Twangy PSU

Hak Foo · 25-May-08, 01:39 AM

I couldn't resist the local Fry's Memorial-Day loss leader: an Antec EA650 PSU for 60 bucks. It's supposed to be all lovely and fancy (80+ rated, 120mm fan).

The odd thing is when I power it up or down, it twangs. That's how I'd describe the sound.

It seems to happen on shut down a moment AFTER power dies-- like I hear the final "feep" as the hard disc parks, then the twang.

Does anyone else have this PSU? Does it sound like this?

Dex · 25-May-08, 07:18 AM

My housemates PSU does that on shutdown, im sure it can't be healthy but its not causing any problems at the moment and ive had a look inside the unit and theres no burning/melting/odd smells...

It only started happening when we added an 8800GTX 768Mb to his rig, which the PSU says it can handle...

I would take it back and get another all the same.

BeetleMan · 25-May-08, 08:40 PM

Transformers sometimes do that sound when energized/de-energized, especially if theres quite a load on them...

Hak Foo · 25-May-08, 10:27 PM

I've spent the afternoon playing with it:

-I got three twangs by throwing the rear switch while the PC was running.

-Apparently at some point, my motherboard-- despite BIOS suggestions to the contrary, will decide to boot sometimes when you restore AC to the PSU, wether on this or the old Antec SP500, so I can't penalize the new PSU for that.

I can't imagine any "under load" condition-- it's a 650W-rated PSU running an E6750 at stock, a HD3650, and one hard disc!

. That's like using a SD45 to pull your shopping cart.

The voltages looked great when I tested it last night with OCCT-- variations typically under 2 percent, over the full idle-load show. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

BeetleMan · 26-May-08, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hak Foo


	I've spent the afternoon playing with it: -I got three twangs by throwing the rear switch while the PC was running. -Apparently at some point, my motherboard-- despite BIOS suggestions to the contrary, will decide to boot sometimes when you restore AC to the PSU, wether on this or the old Antec SP500, so I can't penalize the new PSU for that. I can't imagine any "under load" condition-- it's a 650W-rated PSU running an E6750 at stock, a HD3650, and one hard disc! . That's like using a SD45 to pull your shopping cart. The voltages looked great when I tested it last night with OCCT-- variations typically under 2 percent, over the full idle-load show. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

That would be under load my friend

BigAkita · 26-May-08, 12:19 AM

I've heard clicks and twangs in power supplies before, and the funny thing is I know a couple of them were Antec. I've never had one of them catastrophically give up the ghost so I doubt it is anything to be too concerned about. I'm sure it's just the AC to DC converter turning on and off.

Hak Foo · 26-May-08, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeetleMan


	That would be under load my friend

I guess I was sort of trying for humourous exaggeration-- the other comments spoke of it happening under *high* load (i. e. adding an 8800GTX), while this is clearly nowhere near a high load for a PSU of that capacity.

I had an Antec give out a while ago, but more a 'soft' failure-- system behaviour got wildly unstable (things like the mouse no longer working, memtest86 complete disaster, etc.), but they replaced it under warranty so I was satisfied.

I figure, as long as a product doesn't actually damage anything else on the way out, and they honour their warranty, I'm not wildly bothered.

25-May-08, 01:39 AM		#1 (permalink)
Hak Foo Apex Elite Tech	Twangy PSU I couldn't resist the local Fry's Memorial-Day loss leader: an Antec EA650 PSU for 60 bucks. It's supposed to be all lovely and fancy (80+ rated, 120mm fan). The odd thing is when I power it up or down, it twangs. That's how I'd describe the sound. It seems to happen on shut down a moment AFTER power dies-- like I hear the final "feep" as the hard disc parks, then the twang. Does anyone else have this PSU? Does it sound like this?

25-May-08, 07:18 AM		#2 (permalink)
Dex Retr-hoe Reviewer	Re: Twangy PSU My housemates PSU does that on shutdown, im sure it can't be healthy but its not causing any problems at the moment and ive had a look inside the unit and theres no burning/melting/odd smells... It only started happening when we added an 8800GTX 768Mb to his rig, which the PSU says it can handle... I would take it back and get another all the same.

25-May-08, 08:40 PM		#3 (permalink)
BeetleMan PCApex Corr-Hoe-spondent	Re: Twangy PSU Transformers sometimes do that sound when energized/de-energized, especially if theres quite a load on them...

25-May-08, 10:27 PM		#4 (permalink)
Hak Foo Apex Elite Tech	Re: Twangy PSU I've spent the afternoon playing with it: -I got three twangs by throwing the rear switch while the PC was running. -Apparently at some point, my motherboard-- despite BIOS suggestions to the contrary, will decide to boot sometimes when you restore AC to the PSU, wether on this or the old Antec SP500, so I can't penalize the new PSU for that. I can't imagine any "under load" condition-- it's a 650W-rated PSU running an E6750 at stock, a HD3650, and one hard disc! . That's like using a SD45 to pull your shopping cart. The voltages looked great when I tested it last night with OCCT-- variations typically under 2 percent, over the full idle-load show. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

26-May-08, 12:19 AM		#6 (permalink)
BigAkita n00b-ass reviewer	Re: Twangy PSU I've heard clicks and twangs in power supplies before, and the funny thing is I know a couple of them were Antec. I've never had one of them catastrophically give up the ghost so I doubt it is anything to be too concerned about. I'm sure it's just the AC to DC converter turning on and off.

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