new to the forum and could use some help

[cschit]

Hello all. I read the stikies (most of them any ways) and will do my best. Keep in mine I am using my iphone cause my computer is... Well you will soon find out. So please bear with me on spelling and the fact my computer will not turn on. But right before it took its final demise, I did install a fresh copy of win xp, full partition clean out. Sp1 I would assume because no Internet connected at the time. And installed all the factory drivers from the provided disks. Only C&C3 was installed besides the above mentioned.

Comp specs:
PS : generic 550w codegen
MB: asus m2n-sli deluxe (amd socket am2 cpu, ddr2 800/667/533, system bus 2000/1600 MT/s)
CPU: amd athlon 5200+ 64x2 dc
Mem: generic ( super talent) 1gb ddr2 667 pc 5300 x 3 total 3 gb ram
hdd: seagate (barracuda 7200.10 ?) 320gb sata
vidCard: 2x GeForce 7600gs 512mb DDR running in sli
from what I remeber it uses on board audio.
Cd/DVD: generic write master DVD rom
case: generic tower (cheap) with one cAse fan. Personally don't think its overheating thou.
What did I leave out?

The issue:
Bought the computer custom built at a nice little store, took it home and it was amazing. About 8 months ago. About a month and a half ago the computer would just turn off after about an hour, loaded or not (gaming or on stand by) I check the power setting and it wasn't set to power off.so I thought it was overheating or a virus. I installed a new copy of xp and updated to sp2 and took the case cover off (I now realize a bad move) and left it off. The problem persisted and the time it took to shut down got shorter and shorter. Now it might stay on long enought for me to see the very first boot screen. But the longer I leave it off, the longer it will stay on. I can get to the bios and the desktop every so often. I tried to explain of in full, let me know of I can provide any more information. Thank you and happy thanksgiving

 

[Rudster8161]

looks like your PSU died if it isnt overheating, immediately go into your BIOS and check your temps just in case. if its below 45c in the BIOS i dont think its overheating, but it might still be, so see what your temps are once you get into windows and just monitor them for a while before it shuts down. if all looks good then its likely your PSU.

whats your range on how much you can spend on repairing something like a PSU?

 

[cschit]

i do have a temp gage that i always had up because i only had on case fan. At idle i remember it being around 90f and running C&C3 full graphics would be around 145f. I am pretty broke at the moment, but i do want to biy aomething to where i wont go through this agan

 

[Atomic Rooster]

When the computer is on, is the fan on the CPU heatsink spinning?

 

[cschit]

as soon as I turn it on yes. And it stays on while the computer is on. The gage I mentioned early would also monitor the fan speed. And would set an alarm off it it reached a certain threshold.

While I am posting this I also want to ask if there is a way to test the psu without another cmputer or Psu handy. I do have an ohms meter thou LOL

!!- i forgot to mention, before it got to the point where i coundnt get to the desktop very often i put a fresh copy of xp on A fresh partion. No updated secrity or service pack. Just windows xp pro and the drivers for all hardware

 

[Atomic Rooster]

There are PSU testers you can buy. They run around $10 or so.

Does the computer make any beeps during bootup?

 

[cschit]

No beeps. I have started in safe mode and It seems to run for a min or so longer, but still dies. Maybe its just the false sense of security it gives me to believe so...?

 

[CompMan]

Yeah my guess would be is that it is the PSU dieing or going out.

Do you have any extras laying around? Or borrow a buddies to test?

 

[cschit]

all of my parts on my old pc's are 2600 miles away. I just moved here and my buddy has a laptop. I will see if I can get a cheap or free one just to test on craigslist. Should I get an sli capatable psu, or dose that matter?

 

[Cabbs]

SLI-capable PSU's just have two six-pin power connectors for graphics cards. If you don't have two, don't worry about it.