My computer died on me.

[Good_Humour]

I took a nap with my computer left on, and when I woke up, it was off. It does not turn on or do anything at all when I depress the power button. In my mind, I went through a checklist of possible reasons for malfunction. The cause could not have been a power failure, because the power was on at the moment, and it could not have been a power surge, because it was surge protected and other computers in the house were working perfectly. So, when I reset the power strip a few times and flipped the power supply switch a couple times, I decided to open it up.

Inside, there were no busted capacitors and all power cables were connected correctly. Nothing interesting was found except for a lot of dust. Then, I decided to look into the power supply, and in that I found a certain ceramic capacitor that had cracked. Could this be what has brought my rig to its knees?

Well, if it makes it any more likely, the power supply came bundled with the case I bought for 40USD. The model, to be specific, is a Raidmax RX-420K It was cheap, but it worked. Some research was done and apparently it has failed on other people. But the thing is, it was only rated for 420 watts while I was recommended by Newegg's calculator to have a power supply that can handle 450 watts.

Overall, could the fact that the computer won't turn on spell damage to my files? Also, are there other possible solutions that I failed to take into consideration? Is it really a power supply problem, and if it is, did the power supply wreck the motherboard?

Please help, and if pictures make it easier, I'll post some.
Thank you in advance.

 

[rolli59]

Most likely the cheap generic PSU died without harming anything else. Newegg calculator is always on the high end here is a better calculator http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

 

[jsc]

Testing indicated that RaidMax PSU's typically have difficulty providid their rated power.

Having said that, Raidmax PSU's aren't that bad (he's not that old, she's not thatfat ) if you derate them 20 - 25%. In your case, that means treating your PSU as if it were a 300 - 350 watt unit.

The cracked ceramic cap may or may be a critical component. Without schematics, it's impossible to say.

 

[Good_Humour]

Best answer selected by good_humour.

 

[Good_Humour]

Most likely the cheap generic PSU died without harming anything else. Newegg calculator is always on the high end here is a better calculator http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Thanks for the calc. Newegg really was rating on the high end of things.

 

[Good_Humour]

Testing indicated that RaidMax PSU's typically have difficulty providid their rated power.

Having said that, Raidmax PSU's aren't that bad (he's not that old, she's not thatfat ) if you derate them 20 - 25%. In your case, that means treating your PSU as if it were a 300 - 350 watt unit.

The cracked ceramic cap may or may be a critical component. Without schematics, it's impossible to say.

So, would you agree with rolli that my stuff probably wasn't fried? Or is it still impossible to say?

 

[Good_Humour]

go pick up an antec or xfx or corsair and come back and tell us what happens 😛

lol ok scratch what I just said I loaded my main hdd into an external enclosure and found my files were intact after all

and I was eyeing a Seasonic PSU

 

[calguyhunk]

I was eyeing a Seasonic PSU

Yeah, while those things are undoubtedly good, they are unduly expensive IMO, especially as nothing can really guarantee reliability. It's just that some makers are more likely to be more reliable than others. And Seosonic, Antec, XFX, Corsair all fall in that category.

Dunno your specs, but Raidmax, Rosewill and especially Coolermaster are definitely vfm.

It's impossible to recommend a PSU for you without knowing your configuration (gfx card, case), because of not just available amperage ratings, but also compatibility issues with your case, and connectors required for your GPU.

 

[x Heavy]

When power supply dies, the computer is a brick. Period.

If you dont have the typical led motherboard light that is on when the computer is off but plugged into the wall. Then you either have a dead power or a dead motherboard.

Sometimes the CPU plug will not be tight or something and that will be enough for the computer to "Halt/Stop" and stay off no matter what you do.

320 watts is pitiful these days. Get yourself a Kilowatt modular and add cables as needed. Get a stout battery to protect it.

I don't do Newegg's calculators and recommendations. I do the old fashioned gumshoe research into everything I consider for a build. It could take weeks or months before I choose a part.

With that said, there IS a spare power supply ready to go in the parts box. It wont take but a minute to drop it in.
]
What you can do to improve your understanding of power....

Add up each part (CPU, Video cards, RAM sticks, Hard drives, SSD's etc etc etc Fans as well. Anything that draws power.

Add up the watts listed and the amps too. you will find that you will have a minimum required. Then add 60%

My monster only needs about 230 watts to browse the net. But when it's game time it spools up into 600+ watt territory.

My Battery is 850 watts and protects the house which as it's own UPS/Generator and Surge set as well as a ground.