[The General]

heres the machine im trying to fix/diagnose

300w psu (is it enough wattage??)
athlonxp 1800+
gigabtye 7vm400m-rz mobo
512megs pc2700 (2x256)
dvd-rom drive (ide)
cd-rw 24x12x52 (ide)
no harddrive yet (still having problems just using live linux CD)

here are the symptoms:

turns off after an amount of time (kind of random, sometimes it turns off after half an hour, some times it turns off during boot)

to me, it sounded like a cooling problem, but i checked the temps, and they look fine.

shows no errors in memtest86 live up until it turns off.

it looks like the processor (which is used) got so hot that the text on it got burned into the heat sink. here's a picture: here's a picture of the processor and heat sink

it looks like there may be burn marks on it ... you'll see them :-P

could this be the cause of my problems?


maybe i just dont have enough power?

any help i would appreciate. thanks.

[Nikkon]

Next time the computer shuts down on its own, try to restart it right away. If it restarts right away then it is probley not an overheating problem. Your powersupply may also be the issue alot of motherboards require atleast 350watts. Also make sure that it has a p4(i think) connector (the 4 pin connect that is in the shape of a square). If it doesn't then you will need a new PSU.

[The General]

its a 20 pin motherboard ... i think ill go buy a new powersupply, because im doubting if its enough and that could be the cause.