computer shuts down with no warning

[thewebman007]

alright heres my problem, and this just started recently. When it does turn on and im able to boot windows usually after surfing the net or doing anything other than letting it sit there, unexpectly it will shut down like a power faliure. Upon trying to turn the computer back on, everything powers up but i get no response. All fans turn on along with HDD, dvd writer. The only thing is that the monitor acts like there is no reponse from the tower. I get this dull orange light like the computer is turned off.

I built it myself like some 2 years ago and never added anything new in the past year.
this is what i have.
-Maxtor diamond plus 9 120g ata/133 HDD
-soyo p41865PE plus dragon 2
-kingston value ram 1gig DDR 400 PC-3200 (2 512 sticks)
-PNY Geforce fx 5200 ddr 128mb
-ThermalTake P4 Spark 7+ (Xaser Edition)
-P4 with HT 2.8 ghz prescott

any help would be appreciated before i go and buy new stuff.

[mingyu01]

it is probably heat issue

have you tried cleaning yout heatsink?

[thewebman007]

yeah did that all today and same thing, i cleaned the heat sink in the morning and the computer was off and un plugged from everything.
i had the computer running last night for a bit and i downloaded the hard drive one that tells what the temp of the had drive is.
it was at 27* C and it was about that hwen the computer shut down last night.

my processor usually runs 47*C at idle and when im running full load its about 50*C. Usually on full load it drops a degree because i have the termaltake one where i can adjust the fan speed and at about 6000-8000 rpms it drops down a little bit but i've never seeen my processor over 50

i cleaned the dust off all fans and everything today.

[RamonGTP]

Sounds like a failing powersupply to me.

[DanU]

What's your power supply make and model?

[thewebman007]

alright its a Raidmax tower and it came with a 420w power supply

here are the specs on the power....
-Raidmax ATX 12V Power 420w
model number KY-520ATX ATX 12V

here is the link for the tower which comes with the power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156137

[shizzzon]

2 yrs on the same psu is pretty good IMO. I go through PSUs every 8 months because they always fail on me. Went through 2 Antec 480s already, just installed a 560 Thermaltake, lets see how long it lasts.

[thewebman007]

so im guessing that i should try a new power supply?
i was looking at a thermal take 480w psu

[RamonGTP]

That TT will work fine. Antoher excellent choice is this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104953

[orkboss]

ouldn't you borrow a power supply first to see if this is the problem.

[DutchMaster]

ouldn't you borrow a power supply first to see if this is the problem.

Good idea, it could be another component causing this problem.

I had a similiar problem. The powerdowns were caused by bad capacitors.
Do a search for bad capacitors motherboard on google and you get the idea.
A good article with pictures can be found here:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195

It gets you an idea where to look for on your motherboard.
These parts are fitted in powersupplies as well, so it could still be your powersupply

[orkboss]

My new keyboard is sh*t. Maybe thats why it only cast £2 from ebuyer. I haven't quite mastered typing while looking at the screen yet.

[thewebman007]

well i checked the caps like the pictures said and what not, nothing out of the ordinary, and im not going to just sit around so im gonna pick up a new PSU why not

and no there really isnt anywhere i can "barrow" one lol

[RamonGTP]

Well if it ends up not being the PSU, you can just return it anyway (you may get penelized a restocking fee at some places) Some people cry foul at such things and think its morally wrong, but I don't see a problem with it. Its not like you're ripping anyone off or anything as they can easily put it back on the shelf and resell it.

[orkboss]

Well if it ends up not being the PSU, you can just return it anyway (you may get penelized a restocking fee at some places) Some people cry foul at such things and think its morally wrong, but I don't see a problem with it. Its not like you're ripping anyone off or anything as they can easily put it back on the shelf and resell it.

Mind you I have had a power supply go down on me, and many others have as well so when and not if that time comes you can save yourself grief by having a spare on standby. I have a spare.

[shizzzon]

I have spare everything.
4 desktops and 1 laptop
2 extra mobos, 1 extra socket A processor and about to be 1 extra lga775 processor too, 3 extra PSUs, 10 EIDE cables, 2 extra cdrom readers, 2 extra video cards, 2 NIC cards, 2 modems, 1 extra sound card, 3 extra cases, 1 extra HDD, 5 extra floppies, 1 extra capture card, 2 256mb sticks extra, 2 extra fans and heatsinks and 1 extra heatsink and fan for video card, 3 extra keyboards and 2 extra mice. 6 Extra power cords and a LOT of small things.

It's good to have extra so you're never down.

[RamonGTP]

Mind you I have had a power supply go down on me, and many others have as well so when and not if that time comes you can save yourself grief by having a spare on standby. I have a spare.

Very true. I too have a spare PSU, two of them actually

[thewebman007]

alright well the new 480w psu is on the way, i tried yanking out the PSU in my moms HP but its a very weak one and it wouldnt power the motherboard lol so i dunno what happened with that.
but i put mine back in and it turned on but still no general response

so ill let you all know what happens when i get it and put it in.

[DanU]

Big name OEMs like HP, eMachines, Dell, etc typically use PSUs that are just enough to power the stock components in that particular computer, so don't be too worried if it didn't start with an HP PSU.

[thewebman007]

yup so new power supply came

STILL NOTHING

computer powers on... but no beeping no nothing... monitor acts like there is no response... not so sure on what to do.