Well I managed to kill a Silverstone Zeus 850W (ST85ZF).

[Dainas]

First off I would like to say hello to this nice forum and that I wish I had found it earlier.

Well about a month ago my Noisetaker II 600w went down after about 7 months(no real surprises there). Seeing how long the RMA was going to take, I went ahead and bought a Zeus 850w since eventually I would be 8800GTX sli on a core 2 duo(PSU prices don't typical bomb like the other items) system.

The Zeus was fine for the first 2-3 days, but then started to have problems. It would almost always do a shutdown after a cold boot, and sometimes after a long idle (like when running a tvTuner). It was always fine gaming, Oblivion...Medieval 2 would run fine for as long as my interest held up(1-2 hours).

Things got worse and worse and I would have to run F@H to keep it from bombing while being used as a TV, but finally it died yesterday and refused to get back up. The PSU isn't exactly dead per-say, however it will not boot any motherboard I plug it into while its on-psu power light just blinks on and off.

I had suspected (and was reaffirmed by my referral to these forums) that not drawing enough from the 12v rails could cause instability... However completely kill(in usefulness) the PSU? I called Silverstone and they just chalked it up as a lemon.

Athlon X2 2500/250
Abit AN8-SLI
2GB Corsair 3500LL@DDR500/2.5cas
8800GTX
generic Tvtuner
audigy 2 ZS
about 3 casefans and a thermaltake typhoon
2 Hardrives
2 DVD burners

Hope I havent bored too much, thanks.

[haste]

sucks dude.

i also had an enermax noisetaker 2 go kaplooey on me after 6 months.

i've never used a silverstone PSU though.


bad luck on your part i guess...

[Dainas]

I just miss the good old days when a generic 400w would last a lifetime(2+ year in PSUspeak).

[GalvanizedYankee]

Glad you came over here Dainas.
I think you ment to say a very low draw on the 3.3 & 5V would cause 12V instability.

From your explaination here, it sounds like a dry capacitor. Since folding keeps it going for TV use the heat will keep a border-line cap active. The techs over at badcaps.net will use a hair dryer to pre-heat caps on a malfunctioning motherboard to get it to POST.

I bet a bad cap fell throgh the cracks during production. Let us know how fast the RMA process is with Silverstone and will they cross ship?:)

EDIT: Does my explaination hold water OK Wolf?

[Dainas]

I think you ment to say a very low draw on the 3.3 & 5V would cause 12V instability

Well now that I think of the nighmare it would be to keep quad 12v rails busy.. yeah I've yet to learn a thing or two.

Let us know how fast the RMA process is with Silverstone and will they cross ship?:)

Already got a RMA number and statement that they would cross ship today or tommorow. The speed could have something to do with my retailer, but considering how lightning fast Silverstone support was by email yesterday... Quiet the opposite of Enermax in all respect.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

EDIT: Does my explaination hold water OK Wolf?

Nope, electrolyte :p :D

It's one possibility.

[Dave65]

Well now that I think of the nighmare it would be to keep quad 12v rails busy.. yeah I've yet to learn a thing or two.



Already got a RMA number and statement that they would cross ship today or tommorow. The speed could have something to do with my retailer, but considering how lightning fast Silverstone support was by email yesterday... Quiet the opposite of Enermax in all respect.


My 85ZF lasted about 4 days also,may I ask who your retailer was?
Are you getting the new one straight from SilverStone?
I am wondring cause I could not get SilverStone to cross ship,they promised me that once they got the defective one,they would 2nd day air the new one,well that didn't happen,they sent it ground and I am still waiting for it.
I hope you have better luck than I did.

[Dainas]

eastluna, they had it for about $30 less than anyones else(way cheaper, but not suspiciously cheaper) and all the information I could get my hands on about them was positive. When the PSU came it was completly pristine in undistrubed silverstone packaging.

They had me RMA it to Silverstone, so unless my luck really is that bad there should be no shenanigans. There are a few DOA reports on these PSUs from Newegg and other e-tailers, so I'm not that worried...beyond wether the next one will stick.


How long have you been waiting? I hope you get it soon.

[Dave65]

I never got a response from SilverStone for an RMA,only when I got the retailer I bought it from to call them,Dead Eye Data,did I get a response form SilverStone,she even asked,as did I,if they would cross ship,they would not cross ship it to me,it has been about 2 weeks,that includes the no replies from my emails requesting an RMA,then to top it off,once contact was made,I was promised 2nd day air for my troubles,well it was sent ground,they shipped it on the 18th from California,and guess what,it is the 21st and it is still in California,I am not just going by the tracking # I have called UPS and they verified it was still in California,and I live in Michigan so who knows when I will get it.
I don't blame Dead Eye Data this is on Silverstone in my book..

EDIT:
I just checked,the PS went out on the 3rd of Dec,it is the 21st and still do not have it.

[Dainas]

my god thats terrible.. I don't know what to say, just keep harassing their tech service. I know they can do better than what they've shown you, as I just got my replacement directly from them.

This might be of intrest but the connector configuration is different; instead of two massive long Molex and sata connector cables they are now split up into smaller ones. Everything else is identical to before.

[Dave65]

my god thats terrible.. I don't know what to say, just keep harassing their tech service. I know they can do better than what they've shown you, as I just got my replacement directly from them.

This might be of intrest but the connector configuration is different; instead of two massive long Molex and sata connector cables they are now split up into smaller ones. Everything else is identical to before.

Good to hear,I am glad it worked for you,did they end up cross shipping to you?

[Dainas]

yep it was a cross ship.. If they are lucky, their getting my old one today.

[Dave65]

yep it was a cross ship.. If they are lucky, their getting my old one today.

Well it will be the last time they get my business,all I can say is thank god for having a good backup PS:)

[Dainas]

Well it will be the last time they get my business,all I can say is thank god for having a good backup PS:)


Well I don't blame you, wish I could say the same bout having a spare PSU, still waiting for enermax's RMA(only ended up sending it in 1.5weeks ago as I had to get an invoice printed from the retailer).

I'm gonna leave my computer folding away while I'm gone for the holidays, if this PSU is gonna go, I want it to do it soon(knocks on wood its rock solid).

[Dave65]

Well I don't blame you, wish I could say the same bout having a spare PSU, still waiting for enermax's RMA(only ended up sending it in 1.5weeks ago as I had to get an invoice printed from the retailer).

I'm gonna leave my computer folding away while I'm gone for the holidays, if this PSU is gonna go, I want it to do it soon(knocks on wood its rock solid).

Good luck,hope it holds out for you,and happy hollidays:)