Went through the pain of a power surge on the weekend, now looking for a replacement computer.
Was thinking gumtree to pick up someones old gaming pc because in the near future i'll be getting a metabox.
Does anyone know of any somewhat decent gaming pc offers, other than gumtree/ebay?
Got the feelers out.
PS. I have since bought a surge protector. Haha (learnt the hard way)
hahaha I think you're on the wrong thread mate.
What's your budget? Prebuilt?
Max $900.
Prebuilt preferred but open to parts.
I still have some working components from the pc i can use too. But open to options.
Your computer might be toast, but that doesn't mean all of it's parts are. It could possibly be just the power supply. Regardless, you should buy a new power supply and stick it in first before buying anything else.
The PC case can be reused, as are the cables (if they are not melted), any other components that have survived. and it'll save you a lot of cash if you buy only the parts you require.
Try the second hand market (gumtree, OCAU forums and lastly ebay). You should be able to score a Radeon 7000 series for pretty cheap, and RAM is rock bottom in terms of price nowadays that you can just buy new.
Thanks mate.
I have already tested a new PSU - didn't work.
took out RAM's individually, unplugged power from everything individually (that didn't seem effected) but didn't work. So i believe the CPU or motherboard has been effected.
Everything else looks fine.
but thanks for the suggestions - thats what i was looking at.
Im trying to figure out whether to buy a prebuilt and take parts from it, or parts individually..
Might want to rethink your confidence in the surge protector…
http://www.dansdata.com/gz039.htm
Is you PC (ie motherboard, Graphics card and Hard Drive) actually dead, or is it just the PSU that took the bullet?
I wonder if UPS will be a better option than a surge protector… As I'm not really well versed in the matter, that article pretty much flew over my head.
The article is basically saying that after about 3 months your standard "Surge Protecting" powerboard - no matter how much you paid - will be rendered a standard, non surge protecting, power board, just by the natural fluctuations in power chewing through the MOV that does the "surge protection" and subsequently fails closed circuit rather than open circuit.. You powerboard still works, but the MOV offers no protection anymore.
A cheap UPS may assist, but probably not. An enterprise grade UPS will help or a powerboard that uses Induction will help. But then you're looking at big dollars.
So basically just get home and contents insurance covering Surges… haha
@thrillerAU:
Get a surge protector that actually claims protection even from direct lightning strlkes.
How many joules does that UPS or power strip claim to absorb? Hundreds? A thousand? Destructive surges are hundreds of thousands of joules.
A hundreds joule surge is converted by your PSU into rock stable, low DC voltages to safely power its semiconductors. That protection already exists without a power board protector. Your concern is destructive surges.
How does a 2 cm part inside a protector stop what three kilometers of sky could not? That is what others claim. How does its near zero joules absorb surges that are tens or hundreds of thousands of joules? Why do so many forget to discuss these numbers?
Most have no idea what does effective protection. Destructive surges hunt for earth ground. If all but invited inside, then it will hunt for earth destructively via all appliances. Effective protection connects that surge to earth BEFORE it can enter a building. This 'whole house' protector, if connected low impedance (ie less then 3 meters) to earth, means even direct lightning strikes without damage. Even near zero protector parts in a UPS or power strip need that protection.
Let's be very clear about this. No protector does protection. Protection is done by what harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules. A protector is only a connecting device to what actually does all protection - single point earth ground. Critical is that low impedance (ie less than 3 meter) connection.
UPS and power strips will not discuss earth ground. They do not have that connection. They are marketing to so many who just know - and never learn numbers.
You need 'whole house' protection. We have not yet discussed what is THE most critical component in every protection 'system'. Single point earth ground. Best protection costs about $1 per protected appliance - another relevant number.
Thanks mate.
I have already tested a new PSU - didn't work.
took out RAM's individually, unplugged power from everything individually (that didn't seem effected) but didn't work. So i believe the CPU or motherboard has been effected.
Everything else looks fine.
With a new PSU - it gets power for 0.5 seconds and fails.
Boot.. crash.. boot.. crash..
Hence looking for a prebuilt..
You think i should get a new pc altogether or try recover some pieces?
It's likely that some bits have died and others survived.
Assume the Motherboard is fried, cause it's the next thing to take a hit after the PSU.
Graphics card is the other obvious candidate unless it only gets power from the MB.
The rest you'll only find out through trial and error.
Depends if you;
a) have the money
b) have the time/desire to do a rebuild
The easiest way to test is to take all your bits to a known working PC and plug them in.. If they work then celebrate, if not, then add them to the list of replacement parts.
If you have money to buy a new box, then that's clearly easiest, but if it's only the MB that's dead, then you'd be spending money on p[arts you don't need.
okay, time to get to work.
Thanks scubacoles
Apparently you do not know about the power controller. Only that controller decides when a PSU can power on. It then monitors power. Afterwards, it makes a decision as to whether the CPU can execute. Obviously RAM, CPU, BIOS, etc never do anything until that power controller permits it.
Only way to see what that controller is doing (and why) is a meter, some requested instructions, and only a few minutes of labor. So simple that even a junior high science student can do it. Only then can an informed reply provide significant assistance.
Most every failure is only one or two parts. Others who never really first learn what has failed will then assume many or most failed parts. Often will recommend expensive and time consuming "shotgunning" - keep replacing good parts until something works. You probably only have one defective part. To know more (faster) requires knowing various and simple functions exist - especially that power controller.
A useful answer possible immediately - but only if relevant numbers are provided.
Dont buy from metabox i bought a laptop from them and it was a complete lemon it gave up on me twice had to send it back once and gave up days after the warranty ended its been sitting in a cupboard broken collecting dust ever since save yourself the trouble and buy something nicer the extra $100 is well worth it
Basketball court, casual tennis, gym activities……I feel like I read the question wrong but meh