ATX power supply testing & repair.

Power Supply Test & Maintenance

ATX power supply is one of the most important components in the computer. If the power supply does not adequately supply the computer under ATX standards, it will usually cause other parts to become unstable or overheat because of high voltages or ripples, shortening their life expectancy.

A good power supply is also the most important factor for overall computer stability and a long life.

Of course, the market is full of generic power supplies with attractive low prices. These are almost always used in low-cost, custom-built computers that we repair every day. They often do not last more than two years and sometimes even less than one year. When they break, they usually damage other parts such as the hard drive or the motherboard.

We have even found bad power supplies that totally damaged computers, making them not cost-effective to repair.

Common characteristics of generic power supplies are that they are lightweight, noisy, can not provide enough power as rated, and the fan becomes noisy during (or just out of) the warranty period. These generic power supplies are very cheap, usually very hard to identify as far as the manufacturer, and tech support is difficult to find. These parts are usually built with tin wires, fans with sleeve bearings, low quality capacitors, small heatsinks, no protection circuits, and so on.

Because we do electronic repairs, we are able to test them properly. Not only that, we know what parts are usually causing problems, and we replace them with new, higher quality parts that will last longer and prevent potential future damage. If the power supply is outside ATX standards by its design, we will suggest its replacement.

The computers that we build use quality power supplies with fan regulators. Our business class and gaming computers even come with server class power supplies that are made to work 24/7 and normally come with 3 or 5 year warrantees from the manufacturer.