More `puter stuff that everyone should know about. With the advent of the new motherboards that support the latest 64bit and dual core processors, POWER requirements have changed. This is one area where branded pc's beat the generic "bag of chips". Since most of us scrimp on our pc's, chances are that you have a computer assembled by someone you know rather than that nifty Hewlett-Packard on display. (Mac users: disregard the last sentence, you don't know what the heck us PC geeks are talking about):-P.
Fiddling around with my daughter's spanking new PC that has one intake fan and two exhaust fans apart from the processor fan to cool that 3Ghz Intel monster, I was appalled to find it would not boot. Read that again: My daughter's brand new pc WOULD NOT BOOT!
Looking through the see through casing, I could see a green light on. Not knowing what it was, I read the manual and found that it indicated the computer was on standby mode. Using that as a basis for browsing Intel's website docs, I found that the likely problem was that the power supply could not generate sufficient standby power (at least 8A). The see through casing once again revealed that a twenty pin power supply had been plugged in a twenty four pin connector.
I asked my provider to change the power supply to which they retorted, ALL OUR POWER SUPPLIES are like that. Well, anticipating a lawsuit, I consulted with another provider and was informed that while I was correct with my analysis, my provider could not be faulted because practically ALL computer casings as of December 2005 had the wrong power supply for the new motherboards. "What we let our customers do," the nice gentleman said, "is pay an upgrade price for the proper power supply."
So I contacted my provider again and told them to contact me when they had the new 24 pin power supplies and as soon as they had one, I was more than glad to pay the upgrade price.
Why do I write this? Becuase, if you have purchased a generic "bag of chips" pc around december of 2005 to January of 2006, it is very likely YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CORRECT POWER SUPPLY. To determine if you have the right kind, perform the following test:
1. Turn off your PC. DO NOT TURN OFF THE UPS or AVR.
2. If you have an Intel motherboard or any other motherboard check if the standby indicator is on (located somewhere in the middle of the board).
3. Leave your computer on standby for up to 4 hours.
4. Try turning on your PC, if it does not boot, well you've got the wrong power supply. You know what to do.
There doesn't seem to be any report about branded PC's suffering from this problem. Can you imagine how much I wanted to hit myself on the head when a good friend of mine told me he could have IMPORTED a branded PC for me for the same price I bought my daughter's system? :-P
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