PSU Problem???

[RustyZip]

Hi...

Just built a new Computer. Specs are in my profile thingy.

Everything seemed fine for a week, then one day when i powered up, it started to boot for a split second, then went dead. After that it was totally dead (no power). After coming back to it a few hours later, it powered up, started the post test, then froze when it came to the memory test. And did so everytime after that. So i poked and prodded inside, making sure all cards are fitted properly and it powered up ok...
On the motherboard is a daughterboard(?) which is a dual phase power supply to help the PSU...

Its done this several times, and after prodding about it fires up ok everytime... Any idea what could be causing this??? I'm thinking it might be that the dual phase power supply thingy is working itself loose, failing and causing a drop in power/wattage, which in-turn doesn't give enough beef to fire up the system...

Oh - my 12V is 14A, but with the dual phase thingy, god knows what total output i have....

Is it the PSU?? Or any other ideas??

 

[Nic]

This sounds like a PSU issue.

Take a look over here ...

Choosing a PSU

 

[iss]

I would say it is a PSU problem. the dual phase feature on your board does not INCREASE the power available from your PSU it simply allows what is available to be utililized for specific connections ( typically for servers) your P4 2.4 is drawing almost 10A by itself.

 

[RustyZip]

Thankyou Nic and ISS...

I was thinking it was probably a PSU problem.

ISS - Can you elaborate on what this Dual Phase Power thingy does, because i can't understand it !!!
I've noticed when my bios says something like Dual Power failure (meaning the daughterboard power module) it works fine... but then after another 2 or 3 boot-ups it freezes or doesn't even boot at all, then i twiddle and poke the cards, memory inside etc, then it boots up fine.... Must be some sort of loose connection or something on the dual phase power thingy...

Thanks again...

 

[RustyZip]

I hope i've made myself clear, cause im slightly pi**ed at the mo... Please forgive me... LOL

 

[Nic]

Try this link ...

Dual Power System (DPS

Also ...

Review

It would appear that the DPS board is simply there to provide a more stable voltage to the processor. This board consumes power, and so would defintely require a more powerful PSU to work properly. Your PSU is already borderline and is probably only able to cope for a short period before it overheats and the output falls. You might find that the proding around is not what is making it boot again, but rather the fact that it has had time to cool whilst you are proding around.

Get a beefier and better quality PSU and you could even ditch the daughterboard if you so wished.

Oh yeah, and don't be pissed with the mobo, its one of the best around.

 

[young&wild]

Yeah...Nic is right, ditch the psu get a better one, besides the P4 drawing lots of power...don't forget that you have 2 hard disk drives sucking some more power. BTW is it an old PSU?

 

[RustyZip]

No, its new(ish) one i bought from one of computer fairs. Its a QTEC 550w Gold PSU... I thought at the time it would be powerful enough being 550w.
But as i've lately found out, its not just the wattage you should look at, but the ampage on the rails(?) and found only about 14A on the 12V rail... :-(

Time to find the credit card, me thinks....

 

[young&wild]

Yup...you have learnt a vital lesson, wattage is not that important, in your case much of the current is drawn to the 5v and 10v rail...One things for sure, not all 550W PSU are exactly 550, but more of like 525 or so rounded to the nearest 50th.

 

[StormBringer]

The current(A) is your problem. Even if that 550W PSU was only 400W, it would still be ok as long as you had enough current on the 12v and 5v rails, the 12v mainly because of the amount of current used by those components which use it.

 

[olefarte]

Question: With todays fast processors, shouldn't the 12V rail be at least 20A, preferably 24?

 

[young&wild]

Well....thats a problem with some crappy Taiwanese Companies manufacturing so called 550W PSU, neglecting the 12V rail.