I'm pretty sure my PC's power supply died

Kristmas Kthulhu

So I noticed last night after taking my computer to a friend's house to play some vidja games that it wasn't turning on. It had been working fine several hours before, I didn't hear any weird noises, or notice anything out of the ordinary, really. I tested different power cables (not the issue) and different outlets (not the issue), so I figure the power supply is probably what's wrong.

The thing is, that power supply is only a year and a half old, which seems way too early for it to be going kaput. Is there anything I can do to get it refurbished or something so that I don't have to shell out another couple hundred bucks for a brand new one?

Edit: I just checked the price of the power supply I have, and it's much cheaper than I expected, only $70. Still, that's $70 I'd rather spend on something else.

Derrick

I think it's too big a leap to just assume your power supply isn't working because your computer isn't turning on. It could be that, but it could be a lot of other hardware problems as well. For example, my computer just did this last week, and I found out it was actually the video card that died.

The first thing you want to do is make sure all the cards on your motherboard are firmly in place. Moving your computer around might have jostled loose the RAM, for example. So open up your case and make sure your video card, ram, etc are firmly plugged into the motherboard (and double check that their power connectors are plugged in correctly as well).

If that doesn't work, you probably are going to have to drop some cash. First though, find out what's wrong so you're not just throwing money at it. Since any malfunctioning part can pretty much cause your computer to do this, you want to take out all the variables you can. Take out all non-essential components. You'll be left with the motherboard, CPU, Hard Drive, RAM, video card.

If you're still not getting any fans winding up, no beep codes, nothing: Take out the video card. Retest. If you have multiple sticks of RAM, remove all but one and retest. After that, swap out your one for another one, just to be sure that you didn't leave the one bad one in. Retest. Take out the hard drive. Retest. Basically, if you have a working PSU, motherboard, CPU, and one stick of RAM, your computer will turn on, spin up, and give appropriate error codes.

If you just want to check your power supply, you can swap in one you know to be good just to make sure your computer turns on. VERY IMPORTANT- DO NOT PUT SUSPECTED BAD HARDWARE IN A WORKING COMPUTER TO TEST IT. YOU RUN A HIGH CHANCE OF DAMAGING THE WORKING COMPUTER.

God speed and good luck. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Dunadan019

your first step should be to flip the power supply off and then on while plugged in to make sure it wasn't overloaded when you plugged it in.

your power supply may do it differently, so check the manual.

next you should disconnect everything except the cpu, power supply and one stick of ram.

then when you turn it on, it should POST (beep) which will tell you that none of those things are bad or it won't and it means that likely the power supply or motherboard went bad.

Kristmas Kthulhu

I already opened it up and checked the connections when I made my other tests, but I can do a more thorough one to double check.

My power supply may do what differently? What exactly am I checking for, Dunadan?

Sterica

Easiest way to tell if you're reaaaaal lazy is to buy a PSU, slap it in, and see how it goes. If it doesn't switch on, you can return the PSU and cross that off the list of suspects. Check the store's return policy beforehand.

minirhyder

Do the paperclip test on your PSU.

Caelum Militis

2nding the paperclip test. Have tested and confirmed many PSU's as dead this way. It's the absolute easiest way to tell (just be careful)

Kristmas Kthulhu

I just tried the paperclip test. My fans gave two or three half-hearted turns and then stopped.

This happened when I first noticed the problem as well, but eventually they stopped responding at all when I hit the power button.

Does this mean the PSU is borked?

Foomy

Kristmas Kthulhu wrote: »

I just tried the paperclip test. My fans gave two or three half-hearted turns and then stopped.

This happened when I first noticed the problem as well, but eventually they stopped responding at all when I hit the power button.

Does this mean the PSU is borked?

Yep, that is one dead PSU.

Kristmas Kthulhu

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

Do you gents and/or ladies have recommendations for a new power supply? Here's the one I currently have, and I'm a little hesitant to grab another of the same if it gave out this quickly.

I'm also considering getting a warranty this time since it's only a few bucks more and cheaper if something does happen again.

mts

Seems like you got a dud. Those are generally well regarded

zerzhul

According to that page, it has a 3 year manufacturer's warranty. Maybe try doing a warranty claim since you said it was only 1.5 years old?

Kristmas Kthulhu

Oh, you're right. I'm on Corsair's website seeing if I can get this sucker RMA'd.

minirhyder

You most likely can. I RMA'd my Corsair and it was a piece of cake. In fact I think it was an automated response and I never even spoke to a real person about it.
Prepare to wait like 3-4 weeks though.

Kristmas Kthulhu

Yeah, that was pretty easy. They have an express RMA option, also.

They put a temporary charge on your credit card and send you a new product right away, and remove the charge once they receive the defective one (within 15 days). Already got my shipping label, just have to pack it up and send it out, and hopefully the new PSU will be here in a few days.

zerzhul

Might be worth buying an extra PSU just to have on hand for these sorts of situations.

Kristmas Kthulhu

I'll survive somehow. I could always... I dunno... talk to my friends... or go outside...

Oh, god, you're right.

zerzhul

yeah I posted that before I saw they had an express RMA. You're probably fine if it's a few days and not a few weeks