Custom PC Issues - Power Surging

[steve8091]

Hello all...

I built my first custom PC about 4 months ago, and all ran well until about two weeks ago, when I came in to get on it and I had a strange power surging. The processor and case fans were surging about twice per second, accompanied by a strange clicking sound.

It's a mid-level PC...my setup is as follows:
ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX250OCGQBOX
APEVIA X-QPACK-BL/420 Black/Blue Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case w/420W Power Supply
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
LITE-ON 24X CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS324-08

I tested the power supply last night, and found the 3.3V pins out of spec at 3.53V. After I finished testing, I had some inconsistent success. At first, the PC powered up right away and ran as normal. After a restart, it powered up when I held down the power switch a bit longer than usual. When my wife attached a USB device to the front hub, it suddenly shut off. Since then, it is back to the surging power I described earlier.

It certainly seems like a power distribution issue / short to me (and I've read some negative reviews about Apevia's built-in PS), but I'd like to get some expert opinions based on my symptoms.

Thanks, all.

 

[-RockMan-]

It sounds like the PSU itself is the main problem, if you plugged a usb device to the mobo and it shorted out like that...
I would have a computer technician check your mobo for any faulty parts.
If it's found to be so, please contact the RMA mobo maufacturing department and have them replace it.
Your motherboard should be still early into it's warranty stages.
I'm gone for now and won't be back until 9:30pm or 10:00pm if you need more help somebody will gladly help you out further.

 

[steve8091]

I plan to return the PS under warranty as my first step. Will the out-of-spec 3.3V voltages automatically justify the return? I ask because I don't know how standardized the tolerances are. Also, is that PS sufficient for what I'm doing? I'll admit that I didn't really look into that for this build, as I figured 420W would be more than adequate for the non-glitzy components I chose.

 

[-RockMan-]

I plan to return the PS under warranty as my first step. Will the out-of-spec 3.3V voltages automatically justify the return?

Well I couldn't tell you very much about power supply features but I don't why they wouldn't replace that PSU, in the meanwhile get your mobo checked out as well just to be on the safe side.
If something is wrong with the blasted thing have it replaced if need be.

Also anything between 400-650 watts is adaquette for for your current setup or any other future amd cpu you might choose down the road...

 

[brinks]

It does look like a possible psu problem. As for the voltage, it should only have +-5% tolerance.