Maximum PC

My 3 year old pc was having start up problems and I started to unplug some fans and all of the sudden, no more problems.

Question......do the hard drives ground themselves to the case?? I notice the temp/fan sensor that takes up 2 5.25 bay goes off when it's not touching the case but when it is, comes on fine.

No.

Right about now is when I would be lining up to buy/build my next rig. It's been 3 hard years, I'm at SATA II and SATA III is out now. Money is tight so no new rigs in my future so I gotta make due with what I got.

I think my problem is PSU related. Are there any tests out there for this? Does anyone have any experience with a PSU that crapped out on them? The workload of a PC has drastically changed in the past 6 years between intense games (which I'm not into) and HD decoding.

I mean, my rig has been overclocked and running all day every day for 3 years. I use it to watch ALL my tv, internet, watch whatever on the internet I mean, it's rarely off for 3 straight years plus I've added hard drives to it.

I believe it's built with a 750 watt Antec. Now, my system is plug and play, should be able to plug a new hard drive into it while it's on and it will be recognized (I've actually done this before). Tried it an hour ago and the system shut off. I have one of those APC backup systems so I just turned off my rig, hit the reset button on the APC, turned my rig back on and I was back up no problem but it seems like it can't handle any more juice.

Like I said previously, when I had problems starting up I unplugged some fans and it started no problem. I'd love to be able to solve all my problems with a $125 PSU instead of a $1750 rebuild. I mean, what else could it be? I got 4 WD Caviar Green (which spin slower than a normal drive) and an OCZ Vertex 3 plus an external Hitachi drive. All in great shape so I am seriously thinking the PSU just can't give it to me like it used to PLUS with the few add-ons PLUS the system was overclocked from the start.

I just got a new hard drive so I got lots of room to keep me going for a while and if a new PSU can get me the rest of the way. Just wish there was a way to know for sure my PSU is not up to snuff anymore.

Now that I think about it, I got it stripped down pretty good right now and it's buzzing pretty fast around the net and playing my HD shows just fine. Also, my BIOS is set back to default so I'm not even overclocked and I'm still rocking fast on the net!!

I got two hard drives unplugged, I got my temp/fan sensor unplugged and two fans unplugged. Tried to plug in my one drive and the system shutdown so maybe that WAS the test.

Think maybe with the extra hardware that I didn't start with I should move up to 1k watt PSU?

It sounds to me as though (between the fact that you have had this system overclocked for the past three years and running nearly 24/7 during that same timeframe) your PSU may indeed be on its last legs and you are most likely due for a PSU upgrade. You haven't mentioned anything about any possible heat issues from the overclocking and you haven't mentioned any other relevant specs (besides the PSU being an Antec 750 watt and three of the drives in your system). In my experience, overclocking a system also places stress on a motherboard (as well as other system components) and you may also be due for a motherboard upgrade as well.

As you are probably well aware, with PSUs you get what you pay for and you sound as though you are willing to spend the cash to get a quality PSU. Antec PSUs are pretty solid, as are Corsair PSUs. My personal favorite when it comes to PSUs is PC Power & Cooling because their PSUs have the ability to supply higher wattage output than what they are rated (my PC P&C 750 watt PSU is able to produce a maximum of 910 watts and came with a five-year warranty). Here is one that appears to be in your price range and would probably have the output you need for your current setup: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... r-Supplies It is currently priced at $149.99 and has a $20.00 rebate offer (until 10/31/2012), bringing the cost (after rebate) to $129.99. It also comes with a seven-year limited warranty. For the record, I have never had an issue receiving a rebate on any PC P&C PSU. Of course, my experience with rebates on Corsair PSUs has been excellent as well.

" My personal favorite when it comes to PSUs is PC Power & Cooling because their PSUs have the ability to supply higher wattage output than what they are rated (my PC P&C 750 watt PSU is able to produce a maximum of 910 watts and came with a five-year warranty)."

I just read somewhere on the net where the Antec 750 TruePower PSU I just ordered was recorded as producing just over 900 watts just like your description above.

http://www.directron.com/tp750.html

This PSU should easily keep me up until the next stage which of course is a SATA III board with all the best gear installed on it.

I'm flying on the net right now with my pc playing an HD movie, my BIOS set back to default settings (AMD Phenom 3.2 IV) on hard drives spinning at 5400rpm but electronically I'm still bareboned which I feel is an example of my current PSU's degradation.

You know I can actually see the difference the proper electricity I am giving my system is having thru the HD movie I am watching. Watched part of it the other day but today right now, I can see a noticeable difference in quality.

I'm forced into this but maybe this will be the way I do things in the future. Instead of $1500+ every 3 years, I could go sub $2k every 5 years and don't forget that extra 2 years gives time for the next upgrade to mature. SATA III and it's gear has plenty of mistakes to make and 2 years is plenty of time to do it so when I finally come around to my next build, it won't be with a bunch of virgin SATA III stuff but SATA III gear that has been upgraded, tested and reviewed.