My PSU horror story

[sherifsaid123]

Hi, i just need some expert advice on the many problems that i'm having with my computers and the corsair products that possibly ruined them both. So without further ado, here begins my horror story.
A while ago I had a working computer that use to get blue screens every now and then, but suddenly blue screens started to increase over time. I then decided to run memtest on my Corsair 8gb
Vengeance memory and it returned errors. Also around that time, i noticed that my Corsair tx850 v2 was making a scary ticking noise. By that time i immediately RMAed both psu and ram to corsair to avoid further damage to my OLDER computer. Keep in mind that this old computer was actually booting.
So when i got my Corsair PSU and ram back from almost a month long RMA period, i hooked up the psu and ram to my older computer, and nothing booted at all. The green light on my motherboard's power button would glow green when i hook up the psu to the wall jack, but when i press that power button to boot, the fans would spin for around one millisecond, then everything shuts down including the fan on the PSU. At that time i immediately called Corsair technical support and they told me to maybe try the psu and ram on another computer (which was a horrible idea and I don't know why I gave the psu and ram the benefit of the doubt after I saw the psu kill my older system) so I tried it on my brand new computer. Before I tried it on the new computer, i tried the paperclip test and it passed.
That same exact day i got the new parts for my new computer I tried the psu and ram. Keep in mind that these parts are literally 30 minutes old out of the box (just so you don't assume that any part besides the psu or ram is at fault) and the same EXACT thing happened. The system wouldn't boot and the fans spin for about a millisecond, then nothing would happen at all.
Most likely the psu caused permanent damage to both computers that I've spent more than half my yearly income on. What I need to know is whether i'm completely screwed out of my money at this point and if you guys think that this PSU in fact might have ruined both computers. I apologize if I sound rude in advance, you would be too if a $150 power supply ended up killing $2200 worth of computer parts.
1st (approximately 2 years old)
msi z77agd65 motherboard
i5 2400 @3.1 ghz
1x msi gtx 680
8gb Corsair vengeance ram
corsair tx850w v2

the second computer is an upgrade from that i5 to i7 3770k and a new motherboard (a second msiz77agd65) and a second gtx 680 (that means now i can sli) and i'm using the same exact ram and psu on both computers. Meaning i swap ram and psu for whichever computer i want to use since they have two separate cases (obviously) and i don't have some spare ram or a spare psu.
both motherboards (the 2 year old and the 30 minute old NEW motherboard) show the same EXACT symptom with the same power supply and ram installed. What makes me go nuts however, is the fact that the psu is passing the paperclip test. This is what's driving me absolutely nuts. So if you guys have any idea what could be going on here, please let me know. Thank you.

PS. i've already ran a testbench outside of the case with bare minimum hardware (cpu, one ram at a time on each slot) and the symptoms remained the same as described above. I've also tried resetting the cmos on the older z77 and, still, nothing changed.

 

[Wrenches]

You did have the 24 pin and the 4 pin power plugs in the motherboard?

 

[sherifsaid123]

of course yes

 

[Erick Aguilar]

What about the voltage selector in the PSU? Does it have one?

 

[sherifsaid123]

I don't think mine has one. All i see in the back of the psu is the on and off switch. My psu is a Corsair TX850w v2 power supply.

 

[patio]

Is it plugged in ? ?

 

[sherifsaid123]

I'm not even going to bother answering that Patio.

 

[bej]

Looking at the Newegg reviews of your motherboard, the problems you're experiencing crop up fairly often. I'm certainly not trying to sway you away from your analysis, but when a board has "posting" and "PCI slot" problems, on boards used over time, as well as new boards, the possibility exists that all of your problems are with the motherboards. I'm merely suggesting another avenue to investigate.

 

[sherifsaid123]

I understand that it is possible that both boards just died for some reason, but how? why? when? these are the questions that I want to be answered. If both boards did in fact die at the same time for whatever reason, then i must be the unluckiest man on this planet and should keep looking at the sky when I go outside incase a piano falls on top of me. You're right though, any or all components could be defective, but I just want to try and narrow down my possibilities so I could know what to RMA and what to keep.

 

[essenbe]

First, don't let the paper clip test drive you nuts. When you jump the 24 pin connector and connect it to a fan, it only means that the PSU is putting out enough to run that fan, it does not mean the PSU will run your computer. It is simply a test to see if the PSU is completely dead.

Try this. Remove all the ram from the system and attempt to start it. No, it will not start but you should hear a long continuous series of beeps. If you hear that, it is good in that it means your motherboard is doing what it should. Be sure to have a case speaker hooked up.

 

[bej]

My thought is that the first board died and the second was DOA (as borne out by some Egg reviews saying "No post" and "would run for a few seconds and stop". If you're capable, I would check the first board for bulged capacitors or tiny burn spots indicating a short. Maybe you have a friend who is keen on spotting motherboard problems if it's out of your league (certainly out of mine).
The answers to your how, why, when questions are will probably remain a mystery. However, looking at your hardware I would assume you're overclocking at least the CPU (K version) if not the GPU as well. If you are, all bets are off regardless of what others may say about "overclocking does no harm, etc." It could be true, it may not be and probably isn't.
The board has a 3 year warranty, through MSI, so I would contact them to RMA the board(s) subtlly marking them to determine if you get the same board(s) back after the RMA.

 

[sherifsaid123]

Wouldn't the computer need to stay on for more than one millisecond in order for it to give you beeps? mine wouldn't stay on for that long at all when i first press the power button. When i try to press the power button again, nothing would happen at all this time until i unplug then replug the psu power cord then the cycle repeats.

 

[sherifsaid123]

damage claim form with corsair (the company i got my psu from) has already been filled out and i sent in my computers to them for inspection. If they find out that the boards were at fault, i'll then send everything to MSI. I also checked the older motherboard for bad capacitors very closely and they were all in perfect condition.

PS. the i7 and the 680s were never overclocked. I never even got to use my i7 since the new motherboard wouldn't post. I also never overclocked anything in my life so lets go ahead and just cross over that possibility.

 

[smarteyeball]

Wouldn't the computer need to stay on for more than one millisecond in order for it to give you beeps? mine wouldn't stay on for that long at all when i first press the power button. When i try to press the power button again, nothing would happen at all this time until i unplug then replug the psu power cord then the cycle repeats.

Yeah - sign of 'not good'. Could be a number of issues.

As a general rule, 'quality' units like Corsair do have anti-surge protection and SHOULD have contained the damage to the PSU itself. Although that's obviously not always the case.

"Loud ticking noises" often come from the fan either being off bearing and clipping something, or something like a screw might have got lodged in a bad place.

Tbh, you need to replace the PSU again. It's failing on two machines identically. That unit could have out of spec 3V 5V or 12V. Since you can't get into a BIOS to look at the software readout of the volts - you need a tester.


There's a fair chance both your PC's are fine.