Ok, So I needed a good computer for some rendering so I went out and bought this system: q6600 G0 edition ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i motherboard OCZ DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC (2gb) Raidmax Sagitta Black/Silver Gaming Case With Side Window - With 500W PSU Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM complete with a pci gfx card (7300se - spare one i had lying round) and all the other extras. I built it and it ran fine - installed windows XP etc etc. BUT!! When I connected a usb2 hard drive the external hard drive wouldnt boot up - in fact the light would not even light up! I tried again with 2 smaller and completely different usb2 memory sticks and both of those would not work and would also not light up! These were all in perfect order and had worked on another machine only hours before so I knew the external HDD's were good. However when I took the sticks and the external HDD back to another machine they would not boot up either! All of the usb2 devices have been fried!!! I've tried changing the cables etc for the external HDD but it makes no difference! The weird thing is every single usb1.1 device that I plug into the new machine works perfectly - even the wireless keyboard and mouse that I was using with it! It only seems to damage USB2 devices! The 500W psu that I was using is a RAIDMAX one and works perfectly because the computer works fine and I can load windows and wireless and everything! Another weird thing was that when I used a crossover cable to connect it to my other machine to transfer files across - it locked up my other machine!!! Please if there is anybody out there who has ever heard of such a thing or who has any idea what might be causing it please please help!!!
presumably you've also tried different USB ports too, it sound like yuor USB is knacked, concider replacing it with a PCI card like this or this BTW: novatech are very good on priced, also the onboard USB controller should be disabled in th BIOS before you install the new USB card
I'm inclined to agree that the USB ports are probably shot given the symptoms. If it's within the warranty period, I'd exchange it now. As for your power supply, I strongly recommend investing in a unit from the likes of Corsair, Thermaltake (Toughpower specifically), FSP, etc. Firstly, power supplies that come with cases are junk. A good 500W power supply is going to run about $80-100 itself. There is no way you're going to end up with a healthy power supply in the long run if it came bundled with the case. A power supply is not good just because it doesn't blow up in your face when you turn the system on. A good power supply will provide juice it says on the sticker within a 5% tolerance in either direction and at 50*C. While not the sole thing to base your purchase on, a heavy power supply generally corresponds with well made, reliable unit. This indicates that capacitors, heatsinks and other power and heat regulating components are well stocked in the unit. While the requirements might sound harsh, it's really not when you consider you're asking the company to provide a unit that will provide the rated output at a realistic temperature.
Thanks for the quick replies guys! I'll see what I can do about getting a PCI usb2.0 card. I'll also check the warrenty. It's just so weird experiencing these problems that i've never even heard of happening before! I'm going to return it a.s.a.p and hopefully upgrad the PSU too! Cheers Guys!
