Overheating Issue

[nate60v]

Hey folks, first post here... highly recommened to these forums.

Question:
Does my computer need some cooling revamping

Background:
A few days ago I was having fun and playing games on my pc. All of a sudden the pc shut down (no warning sign went off at this time), check power wire... turned back on...

Next day --- notices games very pixelated and not filled all the way, black specs like software rendered ugliness... tough to explain, anything 3d and moving was not showing up correctly. More than one game...

Next day --- did my quaterly reformatting of XP. Formatted drive and watched a football game, turned around, pc once again off. Played with wires, nothign turning back on, pulled out power wire and plugged it back in ... Fires up, -- NO VIDEO/NO BEEP/ just fans and running lights.

Switched cmos batt. - nothing
tried new power supply - nothing
put in old voodoo3 --- PICTURE... video card must have fried! ? !?

Ordered a new Radeon 9700Pro to replace my ex-GeF 5600.

Today, was running 3d Mark - wanted to see benchmarks of my crap --- pc shut off AGAIN.... and didnt turn back on.. unplugged/plugged system power cord. Fires up.

Downloaded some monitoring software, cpu idles between 32 and 44 ish,

Im just wondering whats going on with my system.

HELP please.

Specs:
Athlong XP Barton 2500
512mb Corsair
MSI K7N2 Delta board
Radeon 9700pro

 

[BlueWeasel]

My first guess would be the power supply. What model PSU do you have and the wattage? Also, you might try seeing what voltages you are getting during load using the monitoring software and post them back here.

The chip isn't overheating, as 44C is nothing for the Barton chips.

 

[nate60v]

No name psu, 350 watt, came with case.
voltages:
Vcore 1.65
3.3V : 3.25
+5V: 5.00
+12V: 11.82

 

[TheStu]

those voltages look within spec.... what are the amps on each rail? and are those voltages during load? To achieve load simply download and run Prime95... a tried and true stability tester

 

[nate60v]

I dont know much about power stuff... so i'll need further explaination on "amps on each rail"
Those voltages are close to idle (was ripping a dvd). Temps went up to around 50-56 during some of that too.

 

[drpootums]

i would have to say your "no-name" PSU. BTW, what case was it?

EDIT: unless it's an Antec case

 

[nate60v]

QMax PSU (350w), MaxTope Case http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-150-017&depa=0

 

[zakee00]

problem solved, get a brand name psu. here are some:
antec
enermax
OCZ

i would get around 400W, to future proof your system.

 

[nate60v]

Odered one...
It happened again, computer shut down during Prime95 test ... whenever the computer is worked ... the thing shuts down... hopefully it didnt do any further damage.

Thanks for the help. Quick question, what would make a psu shut down the computer during a system load?

Problem solved prime 95 runs perfect