Power supplies dying left and right

[milling_hordesman]

I've got a quick question regarding power supply quality and life expectancy, the new 24-pin motherboard connectors, and some other general paranoia that has no proper title.

I've managed to burn through 2 power supplies in the past 6 days, each dying after a 3-day usage period.

The first power supply was called a "Power Magic by XCase." It sounded shady to me, but it was 600W and it did come titanium plated, and it was only $35, so I said "what the heck" and tried it it my new system:

AA8-DuraMax mobo
Prescott 3.40 GHz LGA775
PCX 5900
1 gig Crucial DDR2 memory
2 HDD, 1 CD-RW, 1 FDD
5x 80mm standard LED fans (not like tornados or something)

After 3 days of periodic (not continual) use, the computer suddenly stopped in the middle of a Need For Speed: Underground race with a sudden *beep* of alarm. From that moment forward, when I pressed the power button, it paused for a bit, then issued a *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*-*beep*, the paused again, etc.

So after making sure everything was fit properly and nothing had been damaged, I tried replacing the power supply with my old workhorse, a 400W generic but fairly quality power supply, on which I still can't find a brand name. The initial problem was that the fans were drawing too much current on boot for it (they take a lot of juice to get going, as i learned in phys 121), so I disconnected them and ran the case open with a desk fan blowing on it instead.

After 3 days of this usage, in which I only had 1 case fan running at about 1200 rpm (basically almost idling), this power supply died in a very similar fashion to the 600W one, which I have already RMA'd for a refund.

I'm thinking that it's the motherboard connector that's dying, or whatever powers the motherboard connector, since it seems to be *beep*ing when it tries to verify motherboard component voltages.

My questions are this:
- Even though the 24-pin connectors are backwards-compatable with the 20-pin cables, is it drawing too much current through the 20-pin cable and burning the thing out? I mean, I haven't really seen any 24-pin PSU's out there to get, anyways, but is that the problem?
- Or is this a regular occurence when a PSU is overloaded, and should I just get a more notable brand PSU and not worry about it?

 

[Vertigo Acid]

I'm confused: Does your motherboard or power supply have a 24-pin connector?

2. Sounds like overload on crappy supplies to me; If removing fans was enough to tip the balance between booting and not booting, then you're really on the edge of setting your PSU on fire
My advise? Drop some $$$ on a nice Fortron, Enermax, or Antec unit and never look back. It's easier and cheaper than replacing your whole system if these generic supplies kill your gear.

 

[milling_hordesman]

I'm confused: Does your motherboard or power supply have a 24-pin connector?

2. Sounds like overload on crappy supplies to me; If removing fans was enough to tip the balance between booting and not booting, then you're really on the edge of setting your PSU on fire
My advise? Drop some $$$ on a nice Fortron, Enermax, or Antec unit and never look back. It's easier and cheaper than replacing your whole system if these generic supplies kill your gear.

1. The motherboard is new, and has a 24-pin connector on it. The PSUs are still all the 20-pin ones.

2. Well, 5 fans on boot would draw a lot of current, so I'm not surprised that it worked out that way. I dropped some $$$ on what I think is a nice Thermaltake, and I'm thinking that it'll work out fine, but I can't be certain.

 

[tgxiii]

I'm honestly surprised you got as far as loading Windows with those power supplies. They're not powerful enough for your system. Go with a Fortron.