Is my PSU underpowered?

[Echostorm]

Hey all,

I have been experience random problems with my computer lately, things that are pointing to psu faliure. Things like...

Blue screens when plugging in usb ports
Windows not loading
Windows loads but NIS doesnt
Programs failing
eventually blue screens very often
Finally WIndows complete faliure.

I thought maybe I had a virus so I did a fresh install only to discover errors when installing (saying that my cd was damaged when it wasnt) So after trying several googled posts a low level format and much frustration I took one of my memory out and VOLA it installed, only to discover that upon reboot it said OPERATING SYSTEM FAILURE! After losing more hair and a bit of pen throwing tantroms (it had been 14hrs now) I unplugged 3 HDD's that werent in use and it booted. It was working for a while so I tried plugging the drives in and to my suprise the computer was working fine! Well for about 15min, now its stuffed again and I am thinking seriously that it is either a bios problem or a psu problem. I say BIOS because now its searching for FDD in the boot sequence when I had it disabled. Is my psu underpowered and failing or could it be BIOS or both? I am running the following...

430Watt Coolmaster PSU
AMD 4400x2
Nvidia 7800GT
RAID 0 36gb Raptors for OS
RAID 0 200GB Sata storage
320GB Storage

 

[Lord AnthraX]

Definantly need a new Power supply.


If you could give me a semi budget I could help you out as I have a similar system and point you in the right direction for a power supply.

 

[Echostorm]

$100 or there abouts. So it sounds like PSU ey? Do you think I may have damaged my mobo or memory? i.e. the bios reconfiguration?

 

[Echostorm]

Well its not psu, i have tried changing the psu, the memory resetting the cmos and begging but still with no luck.

I managed to install and run windows for a little while without plugging anything in except the RAID 0 raptors which are serving as OS. but when I plug the other drives in (making sure the boot sequence is the same) it says "opertaing system error". I unplug everything again and it doesnt work. Could it be a faulty HDD?

UPDATE: I just changed from RAID to single drives, one of the Drives has OS error the other doesnt... however if I have too many other drives plugged in I get the error on the working one. What do you think? This is all so confusing!

 

[Echostorm]

Well originally it would seem my problems almost certainly were faulty memory. In my bid to try and fix the RAID drives before I realized it was the memory I did a low level format on each drive.

Could I have just made matters worse and ruined the drives hense why I am now getting these Opertaing System Errors at boot

 

[CrazeD]

First off, use the edit button instead of making three posts...

Take everything out of your computer that is not absolutely neccasary. Use one HDD, one stick of RAM, one CD-ROM, no case fans, etc.

See if you can get the thing to boot. If so, get memtest86+ and run it, to rule out your RAM. Run the test for like 6 - 7 hours. If there are ANY errors, then you have dodgy RAM. Make sure you do the test for every RAM module, testing one at a time.

If that passes, buy a new PSU, with 450 - 500W, with dual 12+ rails, with a peak amp of atleast 35A. That should work fine.


My guess is RAM though.

 

[Echostorm]

Well I ran memtest 86, and it was my RAM that is faulty. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!

Could my underpowered PSU be the cause of what damaged the RAM?

Plus

My mate rekons I will have slowed my raptor down considerably by doing a low level format, is this true?

 

[Meithan]

Uhm. I just ordered a Raidmax Sagitta case with a 450W included PSU. I thought it wouldn't be that good so I was thinking of upgrading to a 430W Thermaltake PSU (yes, less wattage, but it's 18A on 12V as opposed to only 13A). But you say this PSU isn't good either?

 

[CrazeD]

Well I ran memtest 86, and it was my RAM that is faulty. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!

Could my underpowered PSU be the cause of what damaged the RAM?

Plus

My mate rekons I will have slowed my raptor down considerably by doing a low level format, is this true?

Low-level formats aren't really "good" for a hard-drive, but you shouldn't have harmed it any.


Meithan: It depends. If there is only one +12V rail, then yes, 18A is very little. If there is 2 +12V rails, each with 18A, then that is fine.

 

[Meithan]

Bad news, then. My cheapest options with dual +12V rails are:
Thermaltake 500W TR2 PSU, which has 14A and 15A on each rail. It sells for US$102.
Coolermaster 600W, with 18A on each rail. Costs US$80

However, I already paid US$1150 for my system and I'm afraid I can't push it much farther. The 1-rail 430W Thermaltake sells for US$55.

My intended rig is a E6300 with a 7600GT and 1GB ram, both slightly overclocked. Do I absolutely have to spend the extra $80??