Question Has a faulty PSU killed something else in my build?

Jun 19, 2020
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Would love to get some good news with this!

Yesterday I took delivery of an NZXT H1 case, a mini ITX case which has an integrated PSU. I've been using my PC for months already, looking ridiculous with an ITX motherboard inside a mid tower, while I waited for the case to make it to me.

So today I build the thing (well, move the motherboard over into the new case), plug it in, and heard only a rapid clicking from the PSU. While the case fans started to spin and the LED on my graphics card illuminated, the fan on the PSU didn't spin, instead making that clicking sound.

Okay, guess I grounded something. Re-seat everything, remove RAM and GPU to try with only the bare minimum connected, no change. Click-click-click.

Try with the PSU from my old case, which I know works, and nothing happens at all - no spinning, no clicking, zilch. Put the motherboard back in the old case, just to rule out something weird with it grounding in the new one. Nothing. Eek.

Also did a paperclip test which seems to show that the old PSU is fine, and the one in the H1 is dodgy (clicks once then stops).

Now I'm wondering if the PSU has hosed something else (I guess either processor or motherboard?), and if so, how do I go about identifying which part got messed up (or do I just have to try buying both anew and return whichever one isn't the issue)

Specs:

  • Ryzen 5 3600
  • Gigabyte Aorus x570i
  • Old PSU: Thermaltake Berlin 630W

Videos showing the issue:


Hoping someone can help diagnose this, and if you need any more info I'm happy to fill you in.

Cheers.
 
Jun 19, 2020
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I tried one more thing, making a franken-PC by hooking up the PSU from my girlfriend's computer (which does boot fine) to jump-start mine. This results in the fan spinning up momentarily before the PSU restarts.

Again it feels like something is grounded in the build, but as I've reseated everything (well, except the M.2 SSD) I don't see how that can be the case.

View: https://youtu.be/McInR7tezzY