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View Full Version : Antec 500w Smart power 2.0 failing me?


Cow Hunter
04-05-06, 04:40 PM
my computer has been crashing lately. i was going to blame it on my ram which wont run at DDR500 speeds like it should, but after crashing at stock speeds of 200mhz even, i decided something more serious is the problem. i still havent ruled out my ram or even my motherboard but i recently started suspecting my PSU due to the crash at stock and the nature of the crashes which is usually a random reboot in the middle of gaming.

smart power is a modular power supply. my modules go as follows
1- 2 SATA hard drives
2- PCI-E power
3- 2 ATA hard drive, DVD drive, Aerocool fan controler/MC reader/LCD
4- not really used. i just plugged in a SATA power connector which gives power to an external SATA power connector on the Aerocool panel
20pin and 4pin plugged into motherboad

2gigs ram, opteron 165, 7800gt, Creative X-Fi, 5 120mm fans

in the process of writing that last sentence it dawned on my that 4 of the fans run through the pannel, and looks like each fan plugs in ground and rpm meter into the motherboad, so i am going to assume it draws power from the pannel, guess for starters i will split off the 2 hard drives, and put the DVD drive and pannel on the 4th module.

but anyway the nature of my problem is usually a random reboot, but lately i have also had my graphics card boot me out of games and not let me restart a 3d game until i rebooted my computer also, maybe this was due to lack of power.

Now the problem with my ram was that my G-Skill DDR500 ram would fail memtest at 250mhz with default timings. i dont suppose this could be in any way related to a power issue. then when i tried to install my old 2x512 DDR400 corsair ram and boot up, i set the bios to manually set ram settings and it booted it up at DDR200 speeds and when i manually set to DDR400 i couldnt even get a bios screen.

I know i asked probably to many questions in one post, but as you can see i have many issues which may be all linked to a powersupply problem, or maybe a motherboard problem or ram problem. anyway i have a test i should be stuying for right now, so i dont have time to thoroughly work on these problems. any suggestions would be appreciated

Know Nuttin
04-05-06, 06:51 PM
is your CPU being run at stock too? or just your ram?

Fireside85281
04-05-06, 08:04 PM
I'd put my money on it being a reason for your troubles. I'm using it in my setup, and it has really limited my overclock. It does some random restarts and it has forced my computer to quit games quite a few times. But you get what you pay for. This is a very cheap Antec PSU.

Hughhefner
04-05-06, 08:10 PM
If you have a multimeter, hook it up to the 4 pin molex and check your actual 12V and 5V readings.

I had a similar problem with a rig 2 years ago, 12V line was fine at boot (11.87)
but as soon as I cranked the cpu usage to 100 with folding or seti it would drop to 11.55, YUCK. Needless to say I bought something better

-aDaM^
04-05-06, 08:22 PM
I would say its your PSU, time to upgrade.

Cow Hunter
04-05-06, 10:01 PM
ok well i think the vote was unanimous for a new powersupply, just when i thought i bought everything posible for my beast.

when i said stock it was CPU at 200x9, 2gb g-skill at 400mhz, so on 1:1 divider

Time to look at some PSU reviews. a friend at bestbuy says he can get me a Antec - Neo HE 550w for around $100 or Antec - TruePower 2.0 480w for a little less any thoughts on that, or any recommended PSUs around $100

Cow Hunter
04-05-06, 10:52 PM
after looking at the Antec Neo HE, it didnt sound to impressive, and the reviews on newegg made it seem like a hit or miss just like my current PSU, so i am open to PSU suggestions.

Mdogs444
04-05-06, 11:11 PM
OCZ powerstream 520 for a little more than 100, or an enermax, or even fortron

aeiou
04-06-06, 12:17 AM
Fortron blue storm

Hughhefner
04-06-06, 07:50 AM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103478

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103462

The OCZ looks very tempting after rebate $120

n0aH
04-06-06, 07:55 AM
Get a fortron Blue Storm. I had the same ps and its fine for me

Cow Hunter
04-06-06, 10:02 AM
well i was looking at the Enermax Liberty 500w PSU, but that OCZ powerstream looks like it would suite my case better because it holds the PSU on the bottom, so models with a bottom fan, which would face up, are not as attractive right now

Edit: here is a link to a few powersupplies i am looking at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCompare.asp?CompareItemList=N82E16817711002 ,N82E16817103462,N82E16817194003,N82E16817103478,N 82E16817104973&SubCategory=58) . Is dual 12v generally a good or bad thing, and what about PFC, cant tell if the OCZ has it, or is it not really needed.
Its probably mostly a decision between the Enermax Liberty or the OCZ right now