Bad Enermax PSU?

Xploited Titan

Hi guys,

I'm encountering some trouble with my computer... Some times when I press the power-on button, my computer start and 2 seconds after that it shuts down... Then, if I push the power on fast enough, my computer starts without a problem.

I've an Enermax 350W PSU with 2 YS-Tech fans (from my Coolermaster case), 1 PAPST fan on my Alpha PAL-8045 heatsink, 1 Delta 80HP @10V (using a resistance-wire from my old HSF: the Silverado Noisecontrol) as intake fan, 1 WD1200JB HDD, 1 Barracuda IV 40 Go HDD, 1 Digital Doc 5, 1 FDD and 1 Pioneer 6/32 Slot-in DVD-ROM... Oh, I overclocked slightly my computer (145MHz FSB) I think I'm not forgetting anything... I think my PSU can't handle the load on start-up correctly, and I'm having my Yamaha CRW-F1 writer soon... Do you think I need a new PSU? And if so, which one should I buy? An Antec TruePower PSU (Stealth 550W)? Or is this overkill?

Hope to get some answers...

Zardon

getting a more powerful power supply is never overkill, of course buying a more powerful PSU if its of poor standard is not necessarily a step forward, have you any figures of your 5v or 12v rails? sometimes this can be a good indication of how your supply is coping with your current load.

Xploited Titan

I'm sorry, I haven't anything more to offer...
But.....
Which PSU would be a good one?
I think I'm gonna take only PSUs like TruePower ones, which really give e.g. 550W on all channels....

But, besides that, which one would be the best?

Edit: I meant Vantec Stealth 550W or Antec TruePower 480W-550W......

GREEKRAGE

Sounds more like your power on botton is sticky dude !!!

I had a similar problem when i painted my case and some paint got in to the power botton nest so when i pressed it some times it remained pressed thus shutting down again after
the 4 secs i had set in bios.
So i got my vasiline spray(used for printers) and after a little spray my problem was gone.
The reason im almost sure that this is your problem is that no mater how fast or slow you press that botton it dont reduse the amount of power needed by your system .
If it did have a power shortage problem it would start ok but sooner or later in the boot up or when you started a certain app or game it would lock up or reboot.

Also please tell us your vidcard type and CPU cause those 2 are the ones that really need power.
Are we talking a Geforce card (need a lot of power) and a P4 ?
And one more thing ...how many fans are you using ??

Xploited Titan

Sorry... I've an overclocked GeForce 3 Ti200 and an overclocked AthlonXP1700+...

I've increased voltage for everything I could to get a stable system...
I'm using an Abit KR-7A RAID ...

I think you've now everything you need to know

Now, tell me... Am I overloading my PSU or am I not?

Kelsenellenelvian

I'nm running a 250 psu right now with no problems..

GREEKRAGE

Well buddy i had a 300w(no name) psu on a similar system and had no probs either.

And your talking about a 350 emermax ??

And when you say increased all the voltages....i really dont see the reason ??
Unless your a person with alot of know-how i suggest you start from defaults and work your way up again.
This may help but look at page 3 closely:
AMD overclocking guide

Increasing voltages doesnt garantee a better and stable running system you know ?
Is you Amd unlocked ?
I mean 145 is alot of FSB when we consider the fact that your 1700+ starts at 133 !!
I cant get above 142 without alot of instabilities.(i have a XP2100+)

One more thing you didnt mention was the type and amount of ram your using.
Put simply : Any increase in FSB puts a stress on all components that running according to FSB speeds.
READ THIS:
"When you adjust the multiplier, the processor is the only component being stressed. When you raise the FSB to gain higher speeds, the entire system is working together to garner these faster speeds. Why? Because when you raise the FSB, you are also raising the speeds of the AGP, PCI and ISA ports. These ports run at a fixed speed that is computed as a ratio of the FSB. ..."
The above is from the Guide i told you about.

My suggestion:

First: fix the power botton(im sure thats what it is)
Second:do a clear CMOS and start to set your bios up again but......according to a guide and not some friends similar system etc.
A good place to start is unlocking your AMD (done pretty easy on a 1700+(from what ive read) this way you can up your multiplier(its at 11x now default) thus gaining over all CPU speed without killing the whole system.

Overclocking is not a simple matter of increasing settings in the bios my friend and just because they are there doesnt mean that they are suited for you specific configuration.
Overclocking to extremes means alot of knowhow and extreme COOLING !!
The people that pay for those really expensive cooling solutions arent idiots....they do so to keep their system stable and safe from burning up.
Also note that not all components are made for overclocking (like the ram)unless you pay a pretty penny for some that can handle it.

So you see that your PSU may have a little problem starting up BUT your instabilities are
probably from not so well planned out overclocking.

Its not about getting the highest CPU or Vidcard speeds but getting the best and have a stable system too.

Well i think thats enough for now.
I hope i didnt put you down in any way but its better to get your feelings hurt than to go buy a new set of components that got fried.....dont you ?

Xploited Titan

First: I increased the voltages on my mobo because I couldn't pass the POST... After the increase
I could run Windows and all my other programs...
Second: My AMD isn't unlocked (yet...)
Third: I've started to get trouble after I placed the WD HDD, I had no problems before... So my
power-on button is fine (Collermaster don't build junk )
Fourth: I think I know how to overclock (intelligently), btw this is why I've not pushed my
computer further: I started to have again trouble passing the POST... I'm not doing some
stupid extreme overclocking... I just wanna have the max out of my computer (for the
price I payed so far, it's the less I could do) without risking any damage
Fifth: I use 512 Mo of Corsair PC-2400 DDR-RAM, which is excellent for overclocking (heard
rumours about up to 190 MHz DDR (380MHz equal))
Sixth: I've to admit that I haven't tought about what would happen when I put the new HDD in
my case... and THAT might have been the cause of my trouble
So, these are the reasons why I think it's my PSU which can't handle the load. So, because I'm gonna get a writer, I think I'll need a stronger PSU... And I wanna know now if I'm wrong (in the fact that it wouldn't be my PSU which it's faulty) or right (then I would like to know which PSU would be the best).

PS to GREEKRAGE: Don't think I'm angry with you, I'm just the kind of people who wanna get direct, to-the-point answers. Don't mind about that, I prefer to get my feelings hurt, but only if it helps me to learn or understand. NO HARD FEELINGS?

GREEKRAGE

Why should i have any problem with your answer.

It sounded that you didnt know that much maybe cause of the way you originaly posted your query.
But i can see that you have done some homework and know what your doing.

In situations like this is often come to exploring all the possibilities of the problem cause we really cant see anothers machine first hand or know all his specs.

So all we can do is guess and suggest all we can to hopefully stear one into the right direction and maybe he can explore something he forgot or didnt know.

But only adding a hdd and having this sort of problem is kinda wierd.
Your sytem would have had to be a little unstable to begin with if it comes to the point of a failed bootup now with the HDD.

I have a shitload of fans /lighting/2XWD 40 GB 7200 hDDs/Cdrom/CDRW/GF3 Ti 500 all on this NoName 400w PSU and never have a problem.

But like i said i can only speculate so ....

You can try a new PSU and as the others stated above "you can never have too much power" but i think in your case even a Known 420 would be fine or a 465.
It really comes down to what you wanna spend.
Now the 550 will be sort of future proof (if there is such a thing these days) but we are talking alot of peanuts to get one.

BTW all companies have faulty components too and just because Coolermaster makes
a good case dont mean they actually make the power switch they put in it.
My power switch was on my previous SKYHAWK case(get it?)

Well thats enough typing to last me a week..lol
/me puts his fingers in the sink full of cold water.....ssssssss

Xploited Titan

With the luck I have it might be my Enermax that is faulty and it could be that another Enermax of the same type hasn't any problems to start my computer...

But your right, I think I'll be looking to an Antec TruePower of 430Watts, should be enough...

Well, I think I'm gonna stop typing too...

I'm not the fastest typer (I use maximum 5 fingers... ) well, thanks anyway, you still helped me to see a little bit clearer now.

digitalwanderer

Methinks greekrage already hit the nail on the head with the "sticky power button" call, a 350 ennermax shouldn't have any problems with that system and the symptoms really do sound like a switch problem more than a PSU problem.

I'd try just splicing around the switch to see if that fixed the problem, then if'n I was really up for it I'd just swap the switch. (Knowing me I'd probably just put a standard 120v houseswitch on it since I'm lazy & have a bunch lying around. )

Xploited Titan

I know it's a long time: remembered Zardon asked for the rails of my PSU, and I dunno know if he saw my last posts: 4.98V instead of 5V and 12.46V instead of 12V (read on my Digital Doc 5)...

reno

That should be great for your PSU, I think your momentary contact jumpers (power on) are getting constantly stimulated...then I read everyone else said the same thing. oops