Power supplies are not overly expensive or difficult to replace.

This is true, i bought a 750w PSU from ebay for about £25 so they're easy to accuire

Cheap PSUs can go bang and take out the rest of your components out with it

Yea but only if you're not careful with em

I suppose I could get one of those. Though if none of my outlets have enough power i'd still need to replace my power supply :P

You are correct. I was suspecting basically the same thing, getting the meter should help figure that out and possibly help me get the management to pay for these repairs. This was actually something I was concerned with when I moved in and spoke to them about.

voltmeter broke D:
wasn't getting any readings on any sockets with any of the AC settings. Got readings off batteries though :(

Some power companies have lending libraries that allow you to borrow equipment. Not sure if yours does.

i would double check the computer on another outlet entirely as well, preferably through a surge protector if you have it, if it was drawing power from another outlet when you switched it, it could be something with the power going to it.

Tried all accessible outlets :(

ok - yeah, it's the power supply. Is it a prebuilt model or is it a custom one? If so, might know which supply to get for it =)

Custom built, the supply itself was added later and should be under warranty. Though it's really loud anyway :P

Then if it's still under warranty, it could have been a defective unit then. Should be good to go =)

Maybe try checking to see if the 12v rail is plugged in? Chances are your right and the PSU has died, in which case you should be able to replace it easy for less then $60 unless you want a high wattage. Still... if the box has fallen over or been kicked, or some other crazy crap, try opening it up (with the power cable unplugged) and making sure all the connections from your PSU are plugged into their respective connectors (if you're not getting it to turn on, the 12v is the one connected to the mother board and is usually 20+4 pins.)

If you can't spare the money for an upgrade, I'm sure some tech head on here probably has a spare, PSU's are common. ...

Check your board, your hardware and any other parts for the requisite burns, scorches, weird smells and other "abnormal" signs before you go to the supply. It does sound like the supply may have a few blown caps in it (or their drying out) but you should verify it. Most supply failures are pretty "Dramatic" though My dad had one of his blow "fire" out the back fan and I had mine just "die" on me at 3 in the morning (brand new).

If everything is clear THEN AND ONLY THEN I would assume its the power supply. Like was said check your outlets for proper voltage then "jump test" your power supply (if your willing to "get dirty") Most places now will refuse to warranty a PSU without one being done and its easy enough to do. I doubt your machine is still under warranty but its easy enough to do (if it is bring it to a REPUTABLE service provider for said brand of machine (geek squad is not "reputable" and neither are their machines) and leave it at that.


Open the case up and CAREFULLY remove each connector (with main power disconnected of course) from everything to clear any faults (go from biggest to smallest). Then reconnect your optical drives (if you have them) and a fan and you should be able to have enough "load" to start the supply. Leave any critical parts disconnected like vid cards, hard drives, and the smaller connector to your board (the ATX or EPS depending on the age of the thing) because those parts are too sensitive to fluctuations, Any "load" of about an amp or so should clear for most (but more is okay so long as its not critical components) unless your supply is like 10 years old....


http://pinouts.ru/Power/atxpower_pinout.shtml, thats the big long pin inside your computer (if your willing to get "dirty")

Connect the pin with the green wire (power_OK) to any of the black wired pins (ground) with a paper clip, plug the supply in, then switch it on with the parts above.

If it turns on your supply is good and its another issue
If it doesn't its time to replace the supply.

I tried this out!
The power supply turned on!

Is it possible the sockets in my apartment can't handle the load of my computer?

Though I must say the PSU sounded more sluggish than usual.

The best thing to do is to check and do a supply inventory in your machine (making sure your current draws are within safe loads of your supply). Chances are your supply is "labouring" on a light load it is indeed failing (but not dead yet) and putting something heavy (like a vid card) on it is enough to kick in a fault protector (low voltage protection) which is why the thing is "locking out". A supply that has "leaking" components can actually cause it "to labour" like that and trip fuses off your panel.

I would recommend a "supply inventory of your machine before you go and purchase a 100 dollar piece of equipment (trust me spending that much on a decent brand name its worth it since for example mine is nearly pushing the end of its "service life" without trouble) to rule more cases out but I am thinking you got a leaky supply thats triggering an over or under load protection and you need better equipment before something more catastrophic happens.


Before you go spending money on a band-aid for god sakes check your outlets. A short can cause your issues as well and they can be hell to find. Try to plug in a lamp or something or even a toaster to verify the behaviour or not (burnt toast at even a low setting is a good way to check for a bad circuit). Its a potential fire-hazard that has to be ruled out


If your worried about supply though (and yes when a 1.2kw monster supply can pull like 10 amps at full load you need to be) just divide your desired power supply rating by 120 to get the current, then total up all the current plugged into that circuit (should be labelled) and compare to the breaker on that circuit. I can personally tell you though I run a 5000 BTU AC on the same 15 amp circuit that my 850W rated machine does and I don't trip it. (just though since that AC takes 8 amps on its own)

I'm thinking eventually if those things get any bigger fire codes are gunny start requiring dedicated lines for computing equipment (since refrigerators and freezers require their own circuits now but I doubt your running QUAD 5800s or something on your machine so just follow those steps and you should be fine

I found a forum for this PSU brand and it appears to be a common problem with this model :P

Great.

Thats probably the best and most practical location of information you can find.

Good luck with your issue.

Thanks for your help though, it's been very useful :3

A bad power supply will stress outlets. It depends on how the PSU switches.

It's a good idea to get a decent PSU that is matched with your computer's needs. Too large a power supply might not be efficient enough at load and may draw more power, so if you have poor/stressed outlets don't get a 750W PSU if your computer draws 350W. A cheap power conditioner might help, too.

It could also be that your board isn't working properly anymore, and thus when you press the soft-power button (the momentary on switch on the front of your computer) that's not being 'translated' properly (e.g. hardware broken) to turn on and keep on the PSU.

Some computer shops sell power supply testers, and sometimes computer shops also could test PSU's (probably for not very much cost).

I wish the best of luck for you with your computer issues.

you had to flip outlets? sounds more like an outlet issue than a power supply issue, maybe you blew a breaker/fuse

Aw, bummer. Sorry to hear that, dude.

If it is the power supply, i really recomend you get a branded PSU from a company like OCZ, Corsair, or... thermaltake... there's so many good ones. They're like, tripple the price of a greybox unbranded, or cheap branded PSU, but they not only last a LOT longer, but also provide a better power output, meaning its less likely for your other parts in your computer to fail. beleave it or not, a lot of faults on a computer are actually down to a poor PSU.

Yeah I know how that is Mif dont worry as said power supplies are pretty damn cheap. Check out sites like newegg.com or tigerdirect.com you can find pretty good deals. I got a 650w power supply for like 70 bucks and it runs so well <3

Could be the power cord. At least I hope it is, that's easier to fix/replace than the battery.

oh sheesh, hope that gets solved without any more problems for you >.<

That's how my last one went.It was like, 10 years old, so I decided to just get a new one though.

At least you can transfer your files...