Replace PSU or overhaul?

[blur_fella]

My cousin's PC suddenly switched off by itself yesterday. When we tried to switch on again, the PC totally no response, the CPU & GPU fans also not running. He said that when the PC suddenly switched off, there was a kind of burning smell but no sparks or any sound was observed.

His PC was assembled in Jan 2012 with the following specs:
Intel G850 CPU
Asrock H61M U3S3 with 4GB ram
Win 7 Home Prem 64bit
WD Blue 500GB
FSP 400W Hexa Series (80+ Bronze)
Leadtek GT640 2GB graphic card

Should he just change the PSU or upgrade the entire PC to an i5? Considering to retain the GPU since he dun really play latest graphic intensive games. TIA.

 

[zenniz]

If usage is mainly basic (Surf net, watch video, Microsoft, watch prawn) then it is better to diagnose the problem and replace the faulty parts.

 

[blur_fella]

he does play games & currently he's playing black ops II. he's going poly or jc next year, so upgrade is a better option?

 

[xtractor]

My cousin's PC suddenly switched off by itself yesterday. When we tried to switch on again, the PC totally no response, the CPU & GPU fans also not running. He said that when the PC suddenly switched off, there was a kind of burning smell but no sparks or any sound was observed.

His PC was assembled in Jan 2012 with the following specs:
Intel G850 CPU
Asrock H61M U3S3 with 4GB ram
Win 7 Home Prem 64bit
WD Blue 500GB
FSP 400W Hexa Series (80+ Bronze)
Leadtek GT640 2GB graphic card

Should he just change the PSU or upgrade the entire PC to an i5? Considering to retain the GPU since he dun really play latest graphic intensive games. TIA.

if he is in a tight budget then get 450w or 400w psu to replace first
Seasonic S12G 450w=$79
http://www.seasonicusa.com/S12G.htm
price under pc theme

really cannot judge where the problem come from but if he already bought the psu he dont need to buy it anymore once he upgrade because still need to replace the old psu

 

[herman1314]

My cousin's PC suddenly switched off by itself yesterday. When we tried to switch on again, the PC totally no response, the CPU & GPU fans also not running. He said that when the PC suddenly switched off, there was a kind of burning smell but no sparks or any sound was observed.

His PC was assembled in Jan 2012 with the following specs:
Intel G850 CPU
Asrock H61M U3S3 with 4GB ram
Win 7 Home Prem 64bit
WD Blue 500GB
FSP 400W Hexa Series (80+ Bronze)
Leadtek GT640 2GB graphic card

Should he just change the PSU or upgrade the entire PC to an i5? Considering to retain the GPU since he dun really play latest graphic intensive games. TIA.

You can get the silverstone strider essential 500w psu for $58 with lazada app code AAPROMO($15 off). You can get that and see if any parts are damaged.

 

[blur_fella]

ok tks, will get a new psu for him if his budget is tight... but hope he can be allowed to upgrade to at least an i5 cos his Pentium system is really damn slow.

 

[xtractor]

ok tks, will get a new psu for him if his budget is tight... but hope he can be allowed to upgrade to at least an i5 cos his Pentium system is really damn slow.

item below only if he is allowed to upgrade

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H61MU3S3/
his board support lga 1155 get 2nd hand CPU I3 I5 I7 @ HWZ marketplace
http://www.cpu-world.com/Sockets/Socket 1155 (LGA1155).html


He used 4gb that is why it is slow
upgrade to 8gb 1600mhz ram

 

[herman1314]

ok tks, will get a new psu for him if his budget is tight... but hope he can be allowed to upgrade to at least an i5 cos his Pentium system is really damn slow.

I think i saw a few i5 2400 for $70 at hardwarezone marketplace or vr-zone. You can get that, its used but processors almost never fail even when overclocked. If the slowness is in games you can try to turn down settings or get a better cpu/graphics card, while if its slow in boot times and such, he can get an ssd for a boot drive instead.

 

[darkarn]

Diagnose the prob first and see where the problem lies and what parts already damaged.

Worst case scenario is to rebuild the entire rig from scratch But I highly doubt that it would be that bad.

Least you can do now is to see if can plug his HDD to a spare SATA port and back up any data as a form of precaution.

 

[blur_fella]

ok will do, tks for the advice

 

[zenniz]

Reuse PSU if less than 3 years old.
Reuse hard drive and case too.

 

[blur_fella]

Reuse PSU if less than 3 years old.
Reuse hard drive and case too.

HDD, casing & PSU all assembled same time in Jan 2012.

 

[gld998]

buy a psu n try... if cannot still then m/board kaput

 

[gld998]

HDD, casing & PSU all assembled same time in Jan 2012.

open up n check the warranty sticker on psu. try to claim from distro