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Need some computer help..

T

Trancendent

n00b
Joined
Aug 11, 2004
Messages
10
Hey everyone, this is my first time posting here so I hope this is in the right forum. Anyways today I noticed my computer acting up, one of my harddrives just automatically powers down and after a few minutes my whole computer locks up. My first thought was a power supply issue, I have a lot of things hooked up inside but maybe you guys can give me some advice. I have a 450W psu and I thought it should be sufficient enough to power my hardware, here's what's my power supply is powering:

P4 Northwood 3Ghz w/ 800FSB
1GB DDR400mhz RAM (2x512MB in dual channel)
1 TDK cd burner
1 Plextor dvd burner
1 WD 30GB 7200 (IDE system bus, master)
1 Maxtor 250GB 7200 (IDE system bus, slave)
1 WD 200GB 7200 (hooked up onto an IDE controller card)
Radeon 9600
2 cathode bars
6 fans (1 front, 1 side, 2 rear, heatsink fan, 1 on psu)

My 250 Maxtor HD was a recent addition, about a month old, I hooked it up and everything has been running stable until today. Here's what I see that is happening, I believe it is the 200GB WD drive shutting down because I can't access the drive, which later causes the whole computer to lock up.

I doubt it is a heat issue, and everything has been running fine with my current psu, so what is the cause of my harddrives just powering down?

Any help and suggestions would be awesome.

EDIT: nothing is overclocked btw.
 
My, that's a lot of stuff in a system. I would suspect there is not enough power. Try unplugging some of the fans and the cathodes and see if the problems is still happening.

Also, even though you have a 450W supply, make sure it is a quality supply. In general, the heavier the power supply, the better it is.
 
Western Digital's hard drive takes up quite a bit of power compared to Maxtor's. No doubt it is the first to power down. That is not good news. That can cause damage. Was there any problems before you installed the Maxtor? If no, then common sense goes to the power supply.

-J.
 
What brand PSU is that? Any decent brand PSU (Fortron, Antec, Enermax, TTGI, etc. etc.) should be able to handle that easy if it's a 450W model.
 
GeForceX said:
Western Digital's hard drive takes up quite a bit of power compared to Maxtor's. No doubt it is the first to power down. That is not good news. That can cause damage. Was there any problems before you installed the Maxtor? If no, then common sense goes to the power supply.

-J.
Click to expand...

No problems whatsoever before I put in the new Maxtor.


Stiletto One said:
What brand PSU is that? Any decent brand PSU (Fortron, Antec, Enermax, TTGI, etc. etc.) should be able to handle that easy if it's a 450W model.
Click to expand...

Some generic brand called ISO, it came with my Chieftec case when I ordered it off Newegg. I think I'm going to stop by my local Frys and "borrow" an Antec 480W True Power while I order one off Newegg. Well since I'm at it, I was going to add a Radeon 9800 Pro when prices go down further, would a 480W be sufficient enough or should I just overkill and get the 550W True Power to be safe? I'm actually trying not to spend so much.
 
That's probably your culprit - the PS..ISO is probably just a rebadged Deer/LC unit..A total pile - I'd replace it if I were you. If you want a good PSU at a fairly low price, I'd look @ the Forton/Source and FSP (same co -brands for OEM/Retail versions), and Silverstone [ex Lian-Li employees/engineers AFAIK] (Forton rebadges I think; among others with similar design)..Good PSU's at good prices, and quiet, I'm sure (120mm fans, some with 140mm!).

Of course any of the other named brands will do well also...
 
Have you tried running the system with less stuff connected?

It might have something to do with the IDE controller.. is that new to the system? I would try without one of the drives.. even switching drives to the controller to see if that is in fact the problem.

You could also try disconnecting some stuff like the ROMs and cathodes and most of the fans.

Does this happen if you just let the computer set around? Is the time to HD shutdown random? Do you have any Power setting in Control Panel Power Options to shut down drives if not used?

Unless the PSU is total crap and doesn't run nearly half what it says.. which is always possible.. not sure..

I have a 300W AOpen PS..
Barton
1 GB RAM
2x 80GB Maxtors
1x 160GB Maxtor
Plex 16X burner
DVD ROM
9800Pro
5 case fans, 1 PSU fan, 1 HS fan.
 
I'm sure it's already solved-- "No problems before installing the Maxtor." :)

Actually 480 Watts Antec is fine.

-J.
 
Well I picked up an Antec True Control 550w today at Frys just to test things. Not going to keep it though because my True Power 480w is on it's way from Newegg. My computer has been on for a couple of hours now and everything appears stable. :cool:
 
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