Hmmm... three power supplies dead.

[Rendman]

Okay, here's my spec's

Gigabyte GA-8I945P-G mobo
2 x 512MB DDR2 Super Talent sticks
3.0Ghz Pentium D (830)
150GB PATA133 HD
Sony DVD-RW+CDRW
1.44MB Floppy
Sapphire ATI x850xt 256MB PCI-E Video card

Here's the problem, I've blown up three power supplies so far. All of them are generic power supplies. The only thing I can say about all three that they share in common is that they all ran kinda hot. Also emitted somewhat of a funky odor as well. Kinda like a burnt electronics smell, but not quite hard to describe really. All three where from diffrent manufacturer. Here are the wattage's I tried:

1 - 400W
2 - 550W

The 400W supplied 18A on the 12V rail. One of the 550's supplied 20A on the 12V rail and the other supplied 30A.

Also the 400 blew while playing HL2, one 550 during Command and Conquer: Generals, and the other 550 in the middle of the night. :confused:

So my question is this: How likely is it that all three are just cheap and didn't stand a chance, or is it more likely that some other component is causing this? (mobo?) Anyone have any similar experiences? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks everyone.

[Whyzman]

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

"Generic" Hmmm...my take on it would be that you might want to consider a "name brand" with a dependable track record. PSUs are manufactured to differing standards based on the individual components...

Hang on...we've some pretty opinionated PSU gurus around here :)

[Rendman]

Okay, if I get a name brand supply, say an Antec TP2-550EPS12V that should suit my needs. Now, I am still curious tho, what are the chances of three, although they were generic, power supplies going bad? All in a row? Thanks for the responses.

[hockey man]

You might want to check the electrical in your house. I'm not learned enough to tell you what to do or were to start with that, but there are some here who can. Get that PSU, but before you hook her up- wait for the guys here to make suggestions on your home electric.

[Paleo Pete]

I agree, check the house wiring out. I'm not a big fan of cheap power supplies, but I've built computer with and used quite a few of them and as long as they are not over worked they tend to do the job. I also seem to notice the heavier the unit is, it will usually outlast a similar wattage unit that is lightweight. Probably better quality parts and heavier transformers.

I wouldn't expecy 3 in a row to die a sudden death, but what's the time frame? If that's three years, you may be getting a lot of dust and lint sucked in by the fans, and a different location int he house might help, out of the airlofw path of heating/AC vents. (Yeah, I know, the 3GHz hasn't been around quite that long, at least not in full production, it's a general example) If it's 6 months or less, I would say definitely have the house electricial situation checked out, and might anyway. I'm still using a 350 watt in this machine that's not a "top shelf" brand, it's been going fine for 3½ or 4 years with the occasional general clean up to get duat and lint out. This is also an older machine than yours and is a lot less demanding on the PSU.

[saphalline]

Yep, sounds like a house wiring issue. I'd look into a UPS unit with line conditioning if I were you. Generic & bundled PSU's tend to be cheap pieces of junk in general, but (pending a time frame) they still shouldn't be dropping like flies.

[Rendman]

Yeah sorry, should have mentioned this earlier. Ready for this? The first supply lasted 3 weeks. The second one a little over 1 day. The last one lasted about 2 days.