Poor power supply causing computer failure?
Poor power supply causing computer failure?
I’ve been running a standard Acer machine with an i3 10th gen processor and no dedicated GPU. The Amazon listing shows a 2021 Acer Aspire XC-895 Desktop. Two days ago my system was extremely sluggish, struggling to run Val without noticeable lag. The following day it took ages to boot Windows, followed by a delay in processing passwords before freezing again. I looked into possible causes and changed the RAM slot, then tried restarting the PC. It fit snugly, so I removed the CPU cooler to see if that helped. After reapplying thermal paste and reinstalling the cooler, the machine started making a high-pitched whine and completely failed to respond. The HDMI cable and monitor worked fine on my MacBook. I found the noise could be PSU coil whine, possibly coming from the power supply unit. It’s possible it was the PSU that caused the slowdown and failure yesterday, or another component is at fault. Let me know if you need more details. Thanks!
PSU is delivering power or not to the board that controls and distributes it. Your symptoms aren't due to PSU problems if it's sending no or faulty power—PC just turns off. Are you certain the coil whine comes from the PSU? Even then, it's more about electrical vibrations. It seems like an SSD or Windows issue might be involved; your rescue attempts may have caused damage. Apply paste, remove and reinstall cooler, SSD, RAM, GPU carefully, and reset CMOS.
I identified the problem was in the optical drive section, and it turns out my RAM was correctly installed. Windows still doesn’t start properly. It boots into Windows but after entering the password it crashes with no cursor or display. I searched for similar issues but found nothing useful, so I asked ChatGPT for help, which suggested possible solutions but none have worked yet. I’m attempting a system restore to January 8th, which is taking time. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome and appreciate your guidance even though I didn’t realize I needed it.
If you manage BIOS and experience issues when starting Windows, consider a complete reinstall.