Troubleshooting a Faulty Power Supply: A Case Study with the EVGA 210-GQ-1000-V1

When upgrading a computer system, finding the right components and ensuring their compatibility is crucial. However, sometimes even new hardware can introduce unexpected complications. This blog post shares a recent experience with troubleshooting a potentially faulty power supply (PSU)—specifically the EVGA 210-GQ-1000-V1—after it caused the failure of two hard drives.

The Situation

While assisting my son with a computer upgrade, we decided to replace his existing power supply with the 1000-watt EVGA model. Prior to this change, the computer was functioning perfectly, featuring both a boot SSD and a secondary storage HDD connected via the same SATA power cable at different points.

In our initial setup, we retained some of the existing cables (both VGA and SATA) from his former 550-watt EVGA unit since it was also semi-modular.

Signs of Trouble

After the installation of the new power supply, we noticed an issue: the PSU immediately entered a protective mode. Although the fans initiated their spin, a faint ‘click’ followed by an abrupt halt indicated that something was amiss.

Our troubleshooting process began with disconnecting the storage HDD and shifting the SATA power from SATA 1 to SATA 2 on the new power supply. Assuming we had encountered a faulty cable, we swapped out the SATA power cable and reconnected it to SATA 1, which gave the impression that everything was functioning properly.

The following day, however, my son reported that while the computer was operational, it only recognized the boot drive. The storage drive remained unresponsive.

Continued Investigation

To explore this further, I decided to test an SSD that my son intended to use as a replacement for his boot drive. Unfortunately, this ended disastrously as the new SSD released the dreaded “magic smoke,” indicating that it had also succumbed to some form of damage.

After reverting to the original power supply configuration, everything functioned smoothly, except, of course, for the two now-defunct drives. This situation ultimately left my son with a pair of damaged hard drives along with a potentially compromised power supply—a bitter blow given the effort he put into saving for these components.

Moving Forward

Now, the pressing question remains: where do we go from here in diagnosing the power supply? With a multimeter at my disposal and a general understanding of how to