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PC turns on then off and again


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#1
Mavasilisk

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Hi all.

I've strange problems with my PC for the last 3-4 days. When I try to turn it on, it actually turns on for 1/2 second (fans start spinning and I hear the HDD starting to spin - not at full speed just starting to spin) and then it turns off, on,off without I even touch it. The first thing I've though was it was shorting somewhere so I took it out of the case, placed it over motherboard's papercase and turned it on with screwdriver. It did the same thing. Its very weird because when I take off the AC/DC cable from the PSU and put it back in after 30-40 mins I am able to start the PC with one try sometimes. I personally think it's the PSU not able to spin the HDD at full speed at the beginning of the boot. My PC specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Asrock P5B-DE
2x 512 RAM, 1x 2 GB
HDD 160 GB 7200 RPM
ATI Radeon HD 4670 512 MB DDR3

The power supply is 350W. Sadly, the only extra PSU that I have around is 350W too and it does the absolutely same thing. Anyway, if I unplug the HDD or video or ram the PC starts everytime but ends up with error of the missing part. I explain it myself that the PSU wattage is too low to power up my build. Any advices? Should I change the PSU immediately?
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#2
phillpower2

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:welcome: Mavasilisk

Good trouble shooting already done on your part so well done for that :thumbsup:

I agree that the PSU is the root cause of your problem and that is because it is under powered for your video card, see attachment below, the problem that you face now is that you may have damaged other components by depriving them of the correct amount of power that they need, your video card is the most likely component to suffer first.
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#3
Mavasilisk

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It doesnt look like the video card is damaged, I've been using it on second PC and it runs without artifacts (It has some artifacts on the PC which I have problems with). I'll put it on the second PC again for some testing but I explain the problem to myself that when I remove the HDD there is enough power to start up the system. Can you explain it more clearer? I had motherboard Asus P5L 1394 and Intel Dual Core 925 before I upgraded my motherboard and CPU because my first motherboard's CMOS has burned.

The problem itself is very strange. There is not enough power to start the system but if it starts (usually takes 20-40 tries to turn it on) I am able to play some high-end games (the PC shuts down sometimes but I used to play 2-3 hours sometimes and sometimes the PC shuts down immediately when I close the game and there is less load the it was while I was playing).

Also, I've done memory check without any problems and I've done one RAM memory stick test (placing each of my RAM memory sticks into different slots to check if my RAM is faulty).

Excuse me if I'm telling it very detailed, I just want it to be clear.
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#4
phillpower2

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As a PSU puts out various voltages +3.3V, +5V and +12V it may appear that the PSU is working correctly but it is not, any significant drop of any output can prevent the system from booting up, the other scenario is a significant increase in the output which can be worse as it can fry one or more major components such as the MB, CPU, Ram, add on video card etc.

Basically using an underpowered PSU will slowly but surely destroy your computers hardware, poor quality brand PSUs are worse as they do not even produce the power output that they claim.

What is the brand and model name or number of the present PSU.

Also please note that the recommended PSU output is the Minimum required or as AMD put it "400W or greater power supply" meaning that the Minimum output PSU that you can safely use is 400W.

Providing as much information as you can is helpful to us so no problem and from what you have told us you need to replace your present PSU with a quality brand such as Antec, Corsair, OCZ or Seasonic, give yourself a little bit of headroom and choose a minimum 500W output PSU.
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#5
Mavasilisk

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I've been using the system like this for 3-4 days and I hope there is nothing damaged. The current PSU name is "ISO". I am afraid of buying some chinese non-brand PSU but I'm not tight budget now.

I'm thinking about buying some 450-500W PSU.

Edited by Mavasilisk, 10 January 2013 - 04:16 PM.

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#6
phillpower2

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Some PSU guidance at the following links;

http://www.10stripe....d/psu/brand.php

http://www.pcmech.co...ide-inside.html

http://www.realhardt...vos/Page541.htm
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#7
Mavasilisk

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I'm about to buy some non-brand 500W PSU from a local store (it weights 2x my current PSU). I'm using my ATI video card now and it looks like it isnt damaged from the previous PSU. Anyway, I dunno if u understood that the problems occured since I changed the motherboard and CPU with better ones.
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#8
phillpower2

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Please note that there is one thing that is possibly worse than using a known poor quality brand of PSU and that is using one that is unheard of, for brands of PSU to trust and brands to avoid please do refer to the two attached links http://www.10stripe....d/psu/brand.php and http://www.pcmech.co...ad.php?t=208143
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#9
Mavasilisk

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I bough a non-brand PSU and the system is up and running. Its awesome. Thanks for the help, mate!

Edited by Mavasilisk, 16 January 2013 - 03:27 PM.

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#10
phillpower2

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That is great news Mavasilisk and thanks for the update, you are welcome BTW :thumbsup:
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