EggXpert

Okay, I'm going to try to be as precise as possible, so this is probably going to be a long one, but I apologize.

System specs:

 AMD X2 6000+ (125w version) (Stock HSF)

MSI K9VGM-V

2GB DDR2 800 (Wintec I think?) (1GB x 2)

ATI Radeon X800

Rosewill 450w power supply

2x Samsung 500GB SATA 3.0 drives

1x DVD burner (Pioneer?)

5 case fans

So I'll go way back to probably a year or so after I first built this bad boy. One day I came in and the computer was off and I didn't turn it off. I tried to turn it back on, but nothing. Everything else was on and working. I sat there panicking for an hour before I got it working, and the way I did it was taking it out of the power strip and plugging it directly into the wall. Everything else (700w surround sound, Samsung laser printer, LCD monitor, desk lamp) were all still plugged into the surge protector and still working, so I figured there might be too much power being drawn. I unplugged everything from the surge protector and plugged the computer and only the computer into it and it wouldn't power on. Bewildered, I figured I had "burnt out" the power strip and bought a new one.Everything was fine and dandy again.

This same scene replayed it self 3 or 4 times over the next few months.. every time the computer wouldn't boot when plugged into the surge protector when I found it off.. I got tired of buying surge protectors and just plugged the computer right into the wall after the third or 4th one (no-no, I know...). It's probably Been running out of the wall for a good 2 years or so.

Now it's acting up again. Randomly rebooting with no detectable pattern. I had recently installed Windows 7 and though it was overheating (cleaned HSF, processor, applied thermal compound, nothing). Then I thought it was a bad driver or incompatibility. Begrudgingly I went back to XP (I was really starting to like 7). Things were fine for a day or so, but then it started shutting off again, sometimes over night, sometimes while on my favorite forums, and never when gaming.I had SpeedFan going and never saw extraordinary temps.

I'm pretty much accepting that running off wall-power for a few years has probably ruined something, but I can't help but wonder if something was wrong in the first place, due to the way it "ate" surge protectors.

Where should I start looking and troubleshooting? Thanks all

chipmunkofdoom2:

I'm pretty much accepting that running off wall-power for a few years has probably ruined something, but I can't help but wonder if something was wrong in the first place, due to the way it "ate" surge protectors.

That's really weird, but certainly not impossible.. These cheaper Rosewill power supplies do not have active PFC, which means as the AC power goes into the power supply, the power supply may only use certain parts of the sine wave which means you need to have much more power available to it (Volt-Amps)  than it's actually using (Watts).. Having enough of these types of devices can easily blow fuses on the cheaper power strips and also blow circuit breakers inside the home, even though you're well below the rated load capability..  I won't get into the reasons of why a quality PSU or power factor is important, but that's always something to consider..

Another thing to consider is that depending on where you live, the power you get from your power company might not be all that great to begin with..  Some people have issue after issue after issue with these rosewill power supplies and other people have absolutely no problems and the only difference being how clean the power is that they get out of the wall.. 

chipmunkofdoom2:

Where should I start looking and troubleshooting? Thanks all

As far as not working well when plugged into the surge protector.. Consider this, the surge protector prevents "surges" in power, but it doesn't prevent "dips" in power..  If your power from the wall is unclean and you plug your computer into the surge protector, you'll get all the "dips" and none of the "surges" and so your computer may be starved for power.. When you plug it into the wall, you get the "dips" along with the "surges" and so they tend to cancel themselves out inside of the PSU's circuitry (at the expense of extra wear & tear on the PSU's capacitors).  Your issues now, may just be that your PSU is dieing early..  But again, that's just something to think about, it's something to look into, but there could also be other reasons..

A higher quality PSU with active PFC that is more resilient to power input may be all you need..

Thank you very much for your reply. That all makes sense. I will try the power supply first to see if that solves the problem. It's impossible to predict when it will do this, so it's hard to test solutions as well... I will try that first though.

Now you mention the dips and surges... will a quality power supply be able to accommodate this power fluctuation and handle it better than a cheaper one?

Just as an update, I ordered a new power supply from Newegg (Corsair 400w, what a steal, $30 shipped after rebate) and the computer has not acted up since. The up side is I can now plug it into one of my many "burnt out" power strips and it actually runs, unlike with the old power supply. It is difficult to replicate the behavior, but it seems as though this was the fix. 

Wait ..... what?

Don't risk the new PSU on an old power strip, for all you know thats what burnt out the old one, bone-up and get you a new one.

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