did I kill my PSU?

[l0t49]

I have a system which is about 2y old. It has an i5-2500k with 8gb ram and corsair hx620w, and ati 4850.

I decided to get a new video card. I replaced it with a r9 280x.

Here are the details:

1) I remove the old 4850 and install the 280x.
2) Check all the power connections.
3) Press power button to turn on computer.
4) Nothing happens for a couple seconds, and then my UPS lets out a loud continuous whine.
5) The CPU fan never turns on. I don't think any thing at all came on.
6) I remove the 280x and put back in the 4850. Still nothing.
7) I remove the 4850. No video card now. Still nothing.

I checked the two main power connectors closely. Also, I checked the wires from the front panel to the motherboard.

I had an old motherboard with RAM and CPU still installed lying about. I connected the two power cables to this motherboard and attached CPU fan connector as well. This motherboard does not power at all either. Although, I'm not sure if this is a valid test.

So I'm wondering, did I kill the PSU or short the motherboard? (or perhaps something else)

Thanks for any help at all. I am quite frustrated!

 

[l0t49]

I forgot to mention. After the UPS problem, I plugged directly into the wall and am getting power from the wall.

 

[l0t49]

I looked online and found the paper clip test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...pnx21oydg&annotation_id=annotation_2250900693

I followed this procedure (paper clip in green and black connectors), and the PSU had no response at all.

Does this definitively tell me the PSU is dead?

 

[denis280]

Does this definitively tell me the PSU is dead?

you got it

 

[l0t49]

Thanks. Does is make sense that plugging in this new video card for the first time killed my PSU?

Or could it be some sort of short that killed it?

 

[denis280]

could be one or both.hard to say.right now just hope the mobo is fine. always be careful for static.it is deadly

 

[Ketchup]

I would be interested in what the whine from the battery backup means. Have you looked into this?

 

[l0t49]

Damn. I hope I didn't kill the mobo too. Would static electricity take them both down at once?

The fact that the UPS triggered and started whining says to me that the PSU at least tried to start for a millisecond or so. Hopefully that implies that I hadn't killed it with static electricity. But I don't know if the whine was caused by plain overload or some weird power condition on the line.

 

[Ketchup]

OK, here is what I have found thus far:

The whine is usually caused by the charge circuit trying to push the charge to the damaged cells in the battery.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t13682261-continous_whine_sound_apc_surge

You’ll need a minimum of a 500-watt power supply with one six-pin and one eight-pin power connector to run a single R9 280x card.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2052...w-amd-teaches-an-old-gpu-some-new-tricks.html

I am puzzled by the fact that the battery backup and power supply failed at the same time here. If it were me, I would get a new power supply (or RMA if that is an option) and plug it straight into the wall, using your old card. If everything works at this point, I would plug in the new card and see what happens.

It is too hard to say for certain if the motherboard was damaged, but I would say that would be a pretty small chance of that being the case.

 

[l0t49]

The UPS is a couple years old at least, and is underrated for this application. So the batteries were weak and I tried to draw too much energy from it. I anticipated perhaps having trouble with the UPS, but I thought it would show up under load, not just starting up. PSU problems aside, the UPS/batteries need to be replaced.

I just don't know enough to guess whether trying to draw a high load on my 620w corsair would kill it. But I certainly didn't expect it.

I didn't realize startup was so intensive for a GPU. But I'm glad you don't think the mobo is dead. That is how I'm currently leaning as well.

Can I use this type of connector, 4+4-pin CPU, on the 4 pin connector my MB has?

Thanks Ketchup and Denis for the input.

 

[l0t49]

Ok, so I dug around and found that you can use a 4+4 with a 4 pin ATX.

One other thing I realized, and forgot to mention--

My new video card is quite long. I think it is probably reference length because it *just* fit into my mobo/case. What I forgot to mention is that the end of it was in contact with my hard drive cage.

I didn't see any metal on metal contact because of this, but could of this caused the whole disaster?

 

[denis280]

didn't see any metal on metal contact because of this, but could of this caused the whole disaster?

probably.you should investigate more to make sure.put a piece of paper with tape(temporarely)and see if the paper get scratched.

 

[l0t49]

What do you mean- see if it gets scratched? There is definitely contact between the video card and the cage.

 

[denis280]

There is definitely contact between the video card and the cage.

that not good then

I didn't see any metal on metal contact because of this,

I didn't see any metal on metal contact because of this,

thats why i told you for the paper(confused)

 

[l0t49]

Sorry that was not clear. I meant that the part of video card that was touching didn't seem to be metal (just green board).

Can I just put some electrical tape on the cage at the contact points to be safe? I'd prefer to not buy a new case.

 

[denis280]

Can I just put some electrical tape on the cage at the contact points to be safe?

sure if its not to tight.

 

[l0t49]

Given this new information, do you think it is likely my mobo has actually been fried along with my psu?

 

[l0t49]

Update:

I got a new 750w PSU. I hooked it up the motherboard. The CPU fan now starts spinning, but there is no beep of any sort.

I put in 4850 and connected power to it. The system powers again, but there is a red light on the back of the 4850 and still no beeps whatsoever.

I'm starting to think the mobo might be fried as well. Damn I did good!

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[l0t49]

I tried resetting the bios by connecting the two pins with a screwdriver. No change.

Took all memory out. No change.

Everything is disconnected except the two ATX power connectors and the CPU fan.

 

[l0t49]

Did the full reset procedure. Took battery out for ten minutes and hit the reset pins. Still no change. I think the mobo is dead.

Question- did I take down my CPU too do you think? I'm going to order a new mobo overnight and trying to figure if I should get a cpu as well.

 

[l0t49]

I went ahead and ordered:

motherboard (AS Rock Extreme4)
psu (PC Power & Cooling 850W Silencer MK III)
case (Rosewill Thor v2)

Granted, I overkilled on the psu/case. But hopefully they'll be with me a long time.

Hopefully the CPU, memory and vid card survived! We'll see tomorrow.

 

[XavierMace]

I'm not sure if you had another thread on it or not, but do you have a UPS or a Surge Protector? You stated UPS but your link was talking about a Surge Protector. I've seen neglected UPS's take out the equipment hooked up to them on many occasions. If you are running a UPS, I'd make sure you take care of that as well. You don't want to upgrade a computer then hook it back up to the same thing that may have killed it in the first place.

 

[l0t49]

Yes, it is an APC UPS.

That would be quite ironic if my UPS killed my system.

I'm taking bets on whether the CPU is dead or alive...

 

[sm625]

I had an old motherboard with RAM and CPU still installed lying about. I connected the two power cables to this motherboard and attached CPU fan connector as well. This motherboard does not power at all either. Although, I'm not sure if this is a valid test.

What makes you say that? It is a valid test. Did you short the POW+ and - pins on the power header to turn it on?

 

[l0t49]

Yes, the original power supply is definitely dead. I did the paper clip test on it as well and it failed.