PC Dead after Power Outage: Now What?

MikeA01730

Distinguished
Nov 23, 2014
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18,545
Hi,

I live outside Boston & last night we lost power for about 10 hours. When I tried to power up my desktop PC this morning nothing happened. Literally. No sounds, no lights, nothing on the screen: it was like the cord wasn't plugged in. But it is plugged in, there is power at the plug, and the green LED on the back of the power supply is illuminated.

This PC is an HP Pavilion P6240F bought in 2010. It's just a standard desktop used for the usual web browsing, email, MS Office, & the like. No gaming or anything else that demands high performance. It's old but it still serves me well and I'd rather get it working than replace it right now.

My thought is that the power supply was fried by power line transients and if I replace the power supply I'll be ok. However I don't know if there are other things I should try first and I'm not sure that my guess is right. It's not a big risk: a replacement power supply is around $35.

I've added a second hard drive and a GeForce GT 720 display card (to support a ASUS PB278Q display) to the machine. The original power supply is rated 300 W but the supplies I see advertised are 550 W so I think I'll have plenty of power with a straight up replacement.

Any suggestions on how I should proceed? If I do buy a replacement, any suggestions who to buy from? Any problems to watch out for?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Solution
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

That is a great list to choose PSUs from.
BUT! its also a list of PSUs that are significantly more powerful than you need...

Anything from Seasonic or Super Butterfly is always good, regardless of make and model.
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

That is a great list to choose PSUs from.
BUT! its also a list of PSUs that are significantly more powerful than you need...

Anything from Seasonic or Super Butterfly is always good, regardless of make and model.
 
Solution
D

Deleted member 217926

Guest
Unplug the computer and clear CMOS. There will either be a jumper on the motherboard and / or you can remove the battery on the board for a minute or two. Try that before buying new hardware.