please help!power supply problem? (3.3v)

[Yourworstnightmare]

I used to have this problem, boot it in vga mode and uninstall your video card drivers and reboot. That worked for me and it turned out my video card was fried. Check if that is the problem.

[UrbanFuturistic]

Do you mean you just replaced the power supply? 'cause it sounds like you've got a duff one. Check all the power connections and if they're all pushed in properly, nothing's come loose, no loose wires etc., then the PSU's got something directly wrong with it.

All the failed boots, rebooting etc would happen if there was a power fluctuation or even momentary loss of full power (remember that when it's booting is the biggest power drain on a computer 'cause it needs the extra kick of juice to get all the drives spinning) and of course if there's even a microsecond loss of power to the RAM that'll reset everything as the RAM is what holds the current state of everything the computer's doing and if that loses power, it loses all that information and the computer switches to it's default state, that being the one you get when you switch it on.

regards, Paul

[kaiser_pro]

the scientific test is this: does it smell funny, if it does then its dead, or going to be.

as there is a dip in voltage, that either suggests the psu is or was under heavy load(which will cause it to heat up/smell or possibly make a high pitched noise)

second is to check the graphics card, does that do any of the above?

[cache]

thank you guys for replying !
i will get another vidcard for tonight from a friend and i will experiment with drivers and that another card..
right now i keep running my win in vga mode in low res, cause i've got things to do on it i can manage in low res as well...

but i will try out things tonight as i want to find the error! so thanks again!

[cache]

Kaiser_pro: hm... i dont smell anything unusual around both of them,
the psu is cool, but the vidcard is rather hot (touched it:)), but i dont know how hot it should be with normal circumstances, or how cool/hot it should be with the default (rather small) fan...

[cache]

hi again!

i managed to recieve another card as i mentioned, its an old tnt2 riva 32m card..
(with the same fan-system on it: the fan power cables are connected right into the card itself..)
first it was okay, but after rebooting, the hw monitor shows 2.64V(!) next to the +3.3V voltage text... so it's even worse :(:(

the power supply is the problem then.. right ?
can you help me ?


Yourworstnightmare > can it really have anything in connection with the drivers ? the bios does not have anything to do with windows-drivers, nah ?

odubtaig > thanks, i checked the cables, all seems all right i think, i made sure of what i could...

[irieken]

hi again!

i managed to recieve another card as i mentioned, its an old tnt2 riva 32m card..
(with the same fan-system on it: the fan power cables are connected right into the card itself..)
first it was okay, but after rebooting, the hw monitor shows 2.64V(!) next to the +3.3V voltage text... so it's even worse :(:(

the power supply is the problem then.. right ?
can you help me ?


Yourworstnightmare > can it really have anything in connection with the drivers ? the bios does not have anything to do with windows-drivers, nah ?

odubtaig > thanks, i checked the cables, all seems all right i think, i made sure of what i could...

Have you checked the back of the power supply to make sure that it is set to 115V instead of 230 (of to to 230 if you live in a country that uses 230).

Decent power supplies will supply roughly proper voltages to output even when it is fed the completely wrong input voltage.

BTW, the voltage monitors on motherboards can sometimes be really really bad... Once had to work on an Asus board that showed the 5V rail as being 2.9, but my Fluke meter showed the PSU putting a nice 5.5V.

[cache]

yeah, thanks,
it is set to 230v, where i live (Hungary, Europe) it must be set to 230,

but yesterday late at night i managed to figure out that when i move the cable of the psu by hand that is connected to the motherboard, i get the 3.3v numbers strongly changing, + sometimes it crashes (reboots) immediately after "playing" with it for a few seconds, so i think it must be the psu, or the cable itself.. gonna return today it to the shop where i bought it :(..
the funny thing is that this psu came as a return as well as a compensation of a not so old (10 month since i bought it), but faulty psu, which i get in the same shop... and although it is a 'famous', big shop here in Hungary..

but now i feel you cant trust any shop at all these days i think... :(
gonna let you know what happened :)

[cache]

BTW, the voltage monitors on motherboards can sometimes be really really bad... Once had to work on an Asus board that showed the 5V rail as being 2.9, but my Fluke meter showed the PSU putting a nice 5.5V.

You may be right on this one too, but a crash/reboot is always a crash/reboot, no matter what the numbers are :)

[irieken]

Sounds like it is almost 100% a PSU problem. Try to stay away from those non-name power supplies, because they tend to skimp on those important things... like functional 20/24 pin power connector. Try to pick up an Antec, Enermax, Sparkle, OCZ, or any other fairly heavy (in weight) power supplies. They use better components and are much more reliable because of it.

Small coputer shops tend to sell very bad power supplies (like Powmax and Broadway CC), because it is too expensive to stock name brand PSUs. Remember, your power supply is the second more important component in your entire computer.;)

[cache]

yeah, it was a PSU problem after all... :)

i brought it back to the shop, where they quickly tested it, and as the PSU could even turn on their computer, they immeadiately asked me: -choose another psu from those you see on the shelf.. :)

I chose the same kind (IMPB 420w with 3fan, blue led), cause i have got another one in my other computer, and it serves me well (and silent:) ..

in the past 10 months, i brought back 3 psus to this shop: one chieftec, one sirtec, and today an imbp... is it me, bad luck or what ?

anyway..
thank you all so much for your time for trying to help me out !
hopefully i wont get any problems with psu's in the next few months! :)

...

(damn.. my girlfriend just came in saying her comp stopped responding eek:scream: )

[lots]

Was there an Antec on the shelf? Or any other high end PSU? (PC Power and Cooling, SilverStone, etc.)

You should have gotten something like that.

[cache]

just gembirds,siretcs, chieftecs, imbps... none of what you mentioned :D

[deathman20]

A suggsetion next time is to try searching for a brand named PSU. If you can't get one of those pick up the heaviest PSU you can find. The heavier it is the better it usually is.

I don't reconise any of those names and thats what could be causing the problem. Either thats all the shop can get or they got a nice thing going for them where customers come back often.

[irieken]

just gembirds,siretcs, chieftecs, imbps... none of what you mentioned :D

Yeah... I probably wouldn't do my PSU shopping there:P Next time you have a PSU die, grab yourself one that's made of granite. OCZ, Antec, Sparkle, or Enermax. It'll be a little pricier, but it will last long enough to will to your children (and provide stable clean power to your computer):P

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