Was it due to my new build needing more power than the 550w antec could give off or because the PSU was faulty. It says it gives protection if shit happens so I hope it didn't kill everything else because if so I'm fucked. Here are my specs:
GTX560
AMD Phenon II 955
4gigs of ddr3 ram
tb hdd
ASUS M5A78L-M LX AM3+ AMD 760G
etc
The system was only running for 3 hours tops
Give it a proper funeral.
Your build wouldn't have drawn 550w, check inside for blown capacitors
What signs do you have that it's actually dead?
Could have also just been a bad unit that was destined to die..
jumper the green lead on the motherboard power connector to one of the black leads or wherever you can find a proper ground on the PSU. If it's really dead the fan won't even spin in it.
[QUOTE=SonicXV;30908457]What signs do you have that it's actually dead?[/QUOTE]
Well the PSU won't do jack shit.
I'm a first timer in the PC building world so is there something I can do besides RMA it?
[QUOTE=Chicken_Chaser;30908741]Well the PSU won't do jack shit.
I'm a first timer in the PC building world so is there something I can do besides RMA it?[/QUOTE]
If you've tried what MIPS suggested and it is completely dead, and you are not very confident with electronics, no.
Alright, I'll RMA it. Thanks everybody. One last thing, is Newegg serious when they mean you must put every single last tiny thing that came with the product back into the package, or can I skimp on the manual? I have everything that's been left over cluttered into a mess so it seems like it'll be a bitch.
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30908451]Your build wouldn't have drawn 550w, check inside for blown capacitors[/QUOTE]
I don't think you understand how a PSU works.
It's nowhere near that simple, a PSU has multiple rails and if any one of them gets put under too much pressure for too long the PSU can get borked. I replaced my PSU today because it smelled of burning electronics when I played games, this is most likely because, despite being 570W, it had dual +12v rails each with 16A on them which wasn't cutting it for my new 6870 since you can't just add the currents and treat it like a single rail (the new PSU has a single 44A rail). As well as this PSU's never have optimum output so 550W PSU will be unlikely to actually be capable of drawing 550W (unless like my new coolermaster 550W they state that the optimum is actually 660W and 550W is average).
As well as this, opening the PSU would not only be idiotic due to the fact that it is the only thing standing between the power socket and every component in your computer / a fire (although unlikely, possible) but it would also completely void the warranty making him unable to RMA it.
[QUOTE=Jallen;30911436]I don't think you understand how a PSU works.
It's nowhere near that simple, a PSU has multiple rails and if any one of them gets put under too much pressure for too long the PSU can get borked. I replaced my PSU today because it smelled of burning electronics when I played games, this is most likely because, despite being 570W, it had dual +12v rails each with 16A on them which wasn't cutting it for my new 6870 since you can't just add the currents and treat it like a single rail (the new PSU has a single 44A rail). As well as this PSU's never have optimum output so 550W PSU will be unlikely to actually be capable of drawing 550W (unless like my new coolermaster 550W they state that the optimum is actually 660W and 550W is average).
As well as this, opening the PSU would not only be idiotic due to the fact that it is the only thing standing between the power socket and every component in your computer / a fire (although unlikely, possible) but it would also completely void the warranty making him unable to RMA it.[/QUOTE]
Ehh, I usually jump to physical inspection. Never mentioned opening it although that's probably the only way you could see all of the components inside. PSUs haven't exactly..died quietly in my experience.
[QUOTE=Jallen;30911436]I don't think you understand how a PSU works.
It's nowhere near that simple, a PSU has multiple rails and if any one of them gets put under too much pressure for too long the PSU can get borked. I replaced my PSU today because it smelled of burning electronics when I played games, this is most likely because, despite being 570W, it had dual +12v rails each with 16A on them which wasn't cutting it for my new 6870 since you can't just add the currents and treat it like a single rail (the new PSU has a single 44A rail). As well as this PSU's never have optimum output so 550W PSU will be unlikely to actually be capable of drawing 550W (unless like my new coolermaster 550W they state that the optimum is actually 660W and 550W is average).
As well as this, opening the PSU would not only be idiotic due to the fact that it is the only thing standing between the power socket and every component in your computer / a fire (although unlikely, possible) but it would also completely void the warranty making him unable to RMA it.[/QUOTE]
I don't think [U]you[/U] understand how a PSU works.
Properly built PSUs have protection circuits that monitor all power rails for over voltage, under voltage and [B]over current[/B] conditions. If the protection circuit detects any one of these conditions on any one of the power rails, it will shut the PSU down. It's not going to let the PSU continue to run in a dangerous state and risk exploding, catching fire or damaging whatever components it's powering.
I think your problem is you're skimping and buying garbage PSUs that burn due to lack of any of the above.
As for the OP, Antecs are known to have two common problems that cause them to fail prematurely, both are fixable if you know what you're doing.
The first problem is that they use thermistor controlled fans, which can only detect ambient temperature, and not temperature of heavily loaded components. As such, things tend to overheat due to lack of cooling. You can replace the fan with one without a thermistor for the slightly increased noise and more adequate airflow.
The second problem is they use "Fuhyjju" capacitors, which are abysmally terrible. These capacitors use a stolen electrolyte formula, which is incomplete and faulty, which results in the capacitors failing usually within a year of initial use, if not much sooner. I've recapped a handful of Antec PSUs due to this problem, and have one that I'm working on right now:
[img]http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/4474/img0074j.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=bohb;30912110]I don't think [U]you[/U] understand how a PSU works.
Properly built PSUs have protection circuits that monitor all power rails for over voltage, under voltage and [B]over current[/B] conditions. If the protection circuit detects any one of these conditions on any one of the power rails, it will shut the PSU down. It's not going to let the PSU continue to run in a dangerous state and risk exploding, catching fire or damaging whatever components it's powering.
I think your problem is you're skimping and buying garbage PSUs that burn due to lack of any of the above.
As for the OP, Antecs are known to have two common problems that cause them to fail prematurely, both are fixable if you know what you're doing.
The first problem is that they use thermistor controlled fans, which can only detect ambient temperature, and not temperature of heavily loaded components. As such, things tend to overheat due to lack of cooling. You can replace the fan with one without a thermistor for the slightly increased noise and more adequate airflow.
The second problem is they use "Fuhyjju" capacitors, which are abysmally terrible. These capacitors use a stolen electrolyte formula, which is incomplete and faulty, which results in the capacitors failing usually within a year of initial use, if not much sooner. I've recapped a handful of Antec PSUs due to this problem, and have one that I'm working on right now:
[img]http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/4474/img0074j.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
Irrelevant, if you open it up and poke around with the insides (and don't know what you're doing, which as the OP is asking questions about it is probably the case) any safety precautions put in place could become useless. Also you cannot guarantee that components will be saved in time even if the protection works as expected. It's not worth the risk opening up a PSU, and it voids the warranty - It's a bad idea.
[quote]Was it due to my [B]new build[/B] needing more power than the 550w antec could give off or because the PSU was faulty[/quote]
It's new and the PSU doesn't work - obvious RMA.
It's obvious when there's a problem with the PSU you don't need to go poking around trying to look at capacitors.
As well as that my post is still correct in that the post I replied to -
[quote]Your build wouldn't have drawn 550w[/quote]
Is completely irrelevant and overlooks the fact that it doesn't need to have drawn 550W to draw more than the PSU can handle (which doesn't seem to be the case here, it's just faulty, but the point stands)
[QUOTE=Jallen;30912604]Irrelevant, if you open it up and poke around with the insides any safety precautions put in place could become useless. Also you cannot guarantee that components will be saved in time even if the precautions working as expected. It's not worth the risk opening up a PSU, and it voids the warranty - It's a bad idea. It's obvious when there's a problem with the PSU you don't need to go poking around trying to look at capacitors.
As well as that my post is still correct in that the post I replied to -
Is completely irrelevant and overlooks the basics of a PSU.[/QUOTE]
LMAO. Your ignorance to electronics is astounding. I must reiterate that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, stop prattling on like you have a degree in the subject.
1) Capacitors have nothing to do with the protection circuits.
2) In properly built power supplies, the MOSFETs are derated to give additional breathing room in over current situations. Let's say if a MOSFET was rated at 30A, the PSU would treat it like a 25A MOSFET, and the protection circuit would turn the PSU off if it exceeded 25A, which is still 5A under the maximum load.
3) Even if the PSU is in warranty, Antec will replace the faulty capacitors with more faulty capacitors, and you'll end up back where you started. It's a better choice to void the warranty and replace the caps yourself with quality parts so you don't have to send it back over and over again and deal with the headaches.
Being a bad idea to open a power supply is based on your own flawed, ignorant and idiotic logic. You don't know what you're doing so you try and force your wrong ideology on everyone else, stop.
[QUOTE=Jallen;30912604]Is completely irrelevant and overlooks the fact that it doesn't need to have drawn 550W to draw more than the PSU can handle (which doesn't seem to be the case here, it's just faulty, but the point stands) [/QUOTE]
When capacitors on the secondary output side fail, the PSU loses the ability to do these things:
1) Output a stable voltage (due to the capacitors having an extremely high ESR.)
2) Output the amperage required by the components (due to the failing electrolyte inside the capacitor)
3) Have a low ripple current (failing capacitors can cause ripple currents far exceeding the maximum allowed by the ATX standard)
These three things can cause a wide range of symptoms on the computer, making diagnosing a computer problem very difficult if you don't look there first. Random crashes, hard drive corruption, jail bars on the screen, etc.
[QUOTE=bohb;30912807]LMAO. Your ignorance to electronics is astounding. I must reiterate that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, stop prattling on like you have a degree in the subject.
1) Capacitors have nothing to do with the protection circuits.
2) In properly built power supplies, the MOSFETs are derated to give additional breathing room in over current situations. Let's say if a MOSFET was rated at 30A, the PSU would treat it like a 25A MOSFET, and the protection circuit would turn the PSU off if it exceeded 25A, which is still 5A under the maximum load.
3) Even if the PSU is in warranty, Antec will replace the faulty capacitors with more faulty capacitors, and you'll end up back where you started. It's a better choice to void the warranty and replace the caps yourself with quality parts so you don't have to send it back over and over again and deal with the headaches.
Being a bad idea to open a power supply is based on your own flawed, ignorant and idiotic logic. You don't know what you're doing so you try and force your wrong ideology on everyone else, stop.[/QUOTE]
It's brand new, whether the capacitors are flawed or not, for someone who doesn't have experience, knowledge or equipment for electronics, they are better returning it for a new one than poking around replacing shit. I don't believe that it can be so flawed that opening it up is the best solution. A company like Antec will have gone through massive amounts of testing, and if it really is as awful as you say then I still think that returning it for a new one and selling the replacement for a different one is a better solution.
Not everyone has a soldering iron lying around or the skill to use it properly.
[QUOTE=Jallen;30912925]It's brand new, whether the capacitors are flawed or not, for someone who doesn't have experience, knowledge or equipment for electronics, they are better returning it for a new one than poking around replacing shit. I don't believe that it can be so flawed that opening it up is the best solution. A company like Antec will have gone through massive amounts of testing, and if it really is as awful as you say then I still think that returning it for a new one and selling the replacement for a different one is a better solution.
Not everyone has a soldering iron lying around or the skill to use it properly.[/QUOTE]
Newegg usually charges a restocking fee for refunds/replacements, and RMAing it directly to the manufacturer can take weeks. It would be easier to take the loss and experiment with it and get another PSU that doesn't have known trash capacitors.
Antec is a great brand besides the capacitor and fan problem, both of which are easily fixable like i said earlier.
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