PSU Tester

[DocGreen]

I'm without a PSU tester and have a PC throwing BSOD's that I suspect may be due to PSU problems...
Anyone know of a retail store here in the US that I can find one locally? I don't really have time to wait around for shipping, its a critical system.

 

[Moltuae]

In my experience, most PSU testers are not very conclusive. They'll confirm whether or not the voltages are present and correct, but generally they can't properly test the PSUs behaviour under full load or detect problems problems with smoothing or issues that are intermittent. I own a PSU tester, but I only really use it to enable me to quickly check any unknown PSUs without having to test them in a system.

If I suspected a PSU fault, I'd just try a new PSU.

 

[DocGreen]

That was plan B, I just didn't want throw money at it blindly.

 

[Moltuae]

Well, it's a common, and relatively inexpensive, part. And, assuming you will be able to access the system to diagnose the fault further if a new PSU doesn't fix it, you can recover the new PSU and put it back into stock.

I understand your reasoning though. I come from an electronics engineering background myself, designing and repairing circuits at the component-level, so I hate having to diagnose by swapping parts; it seems such a cop-out not to properly test and diagnose stuff before replacing it. But, unless you're going to spend hours loading and 'scoping the PSU, there's really no test better than to try a new one.

 

[DocGreen]

Thanks for the pep talk. What bugs me is I've not yet witnessed the BSOD myself... only seen the event logs and dumps. I suppose if it doesn't reoccur within 24 hrs after swapping I'll just have to call it good... at least tentatively.

 

[Moltuae]

Out of interest, what's the BSOD stop code, and what makes you believe it's the PSU?

 

[nlinecomputers]

If you don't have a PS Tester then you should use a DVM. Every tech should own and know how to use a good Digital Volt Meter. They are better then psu testers but more complicated and take longer to use.

But as Moltuae says what harm is in just replacing it?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Out of interest, what's the BSOD stop code, and what makes you believe it's the PSU?

I would like to see this as well.

 

[mr m]

X2 on a DVM and swapping in a known good PSU.

I've seen PSU's test OK for proper voltage under load yet would still crash the system.

The DVM is a must have tool for any technician plus it's great for testing batteries.

 

[DocGreen]

...Every tech should own and know how to use a good Digital Volt Meter...

That's also on my list of tools that need replaced :facepalm:

Out of interest, what's the BSOD stop code, and what makes you believe it's the PSU?

As soon as the machine finishes this round on Memtest I'll pull that up for you guys. I'd checked with BlueScreenView and it showed stop errors related to ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll... looked it up with the codes and from what I'm seeing it could be a number of things, all hardware related. I've already cleared the HDD w/ gSmartControl, and so far Memtest hasn't thrown any errors after running all night.

 

[DocGreen]

Here's the report from BSV...

 

[nlinecomputers]

I usually only see a 0x124 when overclocking. Need to make sure that the system isn't set up to overclock. Also check and make sure the CPU heatsink is making proper contact with the CPU, check the fan, and thermal compounds.

Faulty GPU is also high on the list of causes for this.

 

[DocGreen]

GPU is next on the list to be tested... Its a pretty beefy PC so I was looking for something that would stress it thoroughly. Will try maybe one of the 3DMark benchmark tests.