PC died - power or something else?

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kiwis

832 posts

Ultimate Geek

#304281 20-Apr-2023 13:39

I'm not an expert here so excuse what could be a stupid question.

Working away on my work laptop next to my home PC and all of a sudden it just died. Power off. I cannot turn it back on. No issue with power within the house. The power is plugged into the back and there's an orange switch to turn power on and off which is eluminated.

When I turn on the tower from the top nothing happens. There was LED lights on the tower which aren't running also either.

I'm thinking, my power supply is stuffed. It is about 10 years old, maybe 12...

Anything else it could be before I race out an buy a new one?

gzt

17105 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3066044 20-Apr-2023 13:49

Plug the machine directly into the wall in case you have a dodgy multibox.

It could easily be a power supply. Grab a cheap known working supply off TradeMe is a good way to find out for a machine that old.

kiwis

832 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3066047 20-Apr-2023 13:54

Good idea, still didn't make much of a difference.

Happy to buy a new power supply. What am I looking for 700w and about I think, needs to fit into this case.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/CHAPHA0351/Phanteks-Eclipse-P350X-BlackWhite-ATX-MidTower-Gam

Silvrav

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3066055 20-Apr-2023 14:24

how comfortable are you with PC internals? might be worth a try to just reseat everything, RAM, CPU cables etc.

Then also try and short the startup pins directly on the mobo to eliminate a switch problem in the tower (I had this before)

gzt

17105 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3066060 20-Apr-2023 14:34

Imo apart from power supply it's not worth the risks reseating components in a machine that old yet. Right now the issue might be limited to power problem.

Silvrav

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3066063 20-Apr-2023 14:40

gzt: Imo apart from power supply it's not worth the risks reseating components in a machine that old yet. Right now the issue might be limited to power problem.

12 years is a long time for a PC to sit there sucking in dust, fibers, hairs any of which can cause an issue.

If the OP has a spare PSU on hand to test, then yes, but just to go buy one to test is not necessarily the solution.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18657 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3066148 20-Apr-2023 17:32

If it died while it was running and is completely dead, the most likely problem is an internal component failure, like a fuse. It could also be as simple as a burned through connector, which actually happened to me once. But then you should have noticed something if you were next to it at the time, like a smell or a sound.

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