Ok, so I am quite sure that my PSU is causing my problems that have plagued me for the last few weeks, but I want to confirm it with some experts and if so I would like a recomendation of the new one I should buy....
So here goes, I recently switched cases and installed a watercooling system after which my Windows was not performing right and I had frequent freezing, restarts, random BIOS recoverys and crashes even on or before the POST test. Well I think I burned out my Mobo with all the restarts because I am a moron and have never had PSU problems before. However, now I am thinking it was the PSU all along. Anyway, I bought a new Mobo and when I booted up it began to work, but Windows was messed up and I had to re-install. Durring this time I had many periods where the PSU would stop working, I would have random shutdowns and I had to switch it on and off to get it to work again. In addition I reinstalled Windows like 6 times and formatted my Hard drives, thinking they were the source the the Windows problem, but now I am thinking that the PSU was messing with the Hard drives and causing file corruption.
Finally, today I went back to work trying to fix the problems and Windows went into its problem where I couldnt boot up after installing programs after a fresh format and re-install of windows. So i went into the recovery console to check the disks as recommended, midway into checking my second one my video went wierd and I smelled a funny smell, so I immediately cut power and opened up my case. I pulled out the video card and it had a residue on the connector area. So i believed that my old video card had burned out. So, I put in my newer one that had been having driver issues, which I am hoping I can attribute to the PSU... anyways I started up and everything came up fine and I though "good, my memory, HDs and Mobo are all ok" and I went to try to check the disks again and I smelled the smell again, so I cut power and stuck my nose up to the PSU and I smelled it, then the vid card... and the smell was stronger near the PSU, so I think the PSU is going bad, its overloaded or it is damaged from the move somehow....
My system specs:
3.4 Ghz CPU
1 Gb PC3200 RAM
3 Hard drives: 30 GB IDE, 80 GB IDE, and a 250 GB SATA
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD Burner Drive
7800GS Nvidia Vid Card
4 Fans:2 80mm Case fans,1 secondary radiator fan, 1 PCI Slot fan
Artic Water Cooling System (Cpu and Vga block)
Suspect PSU: Thermaltake 420 Watt PSU
Spare PSU: 350 Watt PSU
New PSU: IDK? If you know good wattage and brand tell me!
Right now I am hoping to god that the PSU is just bad and I can simply buy a new one, power up and have everything run all right again. Otherwise I am at my whits end again and I may just pack up and give it to Geek Squad to fix...
at my whits end!
PS: I also would like to know if my video card driver problem could be piled in with all the other stuff... See when I put in the 7800GS and ran the system (when it would boot succesfully) I could only use VGA drivers because Nvidia ones would crash my system and then not allow me to boot unless I booted to VGA drivers.
What should my course of action be now? (Lol my room smells really bad now, that worries me)
So here goes, I recently switched cases and installed a watercooling system after which my Windows was not performing right and I had frequent freezing, restarts, random BIOS recoverys and crashes even on or before the POST test. Well I think I burned out my Mobo with all the restarts because I am a moron and have never had PSU problems before. However, now I am thinking it was the PSU all along. Anyway, I bought a new Mobo and when I booted up it began to work, but Windows was messed up and I had to re-install. Durring this time I had many periods where the PSU would stop working, I would have random shutdowns and I had to switch it on and off to get it to work again. In addition I reinstalled Windows like 6 times and formatted my Hard drives, thinking they were the source the the Windows problem, but now I am thinking that the PSU was messing with the Hard drives and causing file corruption.
Finally, today I went back to work trying to fix the problems and Windows went into its problem where I couldnt boot up after installing programs after a fresh format and re-install of windows. So i went into the recovery console to check the disks as recommended, midway into checking my second one my video went wierd and I smelled a funny smell, so I immediately cut power and opened up my case. I pulled out the video card and it had a residue on the connector area. So i believed that my old video card had burned out. So, I put in my newer one that had been having driver issues, which I am hoping I can attribute to the PSU... anyways I started up and everything came up fine and I though "good, my memory, HDs and Mobo are all ok" and I went to try to check the disks again and I smelled the smell again, so I cut power and stuck my nose up to the PSU and I smelled it, then the vid card... and the smell was stronger near the PSU, so I think the PSU is going bad, its overloaded or it is damaged from the move somehow....
My system specs:
3.4 Ghz CPU
1 Gb PC3200 RAM
3 Hard drives: 30 GB IDE, 80 GB IDE, and a 250 GB SATA
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD Burner Drive
7800GS Nvidia Vid Card
4 Fans:2 80mm Case fans,1 secondary radiator fan, 1 PCI Slot fan
Artic Water Cooling System (Cpu and Vga block)
Suspect PSU: Thermaltake 420 Watt PSU
Spare PSU: 350 Watt PSU
New PSU: IDK? If you know good wattage and brand tell me!
Right now I am hoping to god that the PSU is just bad and I can simply buy a new one, power up and have everything run all right again. Otherwise I am at my whits end again and I may just pack up and give it to Geek Squad to fix...
at my whits end!PS: I also would like to know if my video card driver problem could be piled in with all the other stuff... See when I put in the 7800GS and ran the system (when it would boot succesfully) I could only use VGA drivers because Nvidia ones would crash my system and then not allow me to boot unless I booted to VGA drivers.
What should my course of action be now? (Lol my room smells really bad now, that worries me)
