Computer Shuts Down By Itself!

[Phillies]

I built a new computer over the summer and never had any problems until last week. Last week I started getting a problem where the computer would just shut down by itself, as if somebody just turned the power off. I didn't think much of it at first. Since then, it has gotten worse and now the computer shuts down as soon as it boots up. I removed the hard drive and the computer is still shutting down immediately so I know its not any kind of virus problem.

Here are my specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3200
1 GIG of RAM from newegg
450 watt case and power supply from newegg
NVIDIA 6800 which I installed last month
NEO K8T NEO

Any thoughts on this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[montag451]

does your cpu fan spin up?
if not, it could be the cpu overheating then the sys will auto cut out.

Another thing to try is to reseat the pci cards and ram and vga - chip creep may have occurred

 

[Phillies]

The CPU fan does spin. As a matter of fact all the fans are operating and before the computer got as bad as it is now, I was able to go into the CMOS and check on the CPU and case temperatures and everything seemed normal to me.

 

[montag451]

HAve you got a spare psu you could try?

 

[mechBgon]

The cheap freebie PSUs that the case makers throw in are usually not what you want for a decent upper-end rig like that (with some rare exceptions). I second the motion for trying another PSU, a high-quality one. If you want to try a new PSU, check out the Enermax WhisperII 460W unit at Newegg, about $75 I believe. Lots of 12-volt amperage and good quality.

 

[Phillies]

I went on newegg's site to find out what kind of case and power supply I got from there and it was a cheap $35 case. However, it did work fine for almost 5 months. Why would it go bad now?

I'm not sure exactly what case I purchased, but looking at my order history on newegg, this was the description of my case and power supply if this helps anyone....

CASE POWMAX|CP0327PL-4 450W WINDW



EDIT:

Here's a link to a case on newegg's site... it looks exactly like my case except this one is 400 watts and mine is 450.


http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=11-145-047&DEPA=0


Maybe this can help.

 

[montag451]

if it is a cheap psu, then it is more likely to go wrong now than in 12 months.
Also, psu's don't just supply power, they also stop a certain amount of surges from getting through to your system.
Better psu = better protection + better power supply + piece of mind

If it is not the psu that is the problem, feel free to tell me to shut up ;-)

 

[mechBgon]

IMHO PowMax is junk.

I went on newegg's site to find out what kind of case and power supply I got from there and it was a cheap $35 case. However, it did work fine for almost 5 months. Why would it go bad now?

"I towed an 8000-pound boat across the country with a small pickup that has a 4-cylinder engine and no towing package. Why would it blow a head gasket now, after towing the trailer more than 2000 miles without doing it?"

~ ah so, grashoppah... PSU does not tolerate overload forever.

 

[montag451]

fair dinkum

 

[Phillies]

Any good suggestions for a new case? I looked on newegg and didn't see that Enermax WhisperII somebody mentioned in an earlier post.

 

[mechBgon]

This one here (put it in your existing case).

 

[Phillies]

Thanks....

I just realized that I still have my old case and power supply from my old computer that I built 3 years ago. This power supply ran my old AMD Athlon 1.2 gig cpu. I'm not sure how many watts that power supply is, but could I try using that and see if my computer will run? I wouldn't substitute that old power supply for a new one, but maybe it could hold me over until I get my new power supply.

But then again, if I'm not sure of the specs on that power supply, maybe I should just leave it alone...

 

[montag451]

if it was an ok spec 3 years ago, it might be around 250w to 300w. Go easy on the apps, and the amount of drives you throw in, just for now.

Good luck

 

[mechBgon]

Also make sure your old PSU has an ATX12V cable. Personally, I would take out the 6800 until I had a PSU that I knew was going to handle the load well.

 

[Phillies]

I think that old power supply is 300 watts, and I think I'll just leave that old thing where it is and wait until I get my new power supply. That one from newegg looks good, however I really want to get this computer fixed before Christmas....... is this power supply any good?.....

http://www.pcsupplysource.com/...D550W&cc=&tpc=


That place is located not far from me and when I order stuff from them I get my order in 2 days or less. I ordered my video card from them and got it the very next day!

 

[mechBgon]

I would do the Enermax at Newegg because it's a known high-quality brand and you can tell what its specs are too. Newegg has a warehouse on the eastern seaboard, I think it's either NJ or NC, so it might come pretty fast. How fast did your case arrive?

 

[Phillies]

New Egg has a wharehouse that's only a few miles from my house. However, New Egg also has wharehouses in several other states. I got a monitor from Newegg and it was shipped from California.....

I don't recall how quick I got my case from them but it was probably in 2 or 3 days. I guess I'll probably place the order with newegg........

 

[Phillies]

Thanks for all your help with my problem. I was about to place my order with Newegg for the Enermax WhisperII 460W when I saw that it will be shipping from their California wharehouse, not their NJ wharehouse, which isn't far from where I live. I want to get my new power supply ASAP and before Christmas so I was looking around at some local places.

This place always ships things to be very quickly but I'm not sure exactly which Enermax I need to buy as they seem to call them by different names.


Is that power supply what I need?

http://www.futurepowerpc.com/s...?PRDCODE=PSEN-EG465PFC

Thanks.....