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Computer shuts down when....

R

RSanders

Senior member
My computer (which I built) likes to shutdown randomly when I am playing a game and sometimes when I am even watching a video or something like that... When this happens, I have to reach around the back of the computer, and turn the little power switch off, leaving it off for a few seconds, then turn it back on before the computer will even boot back up. I have a CPU fan and a Case fan and I do not believe overheating is the issue, but rather believe that it is a power issue.

What does it sound like to you guys?

SPECS:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
ATI Radeon 9800
80GB HD
CDRW

and that is about it.. so shouldn't draw too much power but I believe I have a cheap powersupply which came with the case.

Thanks!
 
Sounds like a heat problem to me. Whats the brand/rating on the PSU you currently have? Fire up MBM and run Prime 95 for a while and watch your temps. If you can run that for a day or so its probally not your cpu overheating but it may be your vid card.
 
Does it do a proper shut down or just complete restart without warning? If it happens out of the blue, it is probably the PSU, I had the exact same problem about a year ago. My PSU was slowly degrading, but a multimeter made me see that my voltage rails were really off. I would suggest at the very least checking with the mobo sensors for the voltage readings on the various rails. Can't imagine it being anything but the PSU, quite unlikely that its your cpu overheating.
 
I have a cheap powersupply which came with the case.

Yes...it is your power supply, I had one that came with the case....a 350W but it couldnt meet the demands of my Athlon XP 1800. You are using an Athlon XP 2500....I can GUARANTEE it is not providing enough power. Just go out and fork over the $50-60 for an Antec or something with a decent reputation....you will be happier when you do.
 
good lord, that piece of junk only has 12 amps on the+12V rail. replace it now.

I recommend a quality 300W PSU (feel free to go higher though). Good brands include Antec, Enermax, and a few others.
 
And check this out..

The powersupply on my other computer I built went out on me a couple of weeks back.. and it was 400watts... A guy at my dads work (technician) fixed it but put in a 200w powersupply (atleast that is what I was told, I never checked).. and it runs fine still.. It is probably 300w though.

Anyway, that is what I figured the whole time.. I will be replacing it soon.

BTW, It just shuts off, no formal shutdown, just shuts down out of the blue.
 
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