Power Supply of Doom...

Damian · 10/06/2008, 08:52 AM

I'm pissed.

I've never really heard of this happening, and in my 20 years of building machines, its never happened to me.

My Antec 'smartpower 500' shit the bed a couple of months ago. It came on very briefly, and then poof, nothing. The fan in the PSU would turn on, but it wouldn't do anything else. I RMA'd the pile of shit to Antec - apparently the failure rate on that PSU was something along the lines of 30%, which is HUGE. They sent me a much nicer smart power 2.0 PSU. I hadn't really had a chance to put it in, because I've been moving, etc. First indication something was wrong was when it wouldn't start up. I was getting no video. I rightly assumed my video card got taken along for the ride when the PSU took a shit (8800 GT for the record). So, I went to Staples and bought a cheap PCI-E video card, threw it in there, and sure enough, it started up, and I got into windows.

It was then that I realized my 500GB SATA hard drive wasn't showing up. Nor were my two DVD-Rom drives. Nor was the built in NIC. It seems the PSU failure managed to royally fuck my motherboard, hard drive, and who knows what else. I doubt I have any recourse with Antec, but I literally JUST upgraded this thing at a cost of nearly $1500. Anyone had a similar experience? I'm assuming my DVD drives are ok, and that the IDE channel just got fried. I'll find out I guess. The 500GB drive is likely dead, however. I tried swapping power and SATA cable with my OS drive, which appears to be ok, and no joy.

FLiPMaRC · 10/06/2008, 09:45 AM

That really sucks D.

I would also be pissed

WanderingPinoy · 10/06/2008, 01:29 PM

I feel your pain. We had a lab full of Dell Optiplex GX60s, and the power supply in *every single one* took a shit. Of course, this was right after out 2 year warranty expired, so we had to buy 30 power supplies and swap them out. Of course, we had more GX60s scattered throughout the school, and they were also going out. We had a total of close to 80 power supplies swapped in the end.

Fortunately, a good majority of the mobos were not fried.

Sh4d0wX7 · 10/06/2008, 04:36 PM

I can understand, seeing as how I see the problem at work all the time. It royally sucks, you just gotta get a new motherboard and see if that does it.

wiseoracle · 10/06/2008, 06:30 PM

That sucks dude. It happens.

Do you have a second machine so you can individually test each part to see if it works or not?

PS seems to be the most important purchase, and I spent a lot on mine and it's lived up to it. Bought an Enermax 550 watt about 5-6 years ago and it's still running strong on all builds I've done with it. The way I think of it, the heavier the PS, the better the build quality.

10/06/2008, 08:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
Damian hookers and blow Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: New York-ish. Vehicle: 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Posts: 7,230	Power Supply of Doom... I'm pissed. I've never really heard of this happening, and in my 20 years of building machines, its never happened to me. My Antec 'smartpower 500' shit the bed a couple of months ago. It came on very briefly, and then poof, nothing. The fan in the PSU would turn on, but it wouldn't do anything else. I RMA'd the pile of shit to Antec - apparently the failure rate on that PSU was something along the lines of 30%, which is HUGE. They sent me a much nicer smart power 2.0 PSU. I hadn't really had a chance to put it in, because I've been moving, etc. First indication something was wrong was when it wouldn't start up. I was getting no video. I rightly assumed my video card got taken along for the ride when the PSU took a shit (8800 GT for the record). So, I went to Staples and bought a cheap PCI-E video card, threw it in there, and sure enough, it started up, and I got into windows. It was then that I realized my 500GB SATA hard drive wasn't showing up. Nor were my two DVD-Rom drives. Nor was the built in NIC. It seems the PSU failure managed to royally fuck my motherboard, hard drive, and who knows what else. I doubt I have any recourse with Antec, but I literally JUST upgraded this thing at a cost of nearly $1500. Anyone had a similar experience? I'm assuming my DVD drives are ok, and that the IDE channel just got fried. I'll find out I guess. The 500GB drive is likely dead, however. I tried swapping power and SATA cable with my OS drive, which appears to be ok, and no joy.

10/06/2008, 01:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
WanderingPinoy Faster piggy,FASTER! Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California Vehicle: '03 Galant ES V6 Turbo Posts: 1,203	I feel your pain. We had a lab full of Dell Optiplex GX60s, and the power supply in every single one took a shit. Of course, this was right after out 2 year warranty expired, so we had to buy 30 power supplies and swap them out. Of course, we had more GX60s scattered throughout the school, and they were also going out. We had a total of close to 80 power supplies swapped in the end. Fortunately, a good majority of the mobos were not fried. __________________

10/06/2008, 04:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
Sh4d0wX7 Bored Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ruston, LA Vehicle: 2003 Eclipse RS Posts: 906	I can understand, seeing as how I see the problem at work all the time. It royally sucks, you just gotta get a new motherboard and see if that does it. __________________ Member's Ride Thread: My Steel Blue Pearl PC Parts for sale!!

10/06/2008, 09:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
FLiPMaRC Joo luk like' a man Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: NJ Vehicle: 2001 Silver GS Posts: 23,341	That really sucks D. I would also be pissed

10/06/2008, 06:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
wiseoracle Super Asian Invasion Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Manhattan, KS Vehicle: Dodge Stratus R/T Posts: 803	That sucks dude. It happens. Do you have a second machine so you can individually test each part to see if it works or not? PS seems to be the most important purchase, and I spent a lot on mine and it's lived up to it. Bought an Enermax 550 watt about 5-6 years ago and it's still running strong on all builds I've done with it. The way I think of it, the heavier the PS, the better the build quality.