Unexpected loss of power

[Junkie_ball]

Hi all,

I was looking at my dad's old computer it's a 3ghz amd on an abit motherboard with i think 512mb of ram. Completely out of the blue the computer has started to lose power. The only way to power back up again is to physically remove the power cable and re-insert.

I have eliminated the possibility of a dodgey cable by trying a couple of others. Also in various sockets. Can anyone point me in the right directions with any possible problems that might cause this? IE Power pack on its way out, processor, ram etc?

One common theme is it only seems to happen when the computer is processing information which leads me to discount the power pack.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[pfloyd]

RAM...need more ram.

[doctorhardware]

Sounds like the CPU is over heating, check the heat sink and make sure it is free of dust build up. Make sure that the fan is not running slow. Also check the power supply fan that can also cause to over heat and shut down the computer also.

[Abuilder]

It sounds like a heat problem to me to. AMD’s need every bit of cooling you can give’em.
Also have a very close look at the capacitors that surround the CPU. They should be perfectly flat on top. If any of them are even slightly domed that usually means they are on there way out and can cause stray voltage to the CPU. Also look at the sides of the caps to make sure they are not getting puffy or any is goo bleeding out from the bottoms.
NO I’m not joking. I have re-capped so many of those AMD boards that when an AMD system is having issues the caps are the first thing I look at.

[Chewy]

Another possibilty that comes to mind is something is shorting the power supply and tripping it, removing the power cord let's the protection reset

[Junkie_ball]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Will give the sysem a good clean out sure it could do with one anyways! I'm sure the computer doesn't need anymore ram as the system has a fresh install of XP pro which it has ran on for years although now has half the rubbish installed. Not ruling out the possibility of replacement ram bing required though.

Interesting comment chewy as it only sems to shut off when accessing the dvd drives. I'm sure both are looped in a slave configuration and use the same power connector from the PSU. I've noted the problem occurs almost instantly on the first dvd drive (primary) although tends to run a few minutes longer when using the slave drive. Could that point to my primary dvd drive as possibly spiking the old voltage tripping the PSU?

[Chewy]

Could that point to my primary dvd drive as possibly spiking the old voltage tripping the PSU?

Sounds like it, test by unplugging the drive

[Junkie_ball]

Will do i'll give it a go and report back.