On Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:39:58 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
MM writes:
I have an older (around 2006) Acer with an MSI mobo. PC went on the
blink. Symptom: PC started, then immediately stopped (within a second
or two). This problem started intermittently over the previous few
months, then on Friday it just would not start.

Cause: Power supply. I fitted a new one and the PC has worked ever
since.

My desktop system is 2007, so not much newer.
That started crashing periodically, with the frequency slowly
increasing. I reseated everything socketed, but it didn't help.
I hadn't changed any of the software over this period. Eventually I
changed the PSU a couple of months ago, and no problems since (touch
wood;-)

There's nothing visibly faulty in the old PSU - no swollen or leaking
caps for example. Given the new PSU was well under £20 from CPC, I can't
be bothered to try diagnosing the old one.

I think this is where the recently mentioned ESR meter comes in. I tend
to pay a bit more for PSUs these days - I go for the 80+ ones.

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