Destructive
02-24-2008, 11:50 PM
Howdy Y'all,
My 5 year old Antec 550W PSU seems to have possibly died on me. For a month or two now, I have been hearing one of my computer fans (of 12 total, so I couldn't figure out which one) become very loud at random times, and at bootup. Usually lasts no longer than a few minutes and 40 seconds on average.
Today I found that it was indeed the PSU fan. After dusting out the computer and setting it back up, with the one change of plugging in a USB hub (with its own external power cable), I attempted to start the computer. The fans spun up, the noisy fan became VERY noisy, and then revved down to almost inaudible, and the computer seemed to turn off. I pressed the power button again to the same result, just as my brother tried to tell me that the fans were still spinning and the motherboard lights were still on.
The computer wasn't really on and it wasn't quite off... the CPU fan was off, as well as the GPU fan, but all other fans were running and the light on the Mobo that indicates that it is getting power was lit. I couldn't turn it off, so I flipped the switch on the PSU to off. No difference. I unplugged the PSU's power cable. The fans STILL spin.
Thinking I had entered the twilight zone, I unplugged the PSU from the mobo. Still no change. I began to assume at this point that I could do only more harm than good, so I stopped messing with it and wait to see if the PSU eventually runs out of charge. After an hour and a half or so, the fans are running a bit slower, but not by much, so I begin to take the mouse and usb hub from the computer to put on the PC I am currently writing from.
As soon as I unplugged the USB hub from its USB port, the computer finally goes dead. All fans and lights turn off like it is REALLY unplugged. By this time I am totally confused.
What complicates things is that there have been other random, small problems going on, before the PC died. I am not sure whether to attribute these problems to the PSU slowly failing or perhaps the motherboard failing. I'll put these in bullet points:
-The northbridge fan expired and literally fell off the motherboard around 6 months ago, but the BIOS indicated that the NB was still well within its heat limit, so I didn't worry much.
-Approximately a year ago, my LiteOn DVD+/-R/RW started burning only coasters and stopped reading CDs. It also has problems reading/playing DVDs which read perfectly on other DVD drives and players.
-For several months (I didn't notice this for a while so I am not sure how long), the clock would start getting ahead by about 10 mins. When I sync with a time server, it will stay synced for about 24 hours at the most.
-For about 3 months, when trying to run programs/ open files, I often randomly get that error that says something like "file could not be opened; may have been moved/deleted/permissions changed". If I try a few more times it usually will open. This happens on both drives, one of which is 5 years old, and the other is 2 or 3 years old. One is SATA, the other is IDE.
-I am getting clicking sound in more demanding games, which has started in the last week or two.
I am pretty afraid to turn the computer back on, because I am on a pretty tight budget and don't want to risk damaging it anymore than it already is, so I decided to ask the gurus here before experimenting further.
Basically, is the problem only the PSU, only the motherboard, both, or something else/more?
System specs:
cpu: Intel socket 478 3.0C
mobo: ABIT IC-7MAX3
ram: 2 GB Corsair DDR 3500 (high end type; can't remember the exact name)
Video: ATI Radeon 9800XT
Sound: Creative Labs Audigy 2
PSU: Antec TruePower 550W
UPS: 1 year old APC that was more than sufficient for the PC, but I can't remember the name :)
HDD1: WD Raptor 10k RPM 36GB
HDD2: 2-3 year old WD Caviar 150GB
OS: Windows XP Home
Spyware Doctor w/ Antivirus doing a full scan daily
With the exception of the second hdd and the UPS, the system was built around October 2003.
FWIW, I live in Colorado, which has very low humidity, large temperature differences year round, and I am at about 6300 feet elevation. I heard somewhere that those factors can affect electronics, but I don't know anything about electrical stuff other than don't stick your tongue in it and beware of ESD.
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
My 5 year old Antec 550W PSU seems to have possibly died on me. For a month or two now, I have been hearing one of my computer fans (of 12 total, so I couldn't figure out which one) become very loud at random times, and at bootup. Usually lasts no longer than a few minutes and 40 seconds on average.
Today I found that it was indeed the PSU fan. After dusting out the computer and setting it back up, with the one change of plugging in a USB hub (with its own external power cable), I attempted to start the computer. The fans spun up, the noisy fan became VERY noisy, and then revved down to almost inaudible, and the computer seemed to turn off. I pressed the power button again to the same result, just as my brother tried to tell me that the fans were still spinning and the motherboard lights were still on.
The computer wasn't really on and it wasn't quite off... the CPU fan was off, as well as the GPU fan, but all other fans were running and the light on the Mobo that indicates that it is getting power was lit. I couldn't turn it off, so I flipped the switch on the PSU to off. No difference. I unplugged the PSU's power cable. The fans STILL spin.
Thinking I had entered the twilight zone, I unplugged the PSU from the mobo. Still no change. I began to assume at this point that I could do only more harm than good, so I stopped messing with it and wait to see if the PSU eventually runs out of charge. After an hour and a half or so, the fans are running a bit slower, but not by much, so I begin to take the mouse and usb hub from the computer to put on the PC I am currently writing from.
As soon as I unplugged the USB hub from its USB port, the computer finally goes dead. All fans and lights turn off like it is REALLY unplugged. By this time I am totally confused.
What complicates things is that there have been other random, small problems going on, before the PC died. I am not sure whether to attribute these problems to the PSU slowly failing or perhaps the motherboard failing. I'll put these in bullet points:
-The northbridge fan expired and literally fell off the motherboard around 6 months ago, but the BIOS indicated that the NB was still well within its heat limit, so I didn't worry much.
-Approximately a year ago, my LiteOn DVD+/-R/RW started burning only coasters and stopped reading CDs. It also has problems reading/playing DVDs which read perfectly on other DVD drives and players.
-For several months (I didn't notice this for a while so I am not sure how long), the clock would start getting ahead by about 10 mins. When I sync with a time server, it will stay synced for about 24 hours at the most.
-For about 3 months, when trying to run programs/ open files, I often randomly get that error that says something like "file could not be opened; may have been moved/deleted/permissions changed". If I try a few more times it usually will open. This happens on both drives, one of which is 5 years old, and the other is 2 or 3 years old. One is SATA, the other is IDE.
-I am getting clicking sound in more demanding games, which has started in the last week or two.
I am pretty afraid to turn the computer back on, because I am on a pretty tight budget and don't want to risk damaging it anymore than it already is, so I decided to ask the gurus here before experimenting further.
Basically, is the problem only the PSU, only the motherboard, both, or something else/more?
System specs:
cpu: Intel socket 478 3.0C
mobo: ABIT IC-7MAX3
ram: 2 GB Corsair DDR 3500 (high end type; can't remember the exact name)
Video: ATI Radeon 9800XT
Sound: Creative Labs Audigy 2
PSU: Antec TruePower 550W
UPS: 1 year old APC that was more than sufficient for the PC, but I can't remember the name :)
HDD1: WD Raptor 10k RPM 36GB
HDD2: 2-3 year old WD Caviar 150GB
OS: Windows XP Home
Spyware Doctor w/ Antivirus doing a full scan daily
With the exception of the second hdd and the UPS, the system was built around October 2003.
FWIW, I live in Colorado, which has very low humidity, large temperature differences year round, and I am at about 6300 feet elevation. I heard somewhere that those factors can affect electronics, but I don't know anything about electrical stuff other than don't stick your tongue in it and beware of ESD.
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!