When turning power on fans start but then fade -- do I need to replace PSU?

[mohara1976]

When switching on power to my computer I find the mobo led lights and the fan over the processor starts to turn but then the power fades and the fans stop. As I am new to DIY computer repair can anyone confirm for me my suspicions ( from reading articles on the web), that my problem is a failed PSU and I should replace it ?

Thank you for your time in responding
My system specs are in my profile

Also any recommendation on what to replace the psu with if indeed I do need to replace it.

Regards
M. O'Hara

 

[raybay]

We cannot give you many helpful comments based on what little you have told us. Resubmit with the model number, or the motherboard information with configuration for hard drive, memory installed, power supply, etc... and how long you have had it... along with the history of how well it has worked. If you know the hard drive, post that as well.

It could be dust and dirt in the CPU fan or cooler, old hard drive that is wearing out. Inadequate memory for todays machine,
The more you tell the participants of this list, the more helpful we will be in rooting out the problem.
On first look, it could be a failed power supply or failed hard dreive, or overheating CPU.

 

[mohara1976]

Thanks for the quick reply Raybay.
My specs are in my profile and I was hoping you could read them. However here is the information.

I have had this system for just under 1 yr and there is very little dust inside the case or on the fans. The system had been running without a glitch until one day when turning on the power button I got the problem I mentioned above. I think I may have detected the faint smell of something burnt the first time this happened.

PSU - 850 Watt ThermalTake Power supply
Processor - Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz 8M 1366 CPU
Mobo - Asus Sabertooth X58
Graphics cards - Dual ( Xfire ) Radeon 5770 1GB GDDR5 PCIE VC
Memory - 6 x Corsair 2GB DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800
Hard Drive - Hitachi 1TB 7200 RPM, 16MB, SATA Hard Drive

 

[raybay]

Looks like everything is First Class... sorry, but I am on the road using a borrowed computer without a printer. Is the Hitachi 1 TB new? Is the CPU cooler clean? Are the graphics cards new or old? Have you tried using just one graphics card for the test?

and trading around the memory 2 GB at a time to see if a module has gone bad?

I am one of those techs who has bad luck with Hitachi hard drives.

What you describe sounds rather odd-ball, but I would have a tendency to blame the ThermalTake power supply, since I have had a lot of them fail while the black paint was still new.

CPU cooling fan?

After finally seeing and reviewing your profile, I still don't have a clue, but I would start with the video graphics cards, changing them out one at a time. Never in my life had I have a Corsair memory module fail, but that is where I would look third, after the CPU cooling fan

Sorry I am not of any help.

 

[mohara1976]

Thanks for the input and pointing me in the direction of potential culprits causing this problem. The hitachi Hard drive came with the system so it is as new as all the other parts ( 1 yr old ). I did not think of the graphics cards being a problem. Can graphic cards cause the whole system to shut itself down ?
I will let you know if I find out anyrhing more about this

 

[raybay]

No, but graphics cards can create all sorts of misbehaviors when their board fail... anytime after 6 months... See more failed graphics cards than any other computer part, in our repair shops... that is, if you don't count any eMachines, Gateway, Packard Bell, or laptops by Sony, HP, Gateway, eMachines...
High end graphics cards can be especially difficult, but have better product support from their makers.