Do any of you know why my PC might have fried 2 power cables (not the supply itself) within a month? Second time she won't turn on last time it was just the cable, can't assume that's the cause right now but it smells like the power supply itself may be bad. I could see one faulty cable but two seems odd

The Internet has been enshittified to the point that searching for this seems obnoxious also I have to search on my phone because obviously my PC won't turn on lol

Update things are going well that's the shattered glass side of my case lol

Show Power supply seems to work

  • TimeTravel_0
    ·
    10 months ago

    are they 12v high power gpu cables?

    those cables have been known to have issues if loose at all, and Cablemod recently had a recall of their 90 degree adapters because they were especially prone to damage

    https://cablemod.com/adapterrecall/

    • Wakmrow [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      It's the cable from the power supply to the wall that I replaced that started it working again but now I'm suspicious of the whole power supply

  • culpritus [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    Make sure you are using a cable rated for the wattage of your PSU. Not all power cables are same in this regard. If your PSU is under 500w, then this probably isn't a factor.

    • Wakmrow [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      It's not but I used the one that came with the power supply

      • culpritus [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Are you using the correct setting on the PSU for the wall power? There is usually a little switch for 110v vs 220v on the PSU. It also a good idea to have a decent surge protector power strip thing between the PSU and the wall to prevent this type of stuff. Just trying to cover the basics, ignore if you already know this stuff.

        • Wakmrow [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          10 months ago

          Surge protector yes. Picked up a new power supply I'll check for the switch

    • Wakmrow [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      Well it's not melting. And when it first stopped working I could hear the electric click when I plugged in the bad cable (which obviously might not be bad). Then I swapped cables and it worked.

      • FuckyWucky [none/use name]
        ·
        10 months ago

        That must be some relay tripping inside the PSU because of Overcurrent protection or something.

        I would suggest changing the PSU it's not very expensive you can get it for like 50 dollars.

        • Wakmrow [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          It's not the expense it's just a royal pain in the ass but that seems like the least expensive route. Hoping the mobo isn't fried

          • tactical_trans_karen [she/her, comrade/them]
            ·
            10 months ago

            FuckyWucky@hexbear.net is correct. Clicking from electrical components are relays. They're basically electromechanical light switches. If it trips, and or fries a cable, that tells us that too much current is flowing in. In diagnosing we want to see where along the chain the problems stop. If the MoBo had a power regulation issue, it wouldn't post and a host of other issues would come up. In the industry the most common defects are with power supplies for various reasons. So yeah, swap it out, but also make sure your build isn't asking for more power than the supply can put out.

            • Wakmrow [he/him]
              hexagon
              ·
              10 months ago

              I asked the guy at microcenter, got sold an 850 watt power supply. Hopefully that fixes it

              • tactical_trans_karen [she/her, comrade/them]
                ·
                10 months ago

                That should cover just about any home use rig unless you have an absolute monster like a 4090 super or whatever with a top end R9 or i9. My most recent build had a faulty PSU, it's quite common.

                • Wakmrow [he/him]
                  hexagon
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  I think I have a 4070? I dunno I just bought it a few months ago. Maybe it's a 3070. Spent about 500 on it

          • TimeTravel_0
            ·
            10 months ago

            The motherboard should have protections against that

  • blashork [she/her]
    ·
    10 months ago

    A lot of people saying the power supply is bad, and they're probably right. As an extra investment to try and stop this from happening again, you could get a good ups. Maybe something sitting between your power supply and the socket making sure that everything is acceptable will prevent further issues.

    Not entirely sure if this will actually help though, and it can be expensive. Just wanted to throw that out there for you.

    • Wakmrow [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      It's on the list but I've got several other expensive purchases in the near future lol

      Also replaced the power supply and the last picture is the result