New computer

[hnzw_rui]

My vote's still on the Corsair 400CX. The Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus, while decent enough, just doesn't have the same quality. Cooler Master's higher end series such as the Silent Pro are excellent. Alas, their budget models can't be held to the same standard. You get what you pay for, I guess...

[Darkstar]

Corsair 450 should be fine

[Sttm]

I think you should get a Corsair 750 watt. You dont need the extra wattage now, but this way you got a lot of headroom for future upgrades; and it is a high quality psu that should last many years.

[Darkstar]

I think you should get a Corsair 750 watt. You dont need the extra wattage now, but this way you got a lot of headroom for future upgrades; and it is a high quality psu that should last many years.

thats a bit of an overkill, he said he is on a budget and is not overclocking.

[Major_A]

Did you ever hear back from iBuypower?

[bandieramonte]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions regarding the PSU I need. I just received an unexpected response from Ibuypower. They explained that they could maybe send a replacement PSU as an RMA, but I explained them that it does not make sense to send me the same PSU. I need a branded PSU with the minimum wattage required. I listed them the same PSUs that you have suggested me here. I'm only hoping that they would send me the good PSU without cost for me, since the generic PSU was doomed to fail with that system anyways. I'm waiting their response..

Another thing is, I have done many tests with the system, and fortunately no other hardware was damaged. However, I got a strange issue here: I tested the system with a good PSU of a friend, and it started, but it fails to prime95. Then I tested my processor and ram sticks with my friend's motherboard, and it was prime95 stable. Then I tested my friend's processor and ram sticks with my motherboard, and it's also prime95 stable. In other words, the system is unstable when my hardware parts are put together. All this was done with the same good PSU.

What can be happening?

[Major_A]

Look for a BIOS update. It's probably a voltage/timing issue with the RAM they used in the build. Sometimes they have BIOS updates to "add memory compatibility". All that does is adds new profiles to what the board will default with.

[bandieramonte]

Ok this is what happened. Ibuypower never honored their warranty and did not help me to replace the power supply. However, since I purchased the system through Amazon, they did respond, and offered me a refund of $160, via a claim code. I managed to sell it, so I can buy the power supply locally and avoid the shipping fuss.

I can now buy a better power supply here. After searching the local market, I got these decent PSUs:

Corsair 450w Cmpsu-450vx
Cooler Master 600W RS-600-PCAR-E3
Thermaltake 550W W0134RU
Coolmax 600W VL-600B

Please help me choose the most solid one. They are all on the same price tier.

Besides the system I posted in the first thread, I will be connecting a SoundBlaster card, 2 hard drives and two small fans. In fact, after running the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5, it says a Recommended PSU Wattage of 341W (this is, with 15% capacitor aging and 90% processor TDP).

[Major_A]

Get the Corsair if you can or the Cooler Master if the Corsair isn't available. Avoid Coolmax and like I said before I don't particularly like Thermaltake's power supplies unless they are their top of the line.

[Skippman]

Another vote for Corsair. I've used 3 of their PSUs in builds and never been disappointed. Also, their customer service is excellent. I needed special connectors for my Crossfire system and they sent them to me free of charge!

[bandieramonte]

Ok, following the general consensus here, I finally bought the Corsair cmpsu VX450. When I replace the generic psu with this one, and try to start the machine, something is not right.

When I push the on button, it takes like 3 seconds for the power to reach the mobo, and then, the only thing that happens is that the fans begin to spin, with no sounds nor beeps nor I can feel any hardware working here. Then, after 4 seconds, all fans shut down, and immediately start to spin again, for 4 seconds and then shut down. This process would repeat itself indefinitely with nothing else happening.

I have tried so many things here, reseating all hardware except for the mobo, leaving connected only one ram stick, the processor and the video card. I also have tried having the hard drive connected. I made myself very sure that all the cables are correctly connected, using the manuals.

[skier]

you sure you have all the connections set? including PCIe to the 5750, ATX 4pin and 24pin?

[bandieramonte]

100% sure
Edit:

After so much googling, some people said that this issue has got to do with a bad power button. This is not the case, since I tried with the power button of my old thermaltake case which I know was working, and the issue persists. Also, some others said that this could be caused by some shorting between the mobo and the case, but I just removed the mobo from the case, tested it over a piece of cardboard, and still no success here. Others said that it could be heat issues, but I know the the cpu's fan is working.

[Darkstar]

Did you try clearing the cmos? because its starting to look like that POS PS that was in there took something with it when it went.....
Whats the warranty?

[bandieramonte]

I have already cleared the CMOS and nothing. I did not understand the POS PS thing you wrote. Can you please explain this?

And I got 1 year of warranty from Ibuypower, which is almost the same as to have no warranty.

[Major_A]

Sounds like when the old power supply bit the dust it took out something else with it. At this point it sounds like the motherboard is bad too. If you hit the power button and nothing happens with a good power supply the board is usually dead.

Contact iBuypower again and tell them you suspect the motherboard to be dead. In the mean time try to run the RAM that's in there through a program like Memtest. Might as well know what is and isn't dead.

Edit:
Have you tried forwarding this thread to Nate? He seems to have a good rapport with iBuypower since they just gave away one of there computers on the site. Maybe he can get you squared away and help the little guy.

[bandieramonte]

Remember that, as was said in a previous post, after the generic supply emitted the burning smell, I took all the components to a friend to test if the psu fried other pieces, and everything was fine. He tested my motherboard with his processor, ram mem and video card, and it was even prime95 stable. Also, he installed my processor, ram mem, and video card to his motherboard, and this was also prime95 stable. The odd thing was that when he tested my motherboard, processor, ram mem and video card altogether, it could be fine in windows, but it was not prime95 stable. All these tests were made with his same good psu.

((Now the only thing that pops into my mind is that maybe the system got a static discharge while it was moved from my friend's house to mine? But no way, this was in its case, which is supposed to be static non-conducting))

He then returned me the system and I did not turn this on until the new corsair cmpsu vx450 arrived. It was immediately after replacing the generic psu with this one that I began to have this strange intermittent shut down and on issue.

I can only test the ram mem in other system since mine can't even show a thing in the monitor. I'll see when can this be done. In the meantime, It could be helpful for me to coordinate with Nate and have Ibuypower help me with the warranty. However, I'm not sure how should I forward this thread to him, and I can't find any Nate in the members list.

[skier]

I can't find any Nate in the members list.

sent pm

i wonder how much power draw is on the corsair unit, what wattage PSU does your friend have?

and POS PS = Piece of s*** power supply....

[bandieramonte]

Thanks for your pm. I will write Nate after this post.

My friend has a psu of 800W, but it's an agiler brand, kind of generic, but it was enough wattage to do all the tests that I posted. Also, he has got that psu for more than 6 months with an i7 processor, an ati 5770, and 6 GB DDR3, so this fact kind of certified me that the psu was good enough to conduct the tests with my system.

I don't know how much power my psu is drawing, but I got these two facts:

1) Tom's Hardware has a review with almost my exact same system, and it draws no more than 190W under load
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/rad ... 46-15.html

2) However, the extreme power supply calculator site returned that a system like mine is recommended to be paired with a minimum recommended psu of around 350W. The corsair psu I got is supposed to be always operating at 81% efficiency or more, and 450x.81= 364.5. This is above the recommended wattage, although is close. But I wonder why the difference with respect to tom's actual power results are huge.

[skier]

The corsair psu I got is supposed to be always operating at 81% efficiency or more, and 450x.81= 364.5. This is above the recommended wattage, although is close. But I wonder why the difference with respect to tom's actual power results are huge.

actually it works the other way around, 450 is 80% of its actual peak (i have an OCZ 600W that draws 750W safely, well, not shutting itself off like it does @870W, lol) but basically how it works is, the better+higher wattage the unit the less it Actually draws (ie, my system with the 600W draws 500W with JUST max stress on my CPU, where i can stress the CPU and a 260 and 240 and still draw under 600W with my TX750)

basically, power supply is the most important part of any build, regardless of budget

my 3.1GHz Core2Quad + gts 250 pulls a max of 330W at the wall with the 600W unit, so yours with more (+faster) RAM and a higher power CPU should still be around the same even though the gts 250 draws much more. the 450 should be fine, and you checked all the other parts, and its not a short, or a faulty pwr switch, and its not overclocked, and you reset the CMOS, and you tried individual ram sticks in each slot separately. does your board have integrated gfx or on-chip?