Emachine T3265 power supply

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I have what I believe is a PSU issue with my machine.
Emachine T3265
1 gb RAM (upgraded from 512)
256 mb video card (upgraded from 64 mb onboard)
Otherwise stock.

We recently had need to unlpug and move the machine, set it up, and then a week or so later move it back. The following symptoms occured both times:

Plug PC in, light 'ticking' sound heard. Power button does nothing. No light, nothing. Leave unit plugged in, about an hour later return and try again, and it boots fine, and did the rest of the week. Moved the machine again, and same happened. Two months on, and it still boots/runs like a champ. Have finally had time to do some investigation on what happened and from that I'm learning it may be the PSU capacitors discharging and I should replace the PSU.

The machine has been trouble free otherwise, and does what we need it to do. So, I would rather replace the PSU than the machine if it can be done cheaply enough (say, 60 bucks top end). Obviously don't want to sink a lot into this old machine, but I've never been one to spend money I didn't need to, and if I can get another year out of it I'll be happy.

Opinions on the above, and suggestions on what to buy. Found a Bestec for cheap, but have been strongly dissuaded from them with the 'you get what you pay for' argument. Of course eMachine PSUs seem to be flaky anyway, and this one lasted 6 years, so....who knows. Not me, that's why I'm here.
 
Sorry, You Missed a Better Price by a Week.......

Buy one of these; Antec EA-380D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033 It'll probably outlast the Emachine.

In some cases it's the motherboard that fails in the Emachines, and the symptoms are similar. Look for signs of overheating , burning. and or swollen capacitors around the Processor before you sink money into this machine.

The Bestec PSUs are garbage. The 250s can take out the board when they fail, the 300 (watts) are less lethal when they fail, but fail they do.

Although I've seen this Antec cheaper, it does come to $51.00 USD, with shipping, which meets your criterion.

Bear in mind that the most prudent thing to do in your case is to substitute the PSU first with a known good one, but I realize that that isn't always possible.
 
Thanks, I'll pop the case open tonight and take a look around. As our only machine I'm not about to mess with replacing a motherboard. As a 'spare' yeah, but last time I attempted a mobo upgrade it ended up...smoky, PSU, memory, video card, that's more my level. The only other PSU I have dates from 1998 and I've no idea of the wattage, other than likely 'not enough'. If the mobo looks fine I don't know what else it could be though, especially since the thing runs great at the moment exhibiting zero symptoms.

In fact I'm glad I had to move it otherwise I'd be completely ignorant of any problem. A silent killer I suppose...
 
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