Desktop death -PSU or Mobo?

[StevieRay]

Hi all, been reading about a new build and well this is very timely...

My desktop for the first time has died, I think. A day ago it was going from my desktop to the login screen. I was away from it when it happened (3x) and never saw how it got there. I was in Vegas for a week and thought I was detoxing. Well, it did it one last time so I shut down and then tried to restart...nada. Would not start. The led on the mobo is on, the fans started to move, but no startie upie. Checked the wires, found a new plug, tried a new plug, tried new power wires...nothing.

Read that it may be the PSU. This is an older machine that has been great to me. I think it got jealous of the new build I want to do. Thank the Lord for my Asus G2 or my business would be down.

Can anyone confirm if this is the PSU. I am more mechanical than technical thus you have to speak slowly to me...but I can usually fix things, and will switch out the PSU if you recommend.

PS, this is a P4 2.4ghz, with asus p4p800 mobo, running windows XP sp2 and 2.5 gig of RAM. I work on it everyday and game on it (BF2 Project Reality mostly).

Thanks for any advice...StevieRay

One more question...I have an ATX PSU 400w. Can I just pick out a new ATX with say 500w to replace the old one. Now that I want to change it any way?

[gvblake22]

To answer your question about what went bad, there are some more tests that must be done to determine exactly where the problem lies. Have you tried clearing the CMOS to reset the BIOS? If that doesn't work, then you could try "jumpstarting" the PSU with an optical drive or fans attached to see if it powers the devices. If it does, then your power supply is probably ok. Try booting the computer with only one stick of RAM; and try the stick in different DIMM slots.

To answer your second question, you can usually pick any ATX PSU, but you want to make sure it has the correct cables and connections you need for your system. Some newer systems require cables and connections that do not exist on older power supplies. for a Pentium 4 system like yours, you shouldn't have a problem, but you still want to make sure you choose a PSU that is manufactured by a reputable company and not some piece of junk that will fail again in six months (and possible take other parts of your computer with it). I'm not sure if any (or all) of that was over your head, but if you need clarification on any of the things I mentioned please say so and we'll get you on the right path.

Welcome to HardwareLogic! :wavey:

[StevieRay]

Thanks for the feedback. Your suggestion is over my head. I could not get the system to restart at all. This is my main business machine (luckily I have a laptop back up). All my data is backed up on a 500gig hd.

Jumpstarting I have never done before. I went ahead and pulled out the PSU and will replace with a new one. I found this one:
APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W Power Supply 115/ 230 V UL, CSA, TUV, CE - Retail

Newegg.com - APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W Power Supply 115/ 230 V UL, CSA, TUV, CE - Power Supplies

My old one is: Xtreme Switching Power Supply 400w model LP-6100D.

I think it is compatable. I have a cd writer, floppy, cd drive (not DVD), an Asus p4p800 mobo, and a EVGA 6600 GT, custom build in 2003. If not please let me know. And thank you for the suggestions!

Originally Posted by gvblake22

To answer your question about what went bad, there are some more tests that must be done to determine exactly where the problem lies. Have you tried clearing the CMOS to reset the BIOS? If that doesn't work, then you could try "jumpstarting" the PSU with an optical drive or fans attached to see if it powers the devices. If it does, then your power supply is probably ok. Try booting the computer with only one stick of RAM; and try the stick in different DIMM slots.

To answer your second question, you can usually pick any ATX PSU, but you want to make sure it has the correct cables and connections you need for your system. Some newer systems require cables and connections that do not exist on older power supplies. for a Pentium 4 system like yours, you shouldn't have a problem, but you still want to make sure you choose a PSU that is manufactured by a reputable company and not some piece of junk that will fail again in six months (and possible take other parts of your computer with it). I'm not sure if any (or all) of that was over your head, but if you need clarification on any of the things I mentioned please say so and we'll get you on the right path.

Welcome to HardwareLogic! :wavey:

[stinger608]

First off
Welcome to HardwareLogic StevieRay!!!!

Now down to business
That power supply that you linked to.............Crap! Not worth the $40.00!

There are several Power supplies that that are great brands, such as OCZ, Antec, Thermaltake, Fortron, Enermax, and a few others.
But, from what I suspect is within your price range, at least a reasonable price range, I have found a couple that would fit the bill.
First on the list:

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU ATX 12V 2.0 500W Power Supply 115/ 230 V UL, CUL, TUV, FCC, and CB certification - Power Supplies
Pretty fair price, and a good performer.

Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Power Supplies
Excellent PSU, as OCZ builds great products.

Newegg.com - FSP Group AX500-PN ATX2.2 500W Power Supply 110-120/ 220-240V UL, CSA, VDE, NEMKO, TUV, CE, CB, FCC - Power Supplies
Which is a Fortron product. Very dependable power supplies.

But, as GvBlake22 mentioned, there should be other tests before assuming the power supply has bit the big one.
First thing that I noticed, your current power supply is an Xtreme PSU. Usually a pretty good supply, although they have had there fair share of issues, but none the less, usually pretty decent.

Lets do this first.
Open the case up, after shutting it down, and unplugging the power cord
Reach in the case and find the ribbon cable that attaches to the hard drive, unplug that.
Now, look for the ribbon cable that attaches to the optical drive, ie, CD-ROM, and unplug that cable.
Do the same with the floppy drive, if you have one that is


Now, if you have any add in cards in the system, such as dial up modem, or Ethernet card, these would be toward the bottom of your case, most likely in the white looking slots, pull anything that is in these slots.

Memory. Check and see if there are more than one memory modules plugged into the mother board. These will be fairly close to the main CPU. Unplug all but one, really doesn't matter which one you leave.

Unplug your mouse, and keyboard..........I know this would seem a little odd, but all it will give you, providing it boots, is a "no boot disk error on the screen.

Leave your video card plugged in, and turn the system on.

Now, if nothing happens, pull what ever memory module you left in, and install it into one of the other 4 memory slots available, and start the system up again.

Once you have done the above, if it still does not boot, post and we will get just a bit more in depth on these tests.

Oh yea, and here is a picture of one of the models of motherboards that you have.........Not sure if it is the exact version or not, but it should be close.
You can use it for reference for finding the slots mentioned above.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

[StevieRay]

Thank you Stinger and GVBlake. GREAT advice. I needed it. Since I am a bit of a **** I went and bought a Power Supply tester (by antec) and it told me that the PSU is at fault. I want to buy a new one now and will get an Antec more than likely. Now my computer is 5 years old. Do I need to be on the look out for anything other than an ATX? Can I go up to 500w? I game on this machine and want to keep that up until I get the new build going...

thanks again..great forum! StevieRay

[gvblake22]

You will definitely need an ATX PSU, and you can go as high as you want (although I don't recommend wasting your money on anything much over 500W).

[StevieRay]

This is my Hard Drive:

Western Digital WD600JB Specifications

Will a simple 500w ATX work with it? I am unsure due to SATA v. IDE?

[qazwsx]

Originally Posted by StevieRay

This is my Hard Drive:

Western Digital WD600JB Specifications

Will a simple 500w ATX work with it? I am unsure due to SATA v. IDE?

Yes, being IDE it is powered by a Molex connector, which will be on any ATX power supply

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by qazwsx

Yes, being IDE it is powered by a Molex connector, which will be on any ATX power supply

Yep. And any modern PSU you get today will have at least one SATA power connector (if not four or six). If not, molex to SATA power adapters are easy to come by...

[StevieRay]

Thank you everyone very much. I installed an Antec Earthwatts 430 and fired the machine up and all is running. Very good!

Now I can work on the new build. Saw a thread that diabloplayer75 had about a nice build under $1500.

Great site, great advice, great people.

Thank you.