Antec Phantom Troubles

Jools · Post by **Jools** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:01 am

I installed my new Antec Phantom (UK spec) PSU this afternoon, after letting it warm up to room temperature first (it was freezing cold). When I switched the PC on, the PSU's blue light lit up, the case and CPU fans gave half a turn, then the power died. However, the LED on my motherboard remained on.

I double-checked all the connections, and everything is as it should be. The 24-20 adapter is plugged in the right way, the CPU 4-pin cable is in, etc, etc. I have an Asus K8V, AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 1GB Corsair RAM, Samsung Spinpoint PATA, Plextor DVD+RW, ATI 9800 Pro 128MB.

I've tried repeatedly since, but with the same result each time. The PSU seems to start up the PC, but then promptly switches itself off after only half a second or so each time.

I never get as far as any BIOS warnings. My PC was working fine with my Enermax 465P. I'm used to building PC's and swapping PSU's in and out.

Antec's support does not seem promising; no links and dead links. I'm waiting for a response presently, but I thought I'd try here as well (in case I don't get one).

hvengel · Post by **hvengel** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:16 am

Have you contacted the store that sold you the unit? They should be able to exchange the unit for a working one.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:31 am

Have you tried connecting your Enermax again and trying that just to rule out it's not a Motherboad (or other) problem?

lm · Post by lm » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:47 am

If it was freezing cold, and you brought it to warm room, then some water might have condensed on the cold surfaces?

Jools · Post by **Jools** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:08 am

A friend suggested unplugging as much as possible, and then re-plugging things in one at a time. He suggested it might not be giving out enough power, or it might be motherboard or CPU compatibility problems.

I unplugged the HD, floppy, optical and case fan.

And it booted up, fine. Well, as far as the BIOS screen to report it couldn't find a HD.

Plugged the HD back in - fine. Plugged the optical back in - fine. Plugged the case fan back in - fine.

The only thing that left was the floppy. I've left that unplugged for now, as I've had enough and everything else is working. The only thing I can think is that stupidly I must have connected the floppy power cable the wrong way around (it is fiddly and cramped, in my defence).

So, I'm happy to report, I now have and extremely quiet machine. Losing the two fans from the Enermax has made a big difference.

Hopefully I can run it with just the Zalman 7000 and the Nexus case fans. I can always wedge another Nexus at the front in summer if necessary.

Edwood · Post by **Edwood** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:46 pm

Jools wrote:
The only thing that left was the floppy. I've left that unplugged for now, as I've had enough and everything else is working. The only thing I can think is that stupidly I must have connected the floppy power cable the wrong way around (it is fiddly and cramped, in my defence).

My money's on the floppy cable plugged in the wrong way.

I've done this a couple times myself.

-Ed

luminous · Post by **luminous** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:05 am

Mmmm, I must confess that I have connected a floppy power cable the wrong way round several times. It has never stopped my machine from booting though.

I just get into windows and wonder why the hell it won't find my floppy drive. Then, slowly, the realisation of my stupidity dawns

Glad to hear that it is working now.

Pilot · Post by **Pilot** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:40 am

i also had pretty weird behaviour when the floppy (data) cable was plugged the wrong way : seeking for a long time at the boot and loading very slowly sometimes, or not POSTing otherwise.

it was quite hard to detect, and confusing especially with a new mobo

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 3:43 am

Pilot wrote:i also had pretty weird behaviour when the floppy (data) cable was plugged the wrong way : seeking for a long time at the boot and loading very slowly sometimes, or not POSTing otherwise.

it was quite hard to detect, and confusing especially with a new mobo

Yip I do that ALL the time. Unlikr IDE cables floppies don't have the notch to indicate what way they go. I didn't think putting the power cable updide down was an easy mistake to make though

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:22 am

Jordan wrote:
Yip I do that ALL the time. Unlikr IDE cables floppies don't have the notch to indicate what way they go.

Me too.

But what I do to keep that from happening more than once per FDD is to mark the Pin 1 location with a Sharpie after I find it. From then on I'll be able to tell the correct orientation for that particular drive.

lpv · Post by **lpv** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 4:56 pm

Mine shuts off after a split second after turning it on. Nothing else happens after that until I unplug it for a while and the same thing happens. I have been using it for about a month now and off it goes to RMA department. I hope I get one that works. I would hate to pay for shipping again.

EdT · Post by **EdT** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 3:30 pm

Pilot wrote:i also had pretty weird behaviour when the floppy (data) cable was plugged the wrong way : seeking for a long time at the boot and loading very slowly sometimes, or not POSTing otherwise.

it was quite hard to detect, and confusing especially with a new mobo

Yeah, I have exprieneced that a few times too and as recently as last week when I swapped cases, but there should still be power even if the floppy cable is plugged in the wrong way ! right ??? I swapped in a new floppy and it is working now.

Sorry to hear you guy getting all that problem with an expensive PSU like the Phantom, my Phantom should be arriving early next week too.

Jools · Post by **Jools** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:35 am

I've had the Phantom a couple of weeks now. But all is not well. While playing 3D games (like Far Cry), my monitor can suddenly enter stand-by mode at any time - which presumably means my 9800Pro Ultimate has shut down, either starved of power or cut off. The rest of the PC is still powered up, but the on/off switch no longer functions. If the GFX card was at fault, I would expect that to still work. I have to use the rocker switch on the PSU. Each time the PC powers back up straight away, and I can continue from where I left off. If the PSU was overheating, surely it would insist on shutting down again? Likewise the fanless GFX?

This can happen after several hours, or only 15-20m from cold. The PSU isn't overheating - sometimes it's barely warm, let alone hot. Case & CPU temps are fine at 33C & 53C (load) respectively. Idling in XP seems unaffected - only when CPU and GFX are loaded. It's even crashed at the Far Cry "resume load" screen, before playing. Sometimes I get an ATI "VPU error" appear after restarting XP.

The voltages seem OK, at least to Asus Probe. They don't appear to fluctuate over time (using Probe's recording facility):

+12V 11.84 to 11.904
+5V 4.919
+3.3V 3.296

The GFX card is on it's own Molex line. My setup is modest; stock A64 [C0] 3000+, 1GB Corsair, 1xHD, 1xDVD, 2x120mm. It can't draw more than about 180W? I haven't tried switching the GFX and HD cables over yet, but suspect it will do exactly the same.

I like the silence the Phantom gives me, but the random shut-downs are frustrating. I'm currently waiting for a response from my vendor.

I previously had an Enermax 465P, which was rock solid - but not that quiet. I've spent the last two days searching for alternative PSU's, only to discover there isn't ONE that's both quiet and stable. Every single one you can name either has quality problems, availability issues, or bad comments from purchasers. Ticking, buzzing, ramping, low voltages. Aaargh!

I'm leaning towards replacing the Phantom with an Enermax Coolergiant, even though that has three fans...

luminous · Post by **luminous** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:59 am

From the symptoms that you describe I would suspect the GFX card is at fault. The best way to check this would be to use a different PSU and see if the problems are still present.

It is not too unusual for the whole machine to crach out when it is a faulty GFX card. The fact that you have to use the rocker switch at the back of the PC is ot that much of an issue.

My old machine now has a faulty sound card, when it crashes the whole machine locks and it has to be powered down using the rocker switch on the PSU.

Jools · Post by **Jools** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 5:57 am

I had thought of swapping PSU's, but I really didn't want to rip the NX-3500 out of my other box. Probably the best thing to do would be to buy another cheap - but rock solid, in case I have to continue using it - PSU as a back-up.

I've narrowed the search down to two reasonably quiet alternatives;

o. Enermax Noisetaker 370W EG375AX-VE(G)SFMA @ £43

o. Enermax Coolergiant 380W EG385AX-VHB(G)SFMA @ £47

Both have the main attributes I'm looking for;

Active PFC, Smartfan (keeps fan running for 2 mins), dual 12V rails, 20pin ATX v1.3, dedicated "Extra" 4pin for GFX.

The Noisetaker has 2 fans (80mm/92mm), the Coolergiant has 3 fans (70mm, 80mm & an 80mm Sanyo Denki blower)

Can anyone comment their experiences on these two?

breakspirit · Post by **breakspirit** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:17 am

why dont you just get a seasonic super tornado? i own 3 of them and they are stable as mofos and equally quiet,

Jools · Post by **Jools** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:04 am

why dont you just get a seasonic super tornado

Because you can't get the Rev.A3 in the UK. There is only one official stockist, and they don't have any - just A2's. Someone that enquired about the new S12 was told they would have to wait until February.

Anyway, it turns out it wasn't the Phantom at fault after all. It had to be a choice of that or the 9800Pro, and it turns out it's the GFX card. I swapped the Phantom for a (noisy as hell but great lines) generic 350W (16A @ 12V) PSU a couple of hours ago. It's taken me that long to get it to crash. As before, everything else still has power.

The GFX card is only 9 months old, but it's the Sapphire Ultimate edition, with the Zalman style ZM80 sandwich heatsink. I guess maybe the cooling wasn't adequate (despite having a 120mm blowing on to it from a few inches away). The heatsink was *always* red hot to the touch, even at idle.

I was thinking getting one of the PCIe X800XL's when they come out. They don't even need a Molex feed. The HSF on them is supposed to be pretty quiet, but I might still consider fitting one of the new Zalman GPU flowers. Actually, I suppose I might as well try fitting one of them to the 9800Pro first, to see if that makes any difference...

If I stick with my K8V I'll probably go for one of the HIS AGP X800's, either Pro or XT, with the Arctic Cooling device pre-attached.

luminous · Post by **luminous** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:46 am

Glad to hear that you have found the cause of your fault. Sinc the card is so new you may be able to claim under warranty. If you have modded the card with that heatsink (I think some came with it) then you may have a harder time, but it is still worth a try.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:50 am

Its standard on the Ultimate, so it should go under warranty.. even if it wasnt standard you can always put the original heatsink baack on and then send it in

EdT · Post by **EdT** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:52 am

Do you guys find you Phantom running more cool after 1-2 days of usage ? I find mine stabilizes to run more cool after 1 day of use.

Antec Phantom Troubles

Antec Phantom Troubles

Random VPU shut-down

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