System shuts down??

[trose]

I've had my computer for a while now and recently I've started having a problem. When I'm doing something that requires a lot of processing like playing a game on high settings or just running a lot of heavy applications my computer will just shut off. And in order for me turn it back on I have to toggle the power supply switch off and on to get it to power back up. I built new system for my friend about a year ago and it does the exact same thing??? I've recently formated my hard drive and installed a newer version of XP on my system and it's gotten better but still does it occasionally. I thought this was just a power supply thing until my friends computer started doing the same thing. Any ideas?

[philbar71]

first open your case make shur all fans are running if not fix them then check your temps with pcwizard or speed fan

[SYL\X/3K]

when you stress your computer with applications your power supply need to kick in to give out more juice to ur hardware to perform as it need to.

try testing a different power supply on your computer

o ya Welcome to Tech-Forums

[trose]

Thanks for the tips. I got speedfan so I can keep an eye on my cpu temp. Does anyone know the shut down temp for a AMD athlon xp 3000? I think the upper limit is around 70C, but I'm not sure.

[jeremy4719]

1.) Video cards (newer ones) eat up a lot (like 400w) of energy out of the power supplies... This can cause the card to have problems, computer to fail, etc.... Check the card vs power supply on wattage and usage...

2.) Get some compressed air and spray off the fans, hardware, and into the power supply.. Dust can do a lot!

3.) Do you have enough fans cooling the inside of your computer case?? Good air flow is important...

4.) Look in your BIOS for the shutdown temperature (write it down)... Then look and see what other temperatures you can find out in the bios... You might find your problem if its heat related...

5.) Something could be loose (wire, plug)... Check them...

Those are some things to try...

[S0ULphIRE]

If the temp shutdown point is pretty low, u can raise it a bit.

[trose]

I got some air duster and a vacuum cleaner and sucked all the dust out of my cpu's heatsink and computer case. It lowered the temp on my cpu by over 15 degrees C and solved my problem. I can't believe I didn't think about doing that earlier.