psu problem ?

[ddscentral]

There are some strange issues with my fsp epsilon 600w psu which is about a year old. Pc is running almost 24/7.
When pc is turned on, it runs for a few seconds, then turns off and then back on again after 2-3sec and then runs without problems. (this doesn't happen if pc is left off for a while)
Psu sometimes emits a strange "beep" when powered up.
The system is: a Intel q6600(b3), overclocked 8800GTX, 6gb ram, 3 hdds, dvd-rw.
Is this a sign of a problem ? Or I have nothing to worry about ?

[acstech]

I'm going to guess you have a P35 chipset... correct?

Anyway, set the front side bus back to stock and see if it still does it. I'm going out on a limb here and saying it's the infamous P35 "double boot" problem. I don't know if other chipsets are / were affected by that or not. Probably nothing wrong with the PSU.

If you really want to check for bad capacitors, it's not hard. First, unplug the PSU!!! There should be 4 screws holding the cover on the PSU. Take those out, and carefully pull the cover off. If you see any capacitors that are bulging on the top, or are leaking at the bottom, take a picture and post it, and we can assist from there. Otherwise, put the cover back on.

You might also use a multimeter and check voltages on the various rails when loaded and unloaded.

[ddscentral]

Yeah. A MSI P35 Neo mobo. I oc'ed the cpu a bit (to 2.6Ghz), but I had the very same issue with fsb running at stock speed.
PSU is still under warranty, I don't think it's a good idea to open it.
But why does psu "beep" sometimes ? could this be related to caps ?

[acstech]

I doubt it's related to caps. Honestly, I've never heard a PSU "beep". I've heard motherboards beep at POST, as most of them do, and I'm sure you know all about that. I've even had some motherboards that beep twice on a normal POST, with different tones! But a PSU? You got me there. I think any cap noise would be more of a "pop" and only occur once per cap.

If it's one with the overhead 120mm fan, you can usually look down through it at the right angle and see most of the caps.

So many people were / are affected by the P35 double boot issue that I would be very surprised if that's not what it is. From research on the internet, those MSI Neo boards are notorious for double booting. I have a friend with a Biostar TP35D2-A7 (same board as I've got) with a E2180. His will double boot with the FSB set to 400MHz, but set it lower and it's fine. That's why I suggested you set it lower.

Try upgrading your bios to the latest version. If you still think it's the PSU, swap it out and see if it still does it. It really doesn't hurt anything, it's just annoying.