Possible PSU problem??? Very strange

[pcjunky]

Here is a good one

I'm not realy new to this sport. But I have never come up with this kind of problem before.

Just built a new system. spec are not that important for this problem.
Asrock X533
P4 2.4Ghz
512 pc 2100
500w power supply

System went together with no problem.
Burned in with no problem about a week ago shut the system down and went to bed, got up the next morning and nothing , every thing spunn up but no post. Ok so i say to my self, Self you never should have got a chepo psu sooo It's time to buy a new quality one, untill then I STEAL my wife's psu 250w but the system runs ok alittle short on power but if i just run what i need to get buy it'll work. I wanted to test this psu so I stick it in my wife's system and lo and behold it works great, WOW that's strange but I want to test it even further so I take it and put it on another system, I have no problem works great.
So I go and get a 600w psu and try that in my system no post as before Hmmmm Coud be a bad psu ? Try it in my wife's and whamo works great.
stick the 250 psu back in my system and it comes up just fine.

So my queston is has anybody ever herd of a problem like this?

 

[Crazy]

Might be worth a try to put the 500W PSU in your wife's pc and check te voltages.

It could be that the voltage is to low for your motherbord but not to low for a older pc

Greets Crazy,

 

[pcjunky]

Yah,
I did that and the 500 works great. Also I just got a new 600w and it will not work in my system but works perfect in hers. It's realy strange that out of 4 psu's only a cheap old Compusa 250w psu will fire up my system. I think the mobo went south on me. I'll never buy an ASROCK mobo again. I have always used ASUS and never had a problem. I can use the ASROCK at the park for a Frisbi.

One other note: ASROCK does not even list this mobo on there website any more.

Thanks for the input.
pcjunky

 

[acidosmosis]

I wouldn't recommend a 250W PSU, that could lead to problems. For example, Athlon XP processor's are recommended to use at least a 300W PSU. A 250W PSU in with the newest processor's is a bad idea in general. Your PSU could explode and/or cause damage to other components.

If you want to be 100% sure if it is a PSU problem then I would suggest buying a 350W Enermax PSU. They are VERY high quality, and the best PSU's you can buy right now (check reviews, they all show Enermax as the highest quality) and the 350W's only go for about $45 right now. Check www.newegg.com.

Note: Normally it is a bad idea to use any cheap brand of PSU with today's processors, especially anything below 300W. If your going to use a 300W PSU it needs to be a high quality PSU because problems could occur. You may get by fine and may not, but it's better safe than sorry. One experience I had was with a cheap 400W PSU that came with a $27 case. Even though it was a 400W PSU the adequate power was not being pushed by the PSU. The 12V rail was actually showing about 11.0v of power, the 5V was showing about 4.3v.

Now, I do say it's usually fine going for a 350W or 400W cheap PSU if you dont plan on using more than one hard drive, 2 fans, CDR, normal AGP video card that doesn't require a molex connection for extra power, etc.. pretty much the minimums then usually you will be fine, but if you upgrade later on to something like a 9700 Pro needing a molex connection and add a few fans then it wouldn't be a good idea staying with the cheap PSU.

Anyway, thats my PSU lesson for the day . Hope that helped in some way.

 

[StormBringer]

Sounds like your mobo is a proprietary mobo. If a Compaq PSU will power it and the others won't, it sounds like you have gotten yourself a mobo that was intended for use in a Compaq.
Many PC manufacturers use proprietary components, Compaq is one of the major ones that does this. What this means is that things like mobo and PSU are made so that you have to use their mobo with their PSU and they won't work if you try to use another mobo, or if you try to use a different PSU.