Computer powering down and rebooting - PSU?

[mman12]

I recently purchased the new November Value Gaming PC. The only things that are different are the Power Supply and 4g instead of 2g of RAM.

I put this together last night. I booted up her up w/ no video nor any warning beeps. After troubleshooting, I found out that it will only work work two 1gig sticks instead of 4 in the machine. Once I put 4 in, it turns on and wants to boot up with video for 2 seconds, then just COMPLETELY powers down and then starts up like 2 seconds later no video. It appears it's not getting enough power but this was the power supply I was using before and worked fine (less powerful PC of course). It's only 500W. But all I have connected is the basics. I even tried it without hooking up the DvD/Hard Drive and it still does the same thing. I'm at lost. I'm about to buy a new power supply unless you have some other suggestions. Could the RAM slots really cause this?

Here's the supply I'm using. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817182016

 

[JPB]

The link doesnt work for the power supply.

 

[mman12]

my bad... fixed

 

[akugami]

Install with the bare necessities to see if it posts. If it exhibits the same post for two seconds and then reboots, try to check all of your connections. Unplug everything and plug it back in.

Try it by installing everything outside of your case. A good base is setting it on a large piece of cardboard which also acts as insulation against anything that can short circuit it.

Your computer booting up for two seconds, then shutting down or rebooting is a sign that might indicate your CPU is overheating. Try reseating the CPU and the heatsink.

See if you can borrow a decent performance PSU for testing purposes. This can isolate the problem and tell you whether it truly is your PSU that is the issue. If the system exhibits the same posting issues then it's something else. If it works fine with a different PSU then we can pretty much conclude that it's the PSU.

 

[mman12]

Thanks for the reply, but really I've done basic troubleshooting as you outlined. It simply will not hit post with more than 2gb of ram. All 4 sticks have been tested and working fine. I'm starting to hear this is quite common of an issue, but what's the fix or is it a faulty mobo?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Have a spare PSU to try? Are the sticks of RAM matched pairs/sets, what voltages and timings? Does it matter which 2x1GB you use?
Does the computer run fine with 2x1GB installed? (IE, get into BIOS, run memtest, install Windows? What can you do with only 2GB installed?)

 

[mman12]

I do not have a spare PSU unit to try. I'm starting to believe this is not the issue. Why would a power supply not allow more than 2gig of ram?

Yes they are matched pairs. 2GB (2x1GB) OCZ Platinum PC2-8500 - DDR2-1066 speed, and at standard 5-5-5-18 timings @ 1066 MHz

Computer runs absolutely beautiful @ 2x1GB. Windows Vista loaded and runs games great.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Power problems can cause weird issues, so don't rule it out yet. If either set of RAM works fine alone, but when both are installed you get issues then my moneys on PSU or mobo. But it's tough to figure out which without spare parts.