My computer has started to smell.

[CougTek]

Really. Like a strong odor of...you know when you first get a card out of its anti-static bag? I guess it's an odor of silicon. It just started minutes ago. The temperature probe shows nothing special, the temperature hasn't changed in a while. I guess it might be the power supply.

My FAH unit will end in 30 minutes. I'll shot down my system then to smell what's wrong inside. Sure, none of my parts were made to run 24x7, but that never happened to me on my Athlon boxes. Maybe the Pentium 4 is drawing too much current and my PSU is on its way to become a ghost.

If the thing still works after a while and continues to smell, do you think a layer of good Old Spice in appropriate spots would pose a problem to the electrical components?

 

[LunarMist]

Silicon has no odor. However, there are plenty of volatile residues in the manufacturing of the the PCB and components. Generally an elevated temperature increases the concentration of the volatiles that you are smelling.

 

[CougTek]

Well it's lucky for Pamela that her breast doesn't smell as bad as my PSU did.

I restarted the system after giving it a little pause. I increased the speed of the exhaut fan (120mm, below the PSU) so less hot air will go through the power supply. I don't know if it's going to work. My system is very noisy now. I hope it won't trouble me when I'll try to sleep.

 

[Tannin]

Well it's lucky for Pamela that her breast doesn't smell as bad as my PSU did.

Wahhhahunu!!!!!! :evil: :mrgrn: :eekers: :eekers: :eekers:

 

[Will Rickards]

Every see the video of the hard drive IC burning with pink smoke?
Maybe it is something like that. A short somewhere?

 

[CougTek]

I'm thinking about buying an extra PSU, in case this one makes a smoke show. I'm not willing to spend 165$CDN for a Seasonic S12-500 just for a modest system (Low frequency P4, 512MB RAM, 2 HDs, one DVD burner, low power graphic card).

Most local stores sale Antec PSUs, but even their TruePower II series have a low advertised efficiency (~70%, beurk). Among the moderately expensive models I've seen, the Forton BlueStorm AX500 seems to be the most interesting. Its MTBF is rated at 100,000 hours versus 80,000 for Antec's units. SilentPC reviewed it and according to their measurements, its efficiency is quite high (78%-80%). The only point of interrogation is the blue light inside it. According to Mercutio's law, anything with a light inside it has to suck. It's 100$CDN.

 

[CougTek]

A novelty : Antec NeoHE series. Advertized efficiency up to 85%. Price (114$CDN for the 500W model, 97$ for the 430W) in the same league as the Fortron AX500. No light iside. I'm tempted.

 

[Handruin]

SilentPCReivew has a review on the Antec NeoHE 430W PS. Might be similar to the 500W. The highest efficiency they recorded was 79% at 150W.

Ironically, the feature that initially caught our attention turned out to be one of the weaker features of the Neo HE 430. In spite of the "HE" in its name, it did not prove to be exceptionally efficient, although it is quite good.

The best feature of the Neo HE turned out to be one that we didn't anticipate at all: Quiet performance. The marketing material for the Neo HE allude to "whisper-quiet cooling", but we've seen this claim way too often to even raise an eyebrow. For once, the claim is justified: At long last, Seasonic has serious competition for the title of quietest fan-cooled PSU. The smoothness of its Adda 80mm fan is unchallenged in recent memory; it is one of the smoothest stock 80mm fans we've heard in any PSU. The Neo HE 430's claim of 18 dBA@1m is very close to the money, and our sample remained quiet to a fairly high power load. It is the quietest 80mm fan PSU we've tested.

The noise performance alone is a good enough reason to recommend the Neo HE, but it is attractive in many other ways. Many people will appreciate the convenience of detachable cables. Its internal cooling is very good, as is the voltage regulation. Toss active PFC and auto-adjusting AC input voltage into the mix, and you have a power supply that looks like a winner. The Antec Neo HE 430 earns a strong recommendation.

 

[CougTek]

76% to 79% efficiency isn't that bad. Better than average I guess. And it has an excellent PFC (I'm a green man), so overall it looks good.

 

[The JoJo]

Beware of the possible problems with that new Antec PS and some motherboards (I think it was Asus A8N). Check silentpc forums.

How about the Seasonic 430W? What's the price of that?

 

[CougTek]

127$. And it's based on the older Tornado model, not the same design as the newer S12-500/600. I'm willing to take my chances with the Antec Neo instead. It's 30$ cheaper for the same wattage rating.

My motherboard is an Asus P5P800.

 

[The JoJo]

Go for it. Let me now how it goes, I'm interested in that PS also.