Google will find all the PS testers you could ever want for  $8.00 to
$30.00. I've used two $15.00 testers for years and they have always
been right.

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 2:16 PM, Dean Kukral <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am not sure what testers Hugh is talking about that are "cheap,"  but you
> can do as good a test by yourself, without buying anything, as with the
> cheap tester that I own.  You need a paper clip.  Here is the reference:
>
> http://www.pcpower.com/support/ATX_troubleshoot.htm
>
> The main problem with this test is that a positive is inconclusive.  If this
> test shows that your power supply is bad, then it's bad, but if it shows it
> is okay, it might still be bad.  (Been there, done that.)  However, it can
> be very expensive to troubleshoot a computer by replacing parts piece by
> piece if you don't have the parts in hand, so this is a good first test.
>  You need to be sure that there is a load on the power supply, as the
> directions suggest.  ("one hard drive")
>
> BTW, I have had similar problems lately, but with Intel processors, and I
> found that a viable work-around was to turn the power off at the power
> supply when I shut down in the evening.  It might work for you, too...
>
> (Hopefully, BIOS updates will resolve these issues eventually.)
>
> One of the problems with the wattage rating of power supplies is that there
> isn't any general standard that I know of.  A 400w one from one brand may be
> better than a 500w one from another.  I would check newegg.com to see what
> other users have said about any power supply that I was considering buying.
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Dean Kukral
>
>
>
> On 9/20/2011 10:48 AM, Hugh Vandervoort wrote:
>>
>> PS  testers are cheap and you can even get them at Office Depot. Any
>> shop will test it for you. It does sound like a larger PS is in order.
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 10:36 PM, Harvey Rose<[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
>>>
>>> I've tried disconnecting the drives that I don't need to boot the
>>> computer
>>> and even tried a different drive that I have Windows XP on also and it
>>> did
>>> the same where I had to run it for 10 minutes then reboot. There are no
>>> beeps at the beginning when the computer is cold or on the second boot.
>>> Also
>>> I do not have a VGA port on this motherboard.
>>> I am running 3 SATA drives plus a DVD drive and Video card is a NIVIDA
>>> GeForce 8800 GT. I did try changing The SATA cables also still with the
>>> same
>>> problem. The power supply been 400W. How does one test this other then
>>> buying a new power supply? Is it not better to buy one say at 500W if I
>>> have
>>> to replace it?
>>>
>>> Harvey
>>>
>>>
>
>                        PCBUILD's List Owners:
>                     Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
>                       Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>
>

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                        Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>