Look on the internet or at your neighborhood laptop or computer retailer for an ATX computer power supply, or dismantle an old personal computer and take away the energy provide from the case. If the power provide comes on and the tough drive spins up, the power provide is in all probability superior. Reuse the screws that held the old energy supply in position on the back panel of the case to do the same point for your new power provide. The test have to be performed with the energy supply attached to the motherboard for a reside load and is only recommended for experienced techs.
And if you reside in a region with irregular energy from the utility or if you are operating off-the-grid with household generated power, you need to make positive the supply voltage is in the acceptable variety for the power supply, which does call for a volt meter. A quick search on the net will enable you obtain a number of calculators for determining your energy supply requirement primarily based on the components installed. With the energy supply unplugged, reconnect all of the power leads you removed in the previous step, then try powering up once again just to make sure a terrible connection wasn’t your dilemma all along.
Hold in mind that there’s practically nothing wrong with acquiring a power provide that gives a lot more power than you essentially require, specifically if there is the possibility of additional Pc element upgrades in your future. You may possibly discover it valuable to photograph which energy cables went to which elements so that you can have a reference for plugging in the cables on your new power supply.
Subsequent, you have to connect the internal energy cables from your new power supply to the rest of your personal computer. Seal your computer’s case back, plug every thing back in, and power your personal computer up. Now you’ve got a Pc that’s prepared to run for years to come without issue—or at least with out PSU-associated issues. If you are competent to operate about reside DC voltages in an open case, try to force the power provide on by shorting the green wire (pin 16, energy_on) to any of the black wires (grounds) in the main ATX motherboard energy connector, which is either 20 or 24 pins.
If your energy supply is chronically noisy with whistling capacitors or hums, that may be purpose sufficient for you to replace it. And if you’ve been through the other flowcharts due to the fact your Pc locks up or reboots at random times, the trouble could nicely be the power provide excellent, even if it generally boots the Pc. Any operating challenging drive with the correct connector for the power supply will do. Having said that, if you ever believed there was a burnt smell or sparks coming from the drive region in your Computer or from the drive itself, never test it in a fantastic Computer, or you danger causing harm if it failed as a brief circuit.
