Hard Disk/SMPS Trouble

mohsin_parwez · 29-08-2007, 08:38 PM

My computer is an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ based machine running on an Asus K8V-MX motherboard with 512mb Ram. Recently, one idiot who was visting my room (and I was away at the time) plugged the computer directly into the mains, bypassing the UPS. Apparently there was a power surge and the computer blew. I managed to get everything up and running, it seems that the SMPS took the direct hit, the processor, ram and MOBO seem to be working. The Problem is this:

1.I have an 80 GB Seagate SATA hdd, 7200 RPM, I think its a baracudda, I'm not sure. Anyway, there is a power converter that attaches to the Molex on the SMPS to convert it to the SATA type power jack. Whenever I plug my hard drive in, the whole system powers down. Is this a problem with the SMPS or the HDD or the MOBO? I mean, did the surge fry the SATA Controller, or the Hard Drive causing it to Short and the SMPS shuts down as a failsafe mechanism? I've tried connecting an old IDE harddrive to the computer and it works fine.

Is it possible to get the harddrive repaired? I live in Kolhapur incidentally, and if the repair is gonna cost me as much as a new hard drive, might as well trash it.

I'm thinking about buying a new HDD, I'm thinking about a WD Caviar, its SATA 7200RPM with a legacy Molex power connector along with the SATA power connector. If I can get the Seageate to work, then can I use both the SATA HDDs simultaneoulsy without commiting to a RAID configuration? That is will the system recognise them as two separate HDDs?

I also have an old Intel740 AGP graphics accelerator card that I found lying around the house so will installing that provide any benifits over the existing onboard VGA solution? Its only 8 mb I think, so I doubt that I'll be able to use it with Vista... any ideas on a cheap AGP/PCI chipset that will be good for Vista Ultimate? I happen to have a licenced copy.

Sorry for the long post...any ideas would really be apprecaiated.

Nav11aug · 29-08-2007, 08:48 PM

first things first. I think the problem is not with your HDD but wid ur SMPS which isnt able to take the load given by the SATA drive( im not sure ...guyz which r more power hungry SATA or PATA?) .

And secondly ,there is no way ur gonna run Vista on a system wid 8 MB graphics card. Try gettin a entry level GeForce FX 6200 atleast .And u def need to upgrade ur RAM to 1 GB, otherwise ur system might cup.

mohsin_parwez · 29-08-2007, 09:07 PM

Well I changed the SMPS, got a new one and I as far as I know, both SATA and IDE drives consume the same amount of power, its just a difference in the connectors, they are thinner, so they allow for better air ciruclation in the cabinet. Just when I plug in the drive, the system powersdown, so I'm thinking perhaps its a problem with the old Seagate short circuting or something like that...

And yeah, haha 8 mb card...what was I thinking... How much would a Geforce FX6200 set me back by? And is it PCI/AGP compliant, cause all I've been able to find are PCIe cards... And yes, a RAM upgrade is definately due!