Hi, my computer crashes very often, and some people told me it could be because of insufficient power. I think it's that, 'cause the PSU is not enough for peak needs. I don't have the money for a new, more powerful one, but I have a spare one.
Can you use 2 PSU on 1 motherboard by simply providing them both with electricity and connecting both to the motherboard pin-outs?

 

Pretty much guarantee that's a bad idea, a PC PSU is not a simple switch mode PSU. Standard switch-mode PSUs often can load-share but a PC PSU is a different beast. I recommend don't do it.

 

Check the smoothing capacitors with an ESR meter, they are usually the problem

 

Check the smoothing capacitors with an ESR meter, they are usually the problem

Wow, I guess it's my fault for posting on such a forum... You see, I don't know what are "smoothing capacitors" or "ESR meter"... I can read on wikipedia, but that doesn't explain me what you mean. Are you saying that instead of increasing the power I should check for a problem in the current PSU's capacitor? And what should I look for exactly?

 

Look for electrolytic capacitors on the power supply board they will be something like 1000uf 16v or higher.
When they are old and faulty they bulge on the top, but not always.
You would need to unsolder them and get a reading on an ESR meter.

The ESR meters are about £80

 

Look for electrolytic capacitors on the power supply board they will be something like 1000uf 16v or higher.
When they are old and faulty they bulge on the top, but not always.
You would need to unsolder them and get a reading on an ESR meter.

The ESR meters are about £80

Of course someone who admits they don't know that much about electronics is not likely to want a meter.

More likely they just want a solution and at £80 I would imagine you can just buy a replacement/more powerful new PSU.

Also, if the original PSU has a problem a novice and a broken switch-mode PSU are definitely not a good match and someone is likely to get hurt.

 

The ESR meters are about £80

Where as a new PSUs are £20 to £30...


Have you tried just swapping the spare PSU you have with the one in your PC?

 

The problem might not even be with the power supply. Your mother board could be at fault.

 

The problem might not even be with the power supply. Your mother board could be at fault.

Or one of many other possible problems...

 

I suppose it might help to know if this problem has been going on for a long time or is recent? Is it getting worse? Has anything else changed, e.g. have you installed any new hardware?

I'd put in the spare PSU, unplug everything but the basics (motherboard, HDD, keyboard, mouse and monitor - preferably on a basic video card) and see if the problem persists and then build up form there.

 

There are software utilities that can show you where power is going and what it's being used for. By monitoring the time period before a crash, you might learn where the problem is and what power level triggers it. Whenever my Macbook heats up, I can guarantee I'm going to find Flash burning up lots of power. Force quit that, and everything cools down again.

 

Some of the components are overheating?Did you check the RAM?Check capacitors on the motherboard?

 

consult a computer repair technician, is it only crashing during high cpu load or just anytime random? ->

 

Of course someone who admits they don't know that much about electronics is not likely to want a meter.
More likely they just want a solution and at £80 I would imagine you can just buy a replacement/more powerful new PSU.
Also, if the original PSU has a problem a novice and a broken switch-mode PSU are definitely not a good match and someone is likely to get hurt.

Nah, don't worry: I can pull out a capacitor and weild it back, and I can borrow a multimeter... if anything I would need some info like "the likely problem is this capacitor once had a (hability) of at least (number) (unit of mesure), and now if you mesure less than (number) (unit of mesure) you need to do (action)" I should also know if this mesure has to be done while working or not, while plugged to the PSU or separated.

Where as a new PSUs are £20 to £30...

Believe me, the one I need is more expensive (at least 130 euros). The thing is I have lot of things on the PC.

Have you tried just swapping the spare PSU you have with the one in your PC?

Nope, the second is less powerful.

The problem might not even be with the power supply. Your mother board could be at fault.

Or one of many other possible problems...

I'd put in the spare PSU, unplug everything but the basics (motherboard, HDD, keyboard, mouse and monitor - preferably on a basic video card) and see if the problem persists and then build up form there.

I know it could be many things, but the basic hardware (MB, CPU, RAM and video card) is essentially new. I also tried minimal configurations, it's the first thing you do on a diagnostic, and I can't isolate a single piece responsible. Software problems are ruled out.

On the other hand I made a simple calculation on this website: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp, and the result is clear: not enough watts. Maybe it's my habit of salvage everything, but at the same time I can't really give up the disks or unplug the fans...

I suppose it might help to know if this problem has been going on for a long time or is recent? Is it getting worse? Has anything else changed, e.g. have you installed any new hardware?

I can't really tell you: I inherited the pc, and as soon as had it I added all my stuff who previously worked fine (that includes my old, more powerful PSU).
My take is the power. I did want to mesure (not calculate) the consumption, none of the programs I found work:

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/fe9e10c5-5c5b-450c-a674-daf55565f794/ wants I buy and plug a special tool, while

http://download.cnet.com/Energy-Lens/3010-2077_4-10571141.html wants a specific verion of excel (?!?) to show results

Maybe someone of you knows a better program (mesuring the consuption at the source is obviously a bad idea, since it's bottlenecked by the PSU limit and implies actually messing with exposed powered household wires)

There are software utilities that can show you where power is going and what it's being used for. By monitoring the time period before a crash, you might learn where the problem is and what power level triggers it.

I'd really like to know which ones

Some of the components are overheating?

Don't think so: after a crash I rebooted and checked the temperature went to the UEFI and on the MB windows utility, and nothing ever went over limits (I think 70 °C is the warning threshold)

Did you check the RAM?Check capacitors on the motherboard?

RAM is new (1 year) as for the MB capacitors... I don't even know what they are or what should I look for

consult a computer repair technician, is it only crashing during high cpu load or just anytime random? ->

I'm afraid a technician is well beyond my pocket. They also like, you know, to solve any software problem by simply formatting everything whether you have the drivers or not and to solve every hardware problem by selling you whatever surpluss they managed to salvage...
And yes, a casual use has a crash frequency of 20-60 hours, while network transfer+browser+player+few windows+whatever in the background transform it in 20-60 minutes.

 

Nah, don't worry: I can pull out a capacitor and weild it back, and I can borrow a multimeter... if anything I would need some info like "the likely problem is this capacitor once had a (hability) of at least (number) (unit of mesure), and now if you mesure less than (number) (unit of mesure) you need to do (action)" I should also know if this mesure has to be done while working or not, while plugged to the PSU or separated.

Last warning. Switch mode PSUs like these if faulty can electrocute you if you touch internal components even after the PSU has been off for a prolonged period. That's all I'm going to say about that, no more posts from me on this. Good luck don't die.

 

The problem might not even be with the power supply. Your mother board could be at fault.

I'm used to seeing rows of 2200 uf/16V capacitors on the mother boards (right next to the power plug). Those caps could be bad. I actually fixed one mother board by replacing 8 of those.

You can pretty much bet that any capacitor of 100 uf or more on the mother board is for power supply filtering.

 

Last warning. Switch mode PSUs like these if faulty can electrocute you if you touch internal components even after the PSU has been off for a prolonged period.

You mean they have electricity even when unplugged ?!?

You can pretty much bet that any capacitor of 100 uf or more on the mother board is for power supply filtering.

I don't know man, the MD is less than 1 year old and didn't experience any trauma (fall, short-circuit, humidity, accidental scratch with the screwdriver over the conductive tracks...)

And I DO lack 150 watts.

 

Yes. A lot of devices can hold a charge after they are unplugged.

We all suspect capacitors because: A) There was a bad batch of them a few years ago...millions of bad aluminum electrolytic capacitors!
B) Electrolytic capacitors are the only kind of part that has an end of life calculation when operated under proper conditions.

 

Yes. A lot of devices can hold a charge after they are unplugged.

Sorry if an ignorant guy questions your degree, but... it cannot be. Not only I opened and touched hundreds of computers and the like without problem, but even if you manage to trap some electrostatic charge, it can't do more than a sparkle. Actually, I never saw that either, not with an electronic devise.

We all suspect capacitors because: A) There was a bad batch of them a few years ago...millions of bad aluminum electrolytic capacitors!
B) Electrolytic capacitors are the only kind of part that has an end of life calculation when operated under proper conditions.

Well, my PSU is 6 years old...

 

Sorry if an ignorant guy questions your degree, but... it cannot be.

I don't have a college degree in any sort of electronics, but I do have a vivid memory of being knocked backwards out of a television while trying to disconnect the anode connector from the picture tube. Several other devices can retain a charge, but usually not as bad as a CRT.