PSU Help
PSU Help
It seems my PSU might be the issue, though I initially relied on online suggestions. The setup was fine until about 18 months ago when the PC wouldn’t boot. At first it stopped responding, but it turned out to be a design flaw with the front power button (Phanteks 400S). Swapping it fixed things temporarily. Later, the machine would randomly fail to wake from sleep mode, which I couldn't diagnose due to busy work. I kept putting it off, thinking maybe upgrading the board or CPU would help, but time was limited.
Recently, around six months ago, there were several planned outages near a hospital undergoing major construction. When power returned, starting up would be unpredictable. Sometimes I unplugged it for an hour, which seemed to work—though I doubted it was the CMOS battery. The PSU kept supplying power to the motherboard, but the 24-pin test showed nothing. Lights flickered on the Ethernet adapter and the MB displayed a faint LED. Fans didn’t spin right away, so I assumed it was just the quiet setup.
But last time we lost power unexpectedly, and even after trying tricks, the machine wouldn’t boot. I opened the case, ran standard checks, re-seated components, and tried flashing the BIOS. A fresh battery for the MB didn’t help. The PSU still powered the MB, but the quick 24-pin test came up empty. The fan didn’t move. After a few more attempts, the front fans finally started. I suspected an intermittent fault with the PSU cables or connectors, but no clear issue was found.
I’m guessing the problem lies within the PSU itself, and the gradual wear might have been ongoing. I considered replacing it, but without a spare board or PSU, I couldn’t confirm. I’m planning to order a test PSU from Amazon to check voltages and speed up troubleshooting. My 8-year-old might be using it as a toy in his basement.