Gaming Rig not powering on :(

[abillybob]

Did the test I suggested show a short on your old board ?

It's possible there's some ripple on the power supply, but you'd need an oscilloscope to measure it.

Don't feel such an idiot, the field of IT is huge, I have mainly ignored the managing and admin of networks to concentrate on hardware repair. I started with building PCs in 2000 and now do repair work looking through a microscope.

Chucking money at new kit without fully testing the old is a little....., well it's done now, we need to get what you have sorted.

Have you run memtest on each stick of memory ?

You're not a million miles away from me if all else fails.

I tried doing the test on the multimeter but it just showed a bunch of random numbers which I didn't understand :/ I did try my old motherboard with a new Power Supply we knew that worked at work and it still did the same thing thats why I presumed I could be sure there was nothing wrong with my Power Supply as a brand new one still did the same.

 

My thinking now is that maybe my PSU is having fluctuations of power and thats what damaged my old motherboard but of course those fluctuations are still there which is causing my new motherboard and hardware to act up intermittently? This is all I can think of but I don't want to buy a new PSU only to find the problem still persists!

 

What I can't get my head around is that my PSU is meant to be one of the best, cost me a fortune and still is very expensive to buy. I'd expect it to last over 3 years especially since I've had no problems with it until now, just seems flamin' weird! My little brother has a £30 CIT PSU which has lasted hime over 5 years with no problems, so annoying!

 

I know this is also a shot in the dark and might be total BS but both motherboards have only played up when I'm playing Mafia III in fact it was the day before I installed this game was when my old motherboard decided to stop working, I haven't experienced the same issues when playing any other games the new mobo doesn't seem to have any problems then! Now I know it's not condoned on here and I'll probably get a kick in the teeth for it but it's a torrented game so I'm starting to wonder whether this could be the doings of a virus, or is this not possible?I'm not sure whether a virus can really effect or damage hardware? When playing the new South Park or Cities Skylines last night I didn't have any problems and these are purchased via steam.

 

I'm worried about running a virus scan as I know Anti-Viruses tend to see cracks for games as a virus which then remove them and stop the game from working.. Not as though I have many but y'know

 

Cheers both for both your help!

[3s-gtech]

If you can afford a new CPU, motherboard and RAM you can afford a copy of Mafia III. It may well have a system-crashing bug - or the game may be placing demands on your rig which are causing it to pull more current from the PSU which is then dropping voltage if it's dying. Or, it could just be karma for being cheap!

[difinity]

I wouldn't have expected you to understand the numbers as you don't own a multimeter but the results would have been useful. If the PSU is 3 years old, and it lived in a hot environment. I'd expect some caps have gone out of spec a little.

As we don't know what's up with the first PC it's hard to say, ripple is different to voltage fluctuation and needs an oscilloscope not voltmeter to measure. If you possibly have killed the 12v PSU rail with a suspected possibly dodgy power supply it's perhaps not the best idea to plug it into new kit.

There are plenty of overpriced overrated PSUs out there. Good names, big price, garbage when it comes to testing.

You could copy the cracked exe to a memory stick then run the virus scan then submit to virus total.

If you have the parts to hand then swapping in and out is fine. When money is exchanging hands it's always best to diagnose first.

[abillybob]

If you can afford a new CPU, motherboard and RAM you can afford a copy of Mafia III. It may well have a system-crashing bug - or the game may be placing demands on your rig which are causing it to pull more current from the PSU which is then dropping voltage if it's dying. Or, it could just be karma for being cheap!

 

That's the thing. Trust me when I say I can't! I've had to put it all on my credit card to get it fixed! I do eventually buy the games, I cracked Cities Skylines first before I bought it, I just can't afford the ridiculous price tag on some games! I'll buy Mafia III in the sale i I like it and transfer my save across from the cracked version, I know it's important to support game devs for the PC!

I wouldn't have expected you to understand the numbers as you don't own a multimeter but the results would have been useful. If the PSU is 3 years old, and it lived in a hot environment. I'd expect some caps have gone out of spec a little.

As we don't know what's up with the first PC it's hard to say, ripple is different to voltage fluctuation and needs an oscilloscope not voltmeter to measure. If you possibly have killed the 12v PSU rail with a suspected possibly dodgy power supply it's perhaps not the best idea to plug it into new kit.

There are plenty of overpriced overrated PSUs out there. Good names, big price, garbage when it comes to testing.

You could copy the cracked exe to a memory stick then run the virus scan then submit to virus total.

If you have the parts to hand then swapping in and out is fine. When money is exchanging hands it's always best to diagnose first.

So how do I know the best bang to buck PSU to buy? I always presumed the better it read on paper with a recognisable brand the better the PSU?

 

That's a good idea, just done that and no viruses, so I presume it isn't that or it might be a file installed when installing a game hiding somewhere like AppData I suppose so I've just removed the game and deleted all references to files created on the same day as I installed Mafia III.

 

What's the difference between ripple and voltage fluctuation? Would you be able to point me in the right direction of a good PSU which doesn't cost the earth? I'd like it to be at least Semi-Modular if at all possible! I may have to hold off now though and not buy another PSU for a while until we've paid the credit card off Looks like the PC is out of use until Christmas!!

[Hunter]

Go for a decent PSU which should last you a while and invest in a surge protector from socket to PC

hopefully will save you next time

[difinity]

Voltage fluctuation would more likely be caused by a faulty voltage regulator and ripple is basically when AC current is not filtered by the capacitors. It's more common for capacitors to go out of tolerance than a voltage regulator fail.

Capacitors in power supplies are one of the first things I check when I get a sick computer in nowadays, especially on older systems. The most I've seen capacitors rated is 10,000/15,000hours at 105c (417 days).

It looks like there might be 6 capacitors (5 definitely) in your PSU excluding the two main filer caps.

Your Corsair isn't a bad PSU, but after 3 years I suspect heat has had an effect.

 

I would not use that PSU as it is currently, until it's been checked. It's possible it might damage your new system.

You could buy another PSU but I think it would be cheaper to repair yours.

[abillybob]

Voltage fluctuation would more likely be caused by a faulty voltage regulator and ripple is basically when AC current is not filtered by the capacitors. It's more common for capacitors to go out of tolerance than a voltage regulator fail.

Capacitors in power supplies are one of the first things I check when I get a sick computer in nowadays, especially on older systems. The most I've seen capacitors rated is 10,000/15,000hours at 105c (417 days).

It looks like there might be 6 capacitors (5 definitely) in your PSU excluding the two main filer caps.

Your Corsair isn't a bad PSU, but after 3 years I suspect heat has had an effect.

 

I would not use that PSU as it is currently, until it's been checked. It's possible it might damage your new system.

You could buy another PSU but I think it would be cheaper to repair yours.

Oooh How would I go about repairing it? Should I open it up and looks at the capacitors to see if one is swelling/leaking and try to re-solder a new one in?

[Joanne]

Oooh How would I go about repairing it? Should I open it up and looks at the capacitors to see if one is swelling/leaking and try to re-solder a new one in?

 

Would pay to watch this!

 

If you do decide to do that.... make sure they are all discharged first!

[DJ-1701]

Would pay to watch this!

 

^^^ This!

 

If you do decide to do that.... make sure they are all discharged first!

 

^^^ Though seriously... This!!

[Hunter]

Would pay to watch this!

 

If you do decide to do that.... make sure they are all discharged first!

 

big bang

[difinity]

Oooh How would I go about repairing it? Should I open it up and looks at the capacitors to see if one is swelling/leaking and try to re-solder a new one in?

 

As it's been running mostly okish in the new PC i doubt you will see a capacitor leaking or bulging although it is possible.

At least take the top off and have a look inside, they look to all be Nippon Chemi-con caps in the photo i found online, can you tell me what's written on them ?

Depending on your kit, it's not hard to replace new capacitors, I can match replacements when I know what's inside.

Most PSUs have bleed resistors to drain the power from capacitors. It's the two big ones that you need to be wary off. It feels like you've been hit in the arm with a lump hammer if you're unfortunate to forget/be careless.

Measure across from one to the other with the multimeter set to 200v, discharging with metal object can produce a spark and looks cool but isn't good for the health of the cap.