Test PSU or SWITCH??

[fireandsmoke]

All,
I'm suspecting a bad PSU, a HighPower 360w PSU. My new rig with the A7N8X just dies when a load is placed on the cpu...
I thought it was the mobo, so I swapped out mobo's to my trusty kx7 and it was worse! When the power is switched, the fans start spinning, the green and amber mobo led's light up...and then the HDD spins and the system dies before it kicks the monitor on (everything is about 5 seconds) When I hit the switch again...nothing. I have to unplug the psu or turn the psu power switch off. Then try again...the only consistent thing is that this all happens in my new case. Can the power switch on the case be bad?? How can I test it? Can I leave the switch leads unhooked and pt a screwdriver across the mobo power contacts for 1 sec?
I put the 360w psu in my P3 rig and it works ok, but of course it's a lower power system...I dunno??????????? I put the P3's old 250w psu on the kx7 and it wouldn't post, but the mobo powered up ok...
Any ideas??????????
f&s:(

[IFMU]

There are a few options to look at.
1st, would be to check the PSU. Which you pretty much have done.
2nd, Test the rest. Do you have a spare PSU you can test on the 2 boards you have tested the PSU with?

I would say by the sounds of it the PSU is going out. But theres still alot to be checked out thoroughly.



Moved to General Hardware.

[IFMU]

Ah yea, one other thing... Do you have another switch? If not, you can take and start it by shorting the 2 pins on the board by touching the 2 leads with a screwdriver. If then it stops the probs, then its the switch.

[Mime]

I got an ATX PSU tester from Directron.com a while ago when I had problems with a wiggy PSU. It's this little device that hooks on to the ATX connector and has a little green light on it that comes on if the PSU is working properly. It's about $16 + shipping which is worth it if your lazy like me and want a quick fix for things.

http://www.directron.com/tester1.html

[fireandsmoke]

Ahhh... I think it's the psu. I was testing the switch by crossing the contacts with a screwdriver and it'd start up for a few seconds and die. Again. After a few times I started to smell that infamous acrid, nasty smell of acid burning. Yuck. No smoke but I think that's a sign. I used my nose to search for the smell and the smell fills the case (and the room) but it seems like it's coming from the psu.
Now what concerns me, is that I tried my old 250w P3-450mhz PSU (CompUsa) on the AMD rig and the mobopowered up and the HD spun but it never POST'ed and started the monitor???
But maybe that PSU just can't turn over the AMD rig?? It's only good for 10A on the +12v, 14A on the +3.3, and 15A on the +5v.
It's an ATX PSU, but I dunno'
f&s