pc startup problem

[BombaTwist]

i have a problem turning on my PC, just today this morning i woke up and when i pressed the ON button, the front LED lights flashed for ONE second, then died on me, then i started messing with the wires and pressed the ON again and same thing, i messed with the wires again, like un hooking, then hooking, and this time i press it repeatedly and it turns on. why is this? is my power supply getting old? i just built this computer a year ago. my PSU is an XCLIO 480 Watt. i just got home right now and had to do the same thing to start it up, this is like a family computer/my gaming computer so i wouldn't want any of my other siblings think this computer is broken because they dont know how to start it up. so just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on fixing it or figuring out why it happens, i use a surge protector which is pretty new and i know it works fine, i even tried hooking it straight to the wall electric surge and same problem. so please i need help. thanks.

[nitroshift]

Might be that the button on the case fails to make proper contact. Try shorting the 2 pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver and see if it does the same.

[dirtwarrior]

I had one to do this and it was the surge protector gone bad. Try hooking strait to the outlet and see if it still happens

[BombaTwist]

Might be that the button on the case fails to make proper contact. Try shorting the 2 pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver and see if it does the same.

i think this is my problem, because everytime i push the button now, half way i push it, the lights and fans all would go on and go back off, also, my motherboard has this red light by the top left and its always on.

so i think its the button thats the problem. right now im at a friends house since now i can't even turn my computer on anymore.

Also, can you give me more detail on the shortening the pins, i don't quite understand what you're saying.

I had one to do this and it was the surge protector gone bad. Try hooking strait to the outlet and see if it still happens

i'm pretty sure my surge protector is fine, tried hooking my computer to other outlets in the house and same problem.

So ill try fixing the button on my case, and see what happens.

[bonestonne]

just check the leads for the power button. my oldest power button had a problem because the wires were resting on a card, melted right through when i left this on overnight one time a long while ago...ever since i've tied my cables. drives my dad nuts, but i don't want to loose a button again, its hard to fix them.

[ripken204]

Might be that the button on the case fails to make proper contact. Try shorting the 2 pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver and see if it does the same.

i think this is my problem, because everytime i push the button now, half way i push it, the lights and fans all would go on and go back off, also, my motherboard has this red light by the top left and its always on.

so i think its the button thats the problem. right now im at a friends house since now i can't even turn my computer on anymore.

Also, can you give me more detail on the shortening the pins, i don't quite understand what you're saying.

I had one to do this and it was the surge protector gone bad. Try hooking strait to the outlet and see if it still happens

i'm pretty sure my surge protector is fine, tried hooking my computer to other outlets in the house and same problem.

So ill try fixing the button on my case, and see what happens.

well for this if u have a restart button, you can just but those wires into the header for the start button, this will rule out the normal start button being dead.

but i doubt that is the problem, it kind of sounds like a psu issue, i would try out another psu if you can get your hands on one.

[BombaTwist]

k i got me a new psu and it works, yay!! funny cause my dad before we bought the PSU, he cut all these wires from the front power button and mixed em all up, but im glad we got it all put back together. i got me a TEMPORARY 500 watt power supply from compusa. im looking to buy me a new power supply but from newegg.

The highest my dad and i will go is for the BFG Tech BFGR650PSU

but we wanted to see if we can get anything lower than that. me and my dad like the BFG cause its 650Watt and it has a LIFETIME warranty.

Now a-days i'm not up to date on any of the watts needed on a computer. So yea, my old PSU is an XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply. Not 480Watt as listed above on my first post. My dad wants to get me a power supply that can handle more than enough power for just incase, i like it to be able to be ran under high use and gaming use, also for future upgrades.

so at this point im looking to buy me a new PSU. i need to get my Temporary one back in 21 days. =].

I don't know how many watts i need but here are my specs.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Core 1.8GHz

DFI nF4-DAGF motherboard

Aspire Case

1 Western Digital 40GB Harddrive 7200RPM 2mb cache (Master)

1 Hitatchi Desktar 80GB Harddrive 7200RPM 2mb cache (Slave)

2 Case Fans

1 CPU Fan

1 DVD burner NEC

1 floppy

1 TV tuner, MSI TV@nywhere

1 Radeon x300HE 128mb (looking to upgrade to a Geforce 6800xt)

1 512mb ram PC3200

1 512mb ram PC2700

and thats all my specs. i think that should help you guys help me find a new PSU for me, thanks again for all your guy's help.

i think i will prefer to get a PSU over 500Watt, just to be careful ^.^. especially since i'm willing to upgrade soon.

Isn't there a website that shows you how many watts you need minimum after u put your specs in? i've run into the site before but i forgot what the link was, if anyone could provide me with that, that would be great. =].

Oh yea, 1 more question, why do PSU's die out?

-Thanks All!

Edited September 26, 2006 by BombaTwist

[ripken204]

you will never use more than 500watts. prolly half that if even. and the more watts doesnt always mean that its better.

but i would look at something such as:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817341001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817194003

[BombaTwist]

im thinking of getting the ocz that you listed. how long do you think the ocz psu will last?

so how did my last psu die? is it just not a good psu?

also does the ocz have a warranty on it? i don't see anything there about a warranty besides the extended one.

Edited September 26, 2006 by BombaTwist

[ripken204]

3 yrs

[BombaTwist]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817103931

pretty ok right? im just looking for a cheaper one since my parents arent willing to lend much money for me. and i only have $60.

but im kind of hesitant on that one cause quite a few reviews say that they die in a month or a week.

but if i do buy it, and dies, i will be able to replace it with the 3 year warranty thats included right?

Edited September 28, 2006 by BombaTwist

[BombaTwist]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817182032

doesn't look too bad either.

[Jeremy]

you will never use more than 500watts. prolly half that if even. and the more watts doesnt always mean that its better.

but i would look at something such as:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817341001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817194003

I seem to remember Bill gates saying we would never use more than so and so HD space and so and so RAM. Now look at technology trends these days. You can never tell someone they will never use this much or that much.

[BombaTwist]

hehe, well i bought the Rosewill 600Watt one since it has good amps and good reviews. i just hope it doesnt die on me anytime soon.

although i still dont understand how my old psu died on me, can someone please explain to me the possibilities? thanks.

Edited September 29, 2006 by BombaTwist

[ripken204]

you will never use more than 500watts. prolly half that if even. and the more watts doesnt always mean that its better.

but i would look at something such as:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817341001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817194003

I seem to remember Bill gates saying we would never use more than so and so HD space and so and so RAM. Now look at technology trends these days. You can never tell someone they will never use this much or that much.

by never i mean within 5 years. cpu and gpu voltages have dropped alot, this lower power is needed. the way things are looking we dont need high watt psu's. if u do one of those watt calculators then u will prolly find that ur using less then 250 or 200 watts. now if u have a server with 10hdds and 10fan and 4 procs, well thats another story.