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I have just bought 2 SATA 250GB 16mb HDDs for my PC to run alongside my 250GB 16mb 7200 IDE and 60GB 8mb 7200 IDE.
I connected up the hard drives as one does, power and data cables, simple job, all done?! Not quite.
Switched on the computer, fans spin up and disks spin up for about 1 second then switches off. Again and again same problem.
I do not understand why my computer will not power up with these connected.
the PSU is a 520W ATRIX with the following ratings:
3.3v - 28A
+5v - 35A
+12v - 30A
-5v - 0.5A
-12v - 0.8A
+5vSB - 2.5AI have tried disconnecting all equipment none essential to the system powering up and still it just will not switch on with the four drives connected, or even 3 of them for that matter, but it will with any 2 of them.
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!
Alias: Neo
Have you Tried swapping in another power supply?
Do yourself a favor BACKUP!
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Unfortunately not, it's the only system i have with this high end spec and so this high end power supply, all my other supplies do not have the extra 4 pin connector that I need. Seems strange though, any ideas why this might be happening?
Still waiting for a reply from the people i bought the components from.
Alias: Neo
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It appears to me that there is something wrong with that power supply. It doesn't seem to be able to carry the load that it should.
Do yourself a favor BACKUP!
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Hi all,
Along with all of the other demands on your power supply at start up you have 4 drives all trying to spin up at the same time and each one is drawing about 14 or 15 watts, this may be just too much for your power supply and it is cutting itself off.
Not being familiar with the new BIOS's is there any way to delay the start up of say the last 2 drives.
Just a thought, good luck.
Bob
If you wake up to see the day - it can't be that bad.
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I have 7 hard drives on my system, an old 400 watt power supply and it does fine. It seems hard to believe that a 520 watt PS with the current ratings it has can't handle that system. I think there has to be something wrong with it
Do yourself a favor BACKUP!
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This sounds to me either like the ratings in my PSU are incorrect, surely I can't have had 2 faulty PSUs, although it's not impossible, or the PSU has some sort of over current protection with it being a new PSU it might sense the high current drain as a problem?
Do you think I would be within my rights to insist on a suitable alternative upgrade of my PSU? This is the second one I have had trouble with of this PSU and had a great distance to travel at my time and expense in order to have it changed the first time.
Alias: Neo
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If you have already replaced the power supply and the new one acts the same, I sure don't know what to advise.
I guess you could have some device on your system that is drawing too much current. But it's 'really' strange for a piece of equipment to draw excessive current and still be working ok.Do yourself a favor BACKUP!
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I'm sorry, I was unclear about the problem.
The reason I had the first PSU replaced was unrelated.
The old one started pulsing power to all the computers hardware during the night randomly while it was switched OFF. Fans were spinning up and slowing down, drives spinning up,L.E.Ds and Cathode tubes flashing and there was a hideous click from the PSU so it got switched off from the mains (as soon as i woke up and realised).
Needless to say they replaced this straight away but this could have caused damage to other components, posibly even the motherboard this could be part of my current problem, although I do not know.
Only solution i guess is to await a reply from the store that sold me the parts, although switching and swapping is not exactly a simple options since they are based over 50 miles away and i have no car right now or any means of getting there.
I have tested the system using only the MOBO, CPU, GPU, PSU, RAM, 2x IDE, 2x SATA and both data and power disconnected from everything else, and all front panel and USB connectors removed/unplugged from the board and the only difference seems that the system powers up for a fraction of a second longer than before, before powering down.
Alias: Neo
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I have found that if i press the power button quickly as soon as it powers down, i can provide a bit more power to the drives to spin up until they get going fast enough the system stays on, kind of like reving it up, can't be good for the system, but definitly says to me that the problem is my PSU not providing the current it should. Contacted the store and awaiting reply, i guess they are reluctant to fork out more money since they have already replaced this power supply once for me due to another fault.
Alias: Neo
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Update:
It turns out that my 520W rated power supply is a MAX rating, be careful in choosing power supplies, cheaper brands often specify max rating rather than pure output power.
I am now going for a replacement Enermax 500W (Pure power rating) although a lower number specified this is actually more powerful and more reliable.
The reason for the problem i had seems to be that the initial start up power for my system seems to be somewhere around the max rating for my current power supply and so the power supply just cuts out to protect itself.
Alias: Neo
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