M/B or PSU problem ?

[david carey]

My computer is acting oddly at the moment . Its starts but shuts down , restarts on its own either right away or maybe 30 min later . Crashes without warning . I am leaning towards a PSU problem but the MB is a X58 which are always quirky at best . The PSU is not old and a Corsair cx650m . It is running perfect at the moment .Anyone have any enlightened wisdom to impart on this problem ?

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

My computer is acting oddly at the moment . Its starts but shuts down , restarts on its own either right away or maybe 30 min later . Crashes without warning . I am leaning towards a PSU problem but the MB is a X58 which are always quirky at best . The PSU is not old and a Corsair cx650m . It is running perfect at the moment .Anyone have any enlightened wisdom to impart on this problem ?

Possibly, could be something simpler, like the on off switch, an intermittent one can do similar.

Easily tested by either unplugging it then turning it on with a screwdriver tip or swapping the reset switch onto the power pins leaving reset empty.

Just cos of the self starting has me thinking this.
Oh and because I have fixed a few with this.

 

[Regeneration]

Recent Corsair PSUs are known to fail considerably faster than other brands.

There is nothing quirky about X58 when configured correctly and left untouched.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Because EVERYTHING inside the case depends on good, clean, stable power, you need to swap in a known good PSU to see what happen - especially before spending money on anything else.

Note too, the CX series of PSUs from Corsair don't have the best reputation.

 

[david carey]

Wow , thanks for all the prompt replies .

theoneandonlymrk will have to try that , the case is a cheap one . I removed the switch panel for a clean not that long ago but working perfect after .
Regeneration X58s have always been quirky (even when new) , BUT I have learnt more about computers from them than from all the other ones ! I wish the Chinese would get their act together and improve their new X58s especially warranty wise - though changing the bios to accept server memory was a coup a real poke in the western eye .
Bill_Bright I may well do that , I have a spare cheap , but working and no problems , 650W PSU I could try . There were issues before this power issue though - stuck on bios screen for instance ,disabled 2 browsers (could not even reinstall opera !) had to reinstall windows . Had LONG periods of black screen before OS boot up cursor still function though . All sorted part from afore mentioned reboots

 

[david carey]

Update . It was the front panel connectors not sitting properly in the MB header ( why are those Q-connectors so expensive ? - and do they work in non Asus boards ?) .

 

[Bill_Bright]

Great. Glad you got that sorted out and thanks for the followup.

Not sure what you mean by Q-Connector but if you mean a little connector you attach the front panel wires to, then you attach that connector to the motherboard, then don't try it on a different board - especially a different brand board. The ATX Form Factor standard dictates what pins "can" be in the motherboard's front panel I/O connector, but the ATX standard does not dictate which pins "will" be there, or how they will be arranged. So each motherboard makers does it their own way. If you use the "Q-connector" from Gigabyte on an ASUS board, for example, you may end up shorting something out - not good.

 

[david carey]

Asus make the Q connector and another manufacturer made the M connector I believe . The front panel connectors are idiotic really , imagine the same thinking for the 24 pin atx connector - multiple fiddly connectors instead of a single block !

 

[Bill_Bright]

imagine the same thinking for the 24 pin atx connector

Fortunately, the ATX Form Factor standard does set the standard for those. That's what allows us to use EVGA power supplies today, then replace it with a Seasonic or Corsair tomorrow. That is, of course, unless you are a big company producing factory made computers like Dell, HP and Acer and you want to stick it to us consumers and charge us more by using proprietary connectors.