- Feb 14, 2014
- 4
- 0
- 10,510
About five months ago, I built my first gaming PC. Within three days, my Corsair HX750 750 Watt PSU went bad. The computer either wouldn't turn on, or it would turn on for a minute, boot into Windows, and then a BIOS message would state that it was turning off because of power surges. I tested my computer with a friend's PSU and everything worked fine, so I RMA'd my PSU and bought a ThermalTake SP-850M 850 Watt locally to replace it while I waited for the RMA replacement.
(My memory may be fuzzy on this) After installing the ThermalTake, I could not get the computer to boot to Windows or even recognize the DVD drive or HDD. The SATA interfaces smelt burnt. I had to run back to the store and buy a new HDD and DVD drive. I had to reinstall Windows, but everything worked fine after that for several months. (I did fry another drive on my case's top external bay because I had reset the CMOS and forgotten to change the SATA port to hot swappable, so that was my fault).
All this time, I'd blamed my Corsair PSU for frying my HDD and DVD, but they both worked with my friend's PSU, so maybe it was the ThermalTake after all? I honestly can't remember if I tried to use my Corsair one last time after that.
Last night, I finally got an SSD. I got my OS and games migrated over via the top external bay, but after installing it into an internal HDD bay, I noticed that my DVD drive was no longer recognized in the BIOS or opening. I had had to take out the SATA power connector and use a molex to SATA power converter on the DVD in order to power everything since the original cable wouldn't reach all three (DVD, HDD, and SSD). I plugged it into another molex cable directly (instead of attaching it to my daisy chained fans), and it received power; the light would blink, but it wouldn't open.
I hooked it back up to the SATA power connector and it worked. This meant I had to plug in another SATA power cable for my HDD (I have a modular PSU). After connecting the HDD to a new SATA power cable in a new slot in the PSU, the HDD was not recognized by the BIOS or OS anymore. It was also not recognized when I hooked it into my other computer. It would not spin up. However, it does not smell burnt. Also, I shutdown the computer, flipped the switch on the PSU, unplugged it, and waited for the green lights on the Mobo and graphics card to turn off before making each of the changes mentioned above.
Questions:
1) Do you think my ThermalTake PSU is frying everything? If so, how has it worked so well for the past five months?
2) Could my motherboard be playing any role in things getting fried?
3) Do you think the Corsair PSU is to blame for any of this?
4) Should the DVD drive have worked being powered via Molex-SATA converter?
5) Could this be caused by bad cables? All of them are brand new
Rig:
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LK
CPU: Intel i7 3770K (ivy bridge)
RAM: G.Skills X Ripjaws 2x8GB 1866MHz (16GB)
GPU: ASUS GTX760 Direct CUII
HDD: Seagate 1TB Barracuda (HDD in question)
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 240GB
DVD: LG DVD burner (not sure on the model)
(My memory may be fuzzy on this) After installing the ThermalTake, I could not get the computer to boot to Windows or even recognize the DVD drive or HDD. The SATA interfaces smelt burnt. I had to run back to the store and buy a new HDD and DVD drive. I had to reinstall Windows, but everything worked fine after that for several months. (I did fry another drive on my case's top external bay because I had reset the CMOS and forgotten to change the SATA port to hot swappable, so that was my fault).
All this time, I'd blamed my Corsair PSU for frying my HDD and DVD, but they both worked with my friend's PSU, so maybe it was the ThermalTake after all? I honestly can't remember if I tried to use my Corsair one last time after that.
Last night, I finally got an SSD. I got my OS and games migrated over via the top external bay, but after installing it into an internal HDD bay, I noticed that my DVD drive was no longer recognized in the BIOS or opening. I had had to take out the SATA power connector and use a molex to SATA power converter on the DVD in order to power everything since the original cable wouldn't reach all three (DVD, HDD, and SSD). I plugged it into another molex cable directly (instead of attaching it to my daisy chained fans), and it received power; the light would blink, but it wouldn't open.
I hooked it back up to the SATA power connector and it worked. This meant I had to plug in another SATA power cable for my HDD (I have a modular PSU). After connecting the HDD to a new SATA power cable in a new slot in the PSU, the HDD was not recognized by the BIOS or OS anymore. It was also not recognized when I hooked it into my other computer. It would not spin up. However, it does not smell burnt. Also, I shutdown the computer, flipped the switch on the PSU, unplugged it, and waited for the green lights on the Mobo and graphics card to turn off before making each of the changes mentioned above.
Questions:
1) Do you think my ThermalTake PSU is frying everything? If so, how has it worked so well for the past five months?
2) Could my motherboard be playing any role in things getting fried?
3) Do you think the Corsair PSU is to blame for any of this?
4) Should the DVD drive have worked being powered via Molex-SATA converter?
5) Could this be caused by bad cables? All of them are brand new
Rig:
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LK
CPU: Intel i7 3770K (ivy bridge)
RAM: G.Skills X Ripjaws 2x8GB 1866MHz (16GB)
GPU: ASUS GTX760 Direct CUII
HDD: Seagate 1TB Barracuda (HDD in question)
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 240GB
DVD: LG DVD burner (not sure on the model)
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