Building Your First Computer?

[Cricket]

If you're in the process of building your first computer, take some time and read the following article regarding the importance of using a good quality power supply.

From PCStats.com:

"Most Common Ways To Kill A Computer

26% PSU and power issues
23% Bad gear and user negligence
13% Heatsink related
15% Assembly and moving
10% Lightning strike and static
3% Computer cruelty
6% USB related
2% Overclocking


The Power Supply (PSU)

Three little words, but loaded with such destructive potential. Faulty power supplies are by far and away the most common source of computer mortality. In our reader survey, power issues accounted for over 30% of all dead-PC tales, and after working in a computer store for a few years I'm surprised it wasn't actually higher. We saw system after system come into the store for service with the immortal words "it just won't turn on" or "smoke came out of the back... Will it be ok?"

Here's a typical tale of bright lights, big balls of smoke;

"...The customer came in saying that the PC wouldn't start at all. Of course I suspected the PSU, but had to test it anyway. Plugged in the unit and pushed the power button and was illuminated by a flash of light. The PSU had indeed failed, and now had also blown a MOSFET on the system board and scorched the 512mb stick of PC3200 RAM..."

That the power supply is the most dangerous of PC components should come as no surprise. After all, its responsibility is to filter the massive wall voltage into the bite-sized 12V, 5V and 3.3V DC allocations that modern PCs need.

Power Supply Failures

When a power supply fails, it often sends random jolts through the rest of the system, killing (and sometimes burning) your valuable computer components. Unfortunately, many power supplies are manufactured by no name companies with little quality control and packaged in cheap 'white box' systems. The result is a steady stream of computers dieing before their time.

"...when I switched on my computer at night, suddenly there was a loud firecracker sound and lots of blue sparks came flying out from the back of my computer. It was from the PSU..."

It's worth mentioning that of all the problems we list here, this is also the one most likely to cause damage to your home and/or yourself. A third of the responses we received claimed that the defective PSU in question had burst into firely flames or belched out clouds of blue smoke or sparks. Needless to say this can present a very real fire hazard to more than just the expensive bits and bobs inside your computer!

This readers story sums up the dangers with a hilarious twist;

"...my friend was over and we decided to have a small 1 on 1 LAN game of half-life. I grabbed a rocket launcher and fired it at him as he was jumping. as the rocket hit him he froze in mid air. lag I thought. so I yelled downstairs "It'll fix itself in a few seconds" and he yelled "I'm fairly certain it won't", "whys that?" "come downstairs for a second." so I walked downstairs and into the office. smoke was pouring out the back of my New PC! The virtual rocket had made my very real power supply literally explode. I unplugged it and brought it out to the shop, opened it and some blue sparks shot out..."

How Not to Kill Your System This Way

It seems simple, but just two words are necessary. Brand name. The best way (not a sure way, but the best way) to avoid a power supply incident is to buy a power supply from a reputable company that specializes in manufacturing them. Here at PCstats we've reviewed several high quality power supplies, so you can use us as a guide, or ask your computer guru friends what they use and recommend.

You will pay more for a brand name supply, but it's worth it. From our experiences; PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Antec, Aopen, Vantec and Sparkle are reliable manufacturers.

Another good tip is to keep your PC off the floor and away from dusty environments (and family pets) to minimize the amount of dust and debris that build up inside the power supply. This accumulation of stuff often contributes to an eventual failure, and most commonly a seized cooling fan.

Low quality power supplies may also be set off by poor AC power conditions in your area. Consider purchasing some sort of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) or power conditioner. This advice is actually echoed in some of the later entries in this article also."

Cricket

[Stryker]

Great article Cricket!!!
Everyone in this forum should read this.
So many questions and problems relate to the PSU, so the more sources we have for information, the fewer people will have smoke and flames shooting out of their PC.

Thanks very much for posting,
Stryker

[nubbler]

That's great Cricket.

As There are still a lot of people out there that don't recognize the importance of a quailty PSU and hopefuly they'll see this and not have to learn the hard (and expensive) way.

[Strider]

I wished a read that arcticle 4 years ago For I would have save a computer from the big smoke out.

Great Arcticle!

[diver203_98]

Very good article Cricket. It just goes to show that a PSU IS more important than some people think. This gives very good reasons to buy only "Quality" PSU's, and ALL quality parts in general.

[Moose on the Loose]

Nice as always, Cricket.

[Josh2k4]

Yeah you all ways gonna need a good "PSU"... Im still new to the whole building the computer thing.. But every day i learn something new by reading threads and learning what misteaks not to do... I might be all that smart with computer parts and so on.. But i do know a enough.

[bigandy]

Another top notch post. Thanks Cricket.

[mjkovis]

I am seeing 'Sticky' written all over this one... Hopefully this will help cut down on a lot of members questions!

AK

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Acid-Klutch I am seeing 'Sticky' written all over this one...

Actually, this thread by pam123 should be stickied and the article in the link be made mandatory reading for every first time builder.

Cricket

[mjkovis]

Originally Posted by Cricket Actually, this thread by pam123 should be stickied and the article in the link be made mandatory reading for every first time builder.

I totally agree with that as well! That was a super article! And you know what, I didnt even notice using your basis of information from that article!!! Silly me.

Originally Posted by Cricket Another good tip is to keep your PC off the floor and away from dusty environments (and family pets) to minimize the amount of dust and debris that build up inside the power supply. This accumulation of stuff often contributes to an eventual failure, and most commonly a seized cooling fan.

This is a real good idea as well. I wish I was able to find a place on my desk to put my tower. It is a full tower and does not fit in my digital dock and looks outrageously silly on the desktop. I have to dust quite frequently since both my intake fans are low (almost to the carpet).

AK

[Josh2k4]

We keep our tower in the little side thing on the desk.

[roomwithamoose]

Most excellent! Now I know I need to upgrade my psu before I start OCing!

[Cricket]

Bumping it up for the new builders to see.

Cricket