Test new power supply

I am going to attempt to build my PC myself. Having read several user reviews that stated that a defective power supply damaged the motherboard or other components, I have a concern. The articles that I have found and read online seem to bypass any testing. They just plug everything in and hope for the best.
Is it possible to test a new power supply before connecting it to the motherboard?
Is it recommended?

The case is an Antec Sonata II, with an Antec Smart Power 2.0 450 Watt power supply. The motherboard is a MSI K8N Neo4-F.

This is my first attempt at building my own so I am very new to this. The major parts should be delivered late today. Wish me luck please.
Gordon

 

Interesting question.

You could test the voltages being given out on all the leads, but it would be more difficult to detect spikes. I don't think there is an easy way to thoroughly test the power supply.

Unfortunately, it is not unusual for a fault in one part of a PC to affect another part. Motherboard hard disk controllers causing faults in hard drivers for example. My advice would be to buy you equipment from the same supplier. That way, if the motherboard and power supply fail, you can send them both back for fixing/replacing to the same source. Let them worry about which caused the fault to the other.

 

Gordon,

Antec is an excellent brand. Would just build the computer, without testing the PSU. Main thing is don't install everything at once. Start turning it on (to see if it runs the POST, and to set up the BIOS setup program) when motherboard and its chassis connections, CPU and heat sink, memory (only one stick if you have several), video card and monitor, keyboard and one disk (floppy is best) are attached. Test again after each addition after that (check the BIOS to be sure the addition is seen).

You won't be installing drivers until after the OS isinstalled.

 

Power supply test

Thank you everyone. You have made some very good points.
Everything, except the monitor, was ordered from the same source and on the same order, so I have that point covered. I also like the idea of installing only what is required to get the PC booted up for a quick test, then install the other stuff.
Now that I know what pins to jumper and what voltages to expect, I think I will spend the extra 15-20 minutes and give the power supply a quick check with a meter. It can not hurt and it may save me from having to remove the motherboard in case the PSU is bad and I have to send it back.

Thank you,
Gordon

 

Antec Smart Power 2.0 450 Watt power supply

Whatever blows your skirt up but you are good to go as this PSU has already been thoroughly tested before it was released. Thats one of the benefits of buying quality components.

 

A customer review of the Antec Smartpower 2.0 450W PSU found in the Antec Sonata II from Newegg:

"I was lucky enought to have a defective PSU. In the 20 pin connnector for the mother board there is a missing wire and the conner yellow wire had an extra wire shoved in it. Would have blown my Mother board if I didn't see that before I powered up. "

Not good English but he seems he received a defective and possibly dangerous PSU.

Please, if you're going to build your own PC, splurge the whole $9 and buy a power supply tester like this . Not only can a defective PSU destroy every component attached to your PC, it would probably burn your house down if the conditions were right. In my own scanning of personal reviews of PSUs over the years, they appear to have a much higher defective rate than other components and that's completely understandable considering their structure.

And there's always the possibility that your PSU and/or case was treated roughly during shipment.

I'd suggest a PSU tester over a multimeter too. Multimeters, when used on a PC, are intended to detect variances in volts and amps, not that a PSU will fry your components as soon as you power on. The PSU tester should tell you this - in a safe manner.

Don't think that just because the name is Antec that their PSUs don't blow up people's PCs. It's all percentages.

Gary

 

I have just looked at three PSUs that have an "extra wire" to one of the connections. None had any wires missing, but there is one connection I know that is not really utilized, that is the "power good" connector. I read about it in a motherboard manual (don't ask me to find it ). That may be like some 80 lead IDE cables. My first had a hole through it. I thought it must be defective. Not long after I learned that this is standard and there was no problem.

There may have been something defective with that PSU, but I would expect quality PSUs to be fully tested. I can see test and QC stickers all over the ones I have.

The motherboard manual should state what are the minimum amperages required for the different rails (eg X amps for the +5 volt rail and Y amps for the +12 volt) . One thing I have read is that low quality PSUs may have a high wattage, but low amps. They suggest that if you want to risk a cheap power supply, get twice as many Watts as you may need The amperages should be listed on the label.

Some info:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Matt

 

Just looked at a SmartPower Antec myself. Two +12V (yellow) in #10, two wires in #11 (+3.3V) and nothing in #18. One has to be careful with taking reviews at face value. Despite the lack of knowledge on the part of that reviewer, I would certainly agree with Chiles4 re: PSU tester. Just bought a new 24 pin tester a couple of weeks ago as my old one was a 20.

 

Update on my power supply test question.

I had read that review on Newegg and some from other sites talking about new defective power supplies. As it turned out, Newegg shipped my order in 3 boxes. One box shipped from Calif and UPS let it sit in a terminal for 25 hours. That box had the graphics card in it so I had an extra day to play. I spent the 30 minutes checking the new PSU with a multimeter. It passed that simple test. I understand that this was not a good PSU test, but it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The real test was when my first home built PC actually booted up and works.

Gordon

 

Congratulations. Enjoy ......