So when I went to switch Gospel on this morning... it wouldn't.
Barely a week after it recovered from last week's idiocy, too. >_<
Cue a day filled with me digging around in computer parts and praying that it wasn't a motherboard failure.
But software is my specialty, not hardware, so I had a guy I know come over and check it out... and it turns out that the problem was with my piece of crap power supply instead.
So now I have this ghetto rig until I scrape up enough money to buy a new one... might be a while since Anime North is at the end of the month.
But yeah. Business as usual, but don't be surprised if I disappear for a little while due to a masking tape failure-induced explosion or whatever.
16 comments:
Ouch, I wish for your job to be successful in bringing in more $$$ to fix it.
Lol, sorry, I just had to laugh at your picture.
Um.... Be careful? LawL
A good power supply is a solid foundation for any system. Crappy power supplies can cause weird issues, and significantly reduce the life-time of all your other computer components,especially your system board.
sorry to hear about your computer. Please use electrical tape instead ok? Just take your time. We all support you!
お前はガンダムにはなれない。
Agree with Meral - a good PSU is a good investment. They're more efficient and have better stability of supply than cheap ones.
Question: Why haven't you removed the old one and dropped the new one in its place? I know you're buying a proper replacement, but that's not too safe.
Balticbard: Masking tape is paper, so not too much risk of shock, but gaffer tape would be better. Better yet, fit it properly! only takes a few minutes...
Now you know not to buy a slim tower/case, since it's impossible to upgrade the hardware and put a decent psu/video card in it.
As jackbassv said: I find the cheap PSUs tend to spoil faster as well - not very economical compared to a better one (speaking from personal experience).
How old is your dead PSU btw?
@jackbassv
I think balticbard is more worried about it catching fire rather than getting shocked from it. Better keep those precious figurines away :)
@wotn: lol
Somehow seeing all the tape there reminded me of Monty Python.
"This PSU wouldn't VOOM! if I put 4000 volts through it! It's bleedin' demised! It's passed on! This PSU is no more! It has ceased to be! It has expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late PSU! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't taped it to the case it would be pushing up for daisies! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This, is an ex-parrot!" :)
Ooooh. I can only echo the statements already made about using a high quality power supply with an output appropriate for your system. A lotta people don't realize that more powerful rigs are gonna try to draw more power, and that can destroy a PSU fast.
Not to mention the possibility that a damaged power supply is capable of destroying most of the rest of the computer.
Well, so long as no other components were harmed by this incident, I suppose it makes for a good learning experience. Wait! An incident?! This sounds like a job for Reimu! Although I suspect this is simply what you get for letting Cirno mess around with things!
Anyway, I'm glad none of the scans-in-progress made their way to the great bit bucket in the sky. Have fun researching which PSU best suits your system! No... it's not the cheapest one.
@Gummy:
No need to apologize, I fully admit that it's ghetto as hell.
The picture is to bring some humor into a crappy situation.
@Mertal:
It's not like I meant to use a crapy power supply, it's what the computer came with.
The risk of using a from-the-box Dell that I got as a Christmas present, I guess...
@wotn:
私はガンダムなんかになりたくない。ゲッターになるんだ。
@jackbassv:
The tower's a slim, but the temp power supply is from a full-sized tower. It's not like I want a mess of masking tape, but the thing flat-out will not fit inside. :/
@Anonymous 2:
It's a little over two years old.
Ah, my apologies, I didnt see the picture at the time and know it was a Dell pre-made system. I have been making my own custom systems since forever, I don't trust the quality of components in pre-made systems.
Anyways, you might look up on the net on how to make yourself a custom system. Its pretty easy these days,and you can control the quality of the components you put in. Newegg.com can be a good friend =)
If you're going to Anime North, I'm guessing you live in Canada. If you need parts, I'd say use Canada Computers or Tiger Direct Canada for your parts since there's a bunch in Toronto and GTA region. Also thx for the Tenbin release
If you care to use your system for a long time a good mobo is important as well, a lot of older and cheap ones have crappy capacitors that swell and leak (had 2 machines die from this, but those were from before long life caps were widely available). Good psu is important too of course, I also use an avr on all of my important electronics (power is always on here just want to make sure fluctuations don't cause damage, if you're in a place that gets interruptions ups is probably a better idea)
俺がガンダムだ
お前がゾゴジュアッジュだ
If you intend to assemble a custom PC, do remember to:
1) Make sure all the parts are up to speed with each other. That is, always look for the choke point, and allow for a some of upgradability when choosing the motherboard.
2) If you're going to use more than the minimum number of devices, get a power supply unit (PSU) that has better efficiency and cooling. The cheap ones are usually only about 60%-70% efficient, so it's about 60%-70% of the say 450W stated on it.
3) Windows XP -- 2GB or 3GB DDR3 SDRAM (DDR3 is isn't as hot as DDR2 and is a better successor to DDR)
Windows 7 -- 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
Well, more or less anyway. Also, remember to check the timings and bus speeds of the DDR3 SDRAM. Best you ask that hardware friend of yours about it or someone.
4) Get a graphics processing unit (GPU) a.k.a. graphics card either of ATi or NVidia design. Avoid integrated graphics, since it uses your main processor's processing power to do its job, so you are better of keeping the graphics processing separate on a different processor. You don't have to go for the best, but it would be good to get a GPU with at least a high enough amount of cache, since that type of memory works much faster and is vital.
Well, the rest is more detailed than I can type here, but I'm sure your friend or someone can help. Don't overspend though, but also don't undermine the quality of the PC. If you already know all this, I'm sorry to bother you, but well, either way, do take care, don't get electric shocks, and always ground yourself by touching the metal casing or using a grounding wire when handling the more sensitive components. Don't tilt the HDD when it's running. Finally, thanks for all your hard work.
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