Hi I'm knew to the forum and am in desperate need of help. My system made a crazy sound and then shut off, I smelt something burnt and now my system won't boot. I had my 3.0P4 OC'd to 3.78 running at about 38 Celcius, so I don't think I burnt my chip, I think it was the crappy Orion 420W PSU. Here is my setup:

NZXT Nemesis Elite w/ Orion 420 W PSU
Asus P4P 800-E Deluxe MB
ATI AIW x800xt
SB Audigy Platinum
1 GB Corsair Value Select Ram

What do you guys think? When I try to power the sys on, the MB light does not even go on , which to me means either the MB fried or the PSU did, and I hope someone will help me confirm this. Is there any way to test the PSU? Thank you in advance for your help.

Orion.. Sounds like a cheap brand. Try the PSU on a different system to see if thats the problem.

If that works fine, I'd say it was your CPU, even if the temps weren't high,
something may have shorted out.

The Nemesis Has a Thermal LCD outside, if the PSU was good, as least this would turn on right? I also have 2 cold cathode lights hooked up to the PSU, and they don't turn on either. Is this a good indication it's the PSU? I should have seen it coming. The ATI requires a power connector, so does the audigy, the hard drives, the Cathode lights, The Nemesis LCD and 3 case fans. Is there a way to calculate how good of a PSU i'll need?

Heres a good formula for calculating the needs of your power supply

Take:

Wattage of Old PSU + 150W = Wattage Required

Sorry, I subscribe to the school of Overkill...

Try the Enermax 535W Dual PCI-E PSU, I have the same component setup as you do essentially, and mine plugs along without a hitch, and the power provided is very stable.

if thats the forumla for School of OverKill then i am one them students or a teacher there


@ wes one thing dont skimp out on is the psu get a good Psu for your comp Coolermaster realpower Psu's , ernamx Psu's , Antec , Ocz are all good psu's to use ...

I reccomend the ePower Puma II. I have that PSU, and its doing great for me, and is virtually silent.

You can find it on newegg for about 40 bucks.