power surge caused PC to be unstable

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a PSU has a number of "rails"
each is just a channel which power goes through.
every standard PSU should have at least one +3.3V, one +5V and 1 +12V 'rail'
a lot of people consider the +21V rail very important, because if it can give more power, they can usually put more things in, as most add-ons (fans, hard drives, lights) use 12V

basically, those 3 'rails' should at least be close to what it is rated (12V, 5V, 3.3V) and should not fluctuate (move around)

Amperes is a different measurement to voltage.
Voltage is the difference in charge between one end and the other. the electrons will try to balance it out, so a lot fo them move from the negative side to the positive side (electrons are negatively charged)

now Amperes is the actual amount of charge there is. the more amperes, the more electrons there are flowing through. if you have more amperes in a rail, more devices can be powered

so, a good PSU will deliver stable voltages, and a lot of amperes.

that PSU has 20A on the +3.3V rail, and 40A on the +5 rail, which is more than enough. since it is more so the motherboard that uses the +3.3V you see it is more stable with more amperes going through.
however the 12V rail only has 17A. it will probabbly do, but it isn't all that much.
 
CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it just happened again...
I've been using the PC today just fine. Booted up few times -- all good. Just working...

I had just installed some software, 1 big application and 1 small app and used them... its working fine.

THen go to install another application and 1 second into the wizard install dialogue --- FREEZE!!

so now left with hard drive or mother board or SOmethign else?

thoughts?
 
well, you can do a repair-install of the OS and see if that works

the other thing could be heat. computers often crash if the CPU or video card overheats (more commonly the CPU, video cards just generate "artifacts" a lot of the time)
ATM, I have an Athlon XP which is running quite hot and causing crashing. I need a new cooler for it.

although I am skeptical of whether you got a good quality PSU to replace the other one
I have a sort of "trusted brands" list which I would buy a PSU from. companies that make PSU's which have a really low failure rate.
they are:
Enermax
Antec
Cooler Master
Thermaltake
Ultra - some people don't like them though.
PC Power and Cooling (PCP&C)
OCZ - these are really stable
 
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