Machine Down

[gothwalk]

So, my home desktop machine's power supply seems to have finally given up the ghost. It was giving trouble for some time, occasionally overheating, resulting in the machine freezing and refusing to start until the power was disconnected and reconnected. Now, however, the machine is not booting at all, and when the power is reconnected, there's a momentary very high-pitched whine from the PSU. Well, I'm hoping the problem lies with the PSU, anyway, rather than the hard disk, because that would suck.

Looking at the thing, though, I'm not altogther confident of being able to put a new PSU in - there are a hell of a lot of connections, and I have little to no idea what any of them do.

So either of two solutions come to mind - I can get someone else to put in a new PSU for me, or I can look for a different shell. Essentially, what I need for case two there is to get hold of a machine which has a working PSU and motherboard. I can then transfer the hard disk, video card, and any other bits I can get hold of from my own machine across to that. I don't know how transferrable the RAM is, so ideally the machine would come with a gig or so onboard.

I should also, of course, consider buying a whole new machine, but that will have to wait for a while.

So, anyone able to fit a new PSU? Or, anyone got a PC they're not using? Motherboard, PSU and ideally some RAM.

Comments

[graylion.livejournal.com]

fitting PSU ain't no prob

[aidian.livejournal.com]

just fyi, psu's are fairly foolproof, at least last i checked. last time i fiddled with one i found that you couldn't really connect the bits any other way besides correctly without trying very hard, and possibly engaging some hand tools and a frightening amount of force. if you buy a new one (surely you can beg or borrow one though) i'd just advise not going any lower in wattage than what you've got, though more is ok. screw it in, plug the doodads and voila.

[(Anonymous)]

Fitting a PSU is easy enough. Most of the important connectors only fit one way around. Just make sure that if you buy a new PSU that it has the same connectors as your motherboard - it will depend on its vintage (mobo connectors now have 24 pins instead of 20 pins. See: http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/faqpsus.html

Building a PC requires no more talent than some moderate Lego skills and knowing which end of a Phillips screwdriver is which. The tricky bit is selecting a bunch of components that will work optimally together while also being best value. You tend to be able to reuse some components from your old computer which helps reduce cost - I've had my desktop PC for 10 years now, changing a few bits at a time along the way. Needless to say, it's entirely different now than in 1997. Bu if I had to start from scratch today, I'd take a close look at what Dell have to offer.

[meehaneo.livejournal.com]

I concur - fitting a new PSU should not be an issue, barring ensuring it has the right connectors and the right dimensions.

The connectors can only be fitted one way too so little chance of blowing up things.

Oh - if it has one, make sure the fuse switch is set to 240V not 110V.


ay lad! I remember when computers used kilowatts!!!

[aidian.livejournal.com]

hey, you're lucky though. i reckon you can't blow up a PC by giving it less than the required voltage, but here in the states, if you get it backwards and accidentally bump it to 240 -instead- of 120, well... goodbye PC!

[(Anonymous)]

Actually it's the other way around. Setting a PSU to 110v in 220v land will blow the PSU and quite likely anything it powers too - theoretically double the voltage will then be output by the PSU, but it'll probably self destruct rather quickly. I know several PCs (willfully) 'blown' in this manner in my old college. I don't know what happens to a PSU set to 220v in the US, my guess is that nothing will blow but the computer just won't function.

Let's not find out though :-)

Juan

[aidian.livejournal.com]

really? that's odd and exactly the opposite of how i'd expect it to work. any idea why?

[cpio.livejournal.com]

Well, simplistically speaking, 110 volts to (say) 5 volts is a step down ratio of 22:1. For an input of 220V you'll need a ratio of 44:1. So if you are in the US and put 110V into a PSU set for 44:1 (220V mode) then you'll only get 2.5V out. Conversely, in Europe if you set a PSU to 110V you'll get 10V out, and things may well get fried.

[aidian.livejournal.com]

ohhh duh. because the PSU is actually an inverter, isn't it? I never thought about it that way. You are clever. thank you. :)

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I've seen power supplies accidentally set to 220v here and nothing is pretty much what happens.