is going to get you performance and reliability even for a PC that requires low wattage, then you are mistaken! Cheap PSU's can damage other components even though it isn't broke, due to power fluctuations and other means. If you feel fine to buy cheap, then do so, it's only you risking your computer and you better hope it doesn't start a fire.
Any expert will tell you that a quality PSU is required, it is the heart of your machine! The shite ready build manufacturers put in their machine these days is crazy, cheapness means profit for them, remember that!
I really like Tagan PSU's
http://www.tagan.com/
Also they're so much quieter then cheap PSU's
You should be able topick one up for about £50
Also don't rely on the WATTS figure it's often fake - look at the AMPS it can deliver my 380W Tagan provide way more amps then the old 550W Q-TEC it replaced.
I've not had a PSU fluctuate by more than 3% - and that is on the -12v rail, which really isn't important. Anything in a computer that can't take a 10% variation on its voltage really shouldn't be there - and I bet you'd struggle to find a PSU that was more than 5% out on any of the important rails. Expensive or not.
Expensive PSUs can damage other components just as easily as cheap ones. Have you actually looked at the components inside the more expensive power supplies? Or the cheaper ones, come to that?
All my computers are left running 24/7 - I have a 4 year hard drive that has been power-cycled a dozen times or so. Nothing has caught fire, nothing is running out of spec. Cheap components will fail more often than expensive ones - there is nothing saying that your PSU isn't full of Luxon, Raycon or Jackcon caps?
Different experts will tell you different things. We're all entitled to our thoughts and opinions - mine are based on years of field service, following a good while repairing IBM returns. I feel my opinions are valid, and are backed up by experience of real-world situations and having 4 hour repair deadlines on many of the government contracts - the last thing I want is to have to go 200 miles to a 4-hour blow site, because some sub-standard device has failed.
It doesn't matter what you spend - if you don't know what you are actually buying(and as most PSU's are sealed, 98% of folk don't have a clue), then your 'investment' can be wasted quite easily.
As for the quality=more cash nonsense - do you really think the(random numbers here) £200 Athlon 3ghz is any different to the £100 2ghz model? They came off the same line, more often than not in the same week. Market requirements dictate the products on the market more often than manufacturing limitations. Do you really think that stick of PC2100 memory isn't just downmarked PC2700? The 160gb hard drive in your machine - did you realise that there is a very good chance that the only reason it is marked at 160gb and not 250gb is because of the bios revision, and the demands of the market? Ever wondered why the LE variant of certain popular video cards contains the memory rated for the same speed as the pukka model, and only needs a quick flash and possibly a resistor moving to move on up to full speed?
Exactly the same reasoning as there is with cars. There are sound financial reasons behind the K series motor having the same head, regardless of whether it is a 1.4, 1.6 or 1.8. Same goes for the Zetec head - the 1.8 and 2.0 have the exact same head. It is too costly to produce different physical products.
Chances are if you open up a 300w and 400w PSU from the same manufacturer, the components inside will be the same. The only difference will be the current rating on the fuse.
I wonder why...
Heavier is generally better. If you're going mail-order, then the gold one 2nd from the bottom ought to be a decent buy - though it is slightly cheaper here. Can probably get it cheaper elsewhere.
You may find that you can get a case with a decent PSU for the same money - might be worth considering if you're bored of your current one, or need more space or whatever.
Can always have a go at PC World if you need to get one locally - they do a Jeantech 350w for £27 at the moment. Don't know the spec of your system so can't comment on whether it's big enough for the job, but I used to run dual Athlons on the 300w model, so it should be okay. No promises. The Jeantech should be putting out nearly 60amps on the 3.3v and 5v rails, which should be more than adequate for a typical PC. I've got a 2ghz Athlon XP here(real 2ghz before anyone asks, not a 2000+) with two hard drives, a GeForce4 Ti4200 and a pair of burners, running on the 300w PSU that used to power my dual Athlons - if your PC is a similar spec, then the 350w should have no problem powering it in my opinion.
If you end up in a local shop, then you're probably looking for 50amps+ total on the 5v and 3.3v rail. As said by someone else, the wattage rating should be taken with a pinch of salt - generally speaking, the higher the wattage the better job the PSU will do. The rail ratings are more important than the claimed wattage - a cheap PSU will probably weigh around a kilo, as a rule of thumb the heavier it is, the better.
Anything weighing in at around the same as a bag of sugar or flour(the size your mum uses for cooking, not the cheapo student size