PC won't turn on after installing new PSU?

LudazTV

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Jun 27, 2017
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Just got back from 3 weeks and first day of being on my PC it randomly shut off a few times and kept doing so over the course of the few days after. I got tired and decided that this definitely wasn't normal (this had never happened before) and realised I probably let this happen more than I should have, as I started to notice some Windows files couldn't be found by certain programs and I decided to just reset Windows, anyway a file was corrupt so couldn't complete reset but that isn't relevant.

I ordered a new power supply and installed it into my PC and for the first time today attempted to turn it on. Here's me, thinking it's all fine and is going to work, all excited to get back on and start gaming again, but no, it just doesn't turn on. At first I was using the cable that came with my older power supply, the front fans LEDs flashed for half a second when I pressed the power button. I thought that maybe changing the cable would make a difference but it didn't. I still got the half second flash then nothing else, no fans turning on and no noises. I then took it through and tried changing a few cables around and unplugging GPU etc, even changing the RAM to my older RAM. Although when I tried again not even the fan LEDs turned on this time, just nothing. I have also tried discharging my PC too, and that didn't solve anything.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be causing my PC to not even turn on? I made sure that the power button was plugged correctly into the motherboard, and that all of the important cables were plugged in where they need to be. My first thought was a faulty PSU? But then again those two fan LEDs had turned on briefly so I don't think it was, I also have never bought a brand new product and had it not work. My second thought was that I fried my motherboard, which I simply just hope isn't what it is because that's something I don't have much money for right now :( of course if it seems it is then I have no option so just let me know what is most likely to be the issue.
 
Solution
Hi.

This is a quote from jsc in this forum ( I have myself used this to test my psu or friends )

The problem could be nearly anything.

Work systematically through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-postin...
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If not, continue.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any...
Hi.

This is a quote from jsc in this forum ( I have myself used this to test my psu or friends )

The problem could be nearly anything.

Work systematically through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-postin...
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If not, continue.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboardi...

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU.

Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU. Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps:
Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=yout...

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.
 
Solution

LudazTV

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Jun 27, 2017
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I can assure you that it is enough to power my system. It is a Corsair CX600, and my previous was a VS550, which is a definite upgrade in my opinion.
 

LudazTV

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Jun 27, 2017
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No - i5 4690, GTX 1060 6GB

An i5 and a single GPU don't need more than 600W, am I right?
 
You are fine... People tend to go nuts when it comes to amount of watts they think they need. I have seen people with less powerfull systems like your running 1000+ watts PSU`s thinking they need to power a small nuclear reactor... You are lucky if you draw 300 - 400 watts from the wall with your system. Unless ofc you have like 50 old HDD`s running at the same time + enough fans to make your system levitate :D