[mythtv-users] Getting OT: What size power supply for this backend...

[Gert van der Knokke]

Chris Rouch schreef:
> On 12/14/06, David Whyte <david.whyte at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> On 12/14/06, David Brodbeck <gull at gull.us> wrote:
>>     
>>> I'd highly recommend running MEMTEST86 and checking for bad RAM, too.
>>> I've seen some pretty bizarre problems that turned out to be defective RAM.
>>> http://www.memtest86.com/
>>>
>>>       
>> I have done all of that.  This hard-locking problem plagued me a while
>> ago and I did everything to track it down.  Back then, I swapped the
>> graphics card out for another, tested, removed, swapped and retested
>> the memory and finally got much better stability with a different PSU,
>> though it still locked up on the odd occasion.
>>
>> A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new HDD, and the PC wouldn't even
>> startup.  The fans would start to spin but then it all died pretty
>> instantly.  I swapped back to the older PSU, which meant I could
>> start, but I have seen increased flakeyness again.
>>
>>     
>
> A while ago I also had random lock ups with no traces in the logs.
> Some wise people on this list suggested I check the cooling, a
> suggestion I ignored because I was convinced it wasn't the problem.
> But after I'd run out of other ideas I got a spiffy zalman copper
> mushroom shaped heatsink+fan, and some fresh thermal paste. Suddenly
> the problem went away.
>
> So I suggest getting some high quality thermal paste (cost < 10$) and
> spend half an hour making sure the processor is thermally coupled to
> the heatsink and fan. If it's not the problem at least it's not cost
> you much in time and money.
>
>   
And an even bigger problem is 'BadCaps' (TM)

I have seen dozens of boards with bulging capacitors which still seem to
start up ok but run flaky as h*ll..

Also Q-Tec (with a C that is)  also has produced some 400/450/500 Watt
quiet  (the golden ones with the single large fan) powersupplies with
'BadCaps', they die in about half a year or so... I have repaired a few
of them by replacing the bad caps with good quality caps and they run
reliably afterwards..

Gert