PC shut down randomly won't restart, PSU failed?

Garfin · 13-07-2022 4:00pm #1

I currently have a XFX Pro 450W Core Edtion PSU, its the original one from the original build in January 2014.

Today the pc shut down no warning or previous symptoms prior and will not turn back on.

When the power button on the tower is pressed the red light flashes briefly and the fan moves like its about to start spinning but doesn't.

I have cleaned everything inside was a little dusty but nothing major.

What is the life cycle of a psu generally?

Should i replace it with the same unit or are there better options?

Its not a gaming rig.

Jon Doe · 13-07-2022 4:42pm

When you say "red light" do you meant the "Power On" LED or the "Storage Activity" LED? What motherboard do you have? Does the flashing "red light" means anything in the motherboard's troubleshooting section?

While the machine is off, try to press and hold the power button for 10 seconds then release. Then, press the power button to try to power the machine normally.

When you open the case, does it smell like burnt electronics?

If not, disconnect the power cord, pull the CR2032 battery, reset the BIOS, reconnect the power cord and press the power button to try to power the machine normally.

Garfin · 13-07-2022 4:50pm

20220713_174823.jpg

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Its the light to the right of the power button, if just flashes once briefly but nothing happens.

13-07-2022 4:51pm

heatsink/paste might be worth checking

dontmindme · 13-07-2022 4:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332800#Comment_119332800

No, PC will start without a heatsink on the CPU, nevermind thermal compound.

Test your PSU with a multimeter, if correct voltage is getting to the board them maybe it's the board. Remove all add-in cards and RAM etc and see if it's any different.

Garfin · 13-07-2022 4:58pm

No burnt smell or obvious signs of heat damage, never had an issue with it before now, so no warning symptoms

Jon Doe · 13-07-2022 5:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332849#Comment_119332849

This seems to be your board's manual:

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/M7817v1.0.zip

It doesn't have a troubleshooting section :( but it does indicate where the clear CMOS RAM jumper is located :) - check page 24.

Clear the CMOS RAM, pull out the the CR2032 and try to restart the machine.

IF the power button lights up during normal operation, the red LED is most probably the storage activity LED - which means the HDD still wriggles a bit before power off.

If all else fails, pull out the GPU and the RAM modules and disconnect all peripherals - mouse, keyboard, storage hdd/sdd, cd drives, etc and try to restart the machine. If you don't get a different behavior, in all likelihood, you have a faulty PSU or motherboard. Try to get yourself an old PSU to see if you can get the machine to start and stay on.