computer shutting down

[|RES|arod]

Over the past couple of days, my computer has been shutting down while I play TFC (only game I play). It is very random, but only happens when I am playing TFC. Everything completely turns off and I cant boot again until I turn off the switch on the PSU and turn it back on again. I am not sure why this would just start happening now since I haven't really changed anything. I have an Antec 380 watt smart power PSU. I also don't have any special components that would require very much power. I just have an 80 gb hard drive, floppy, cd-rw, and an external fan and have done no overclocking. I have monitored the temperature on my processor and MB and they both seem to be fine and well below the shutdown threshold.

Video card: Geforce FX 5200
Motherboard: Asus A7n8x nforce chipset
Processor: Athlon Xp 2800+
Ram: 1 stick Crucial 512 mb pc2700 ddr
OS: Windows xp pro

My initial thoughts are it could be:
a) my power supply sucking
b) RAM is starting to go bad

I have 2 sticks of 256 mb sitting around somewhere that I will try out later to see if the problem continues. Any help is appreciated. New PSU suggestions are also welcome.

[ArmoredBullet]

sounds like your power supply taking a pewp if you arent overheating. even then i dont think you would have to turn your power supply off and then back on to get the computer running. i have an antec 400 watt, always used antec and never had a problem :o i would wait for a few more suggestions and not make my guess deffinite but im pretty sure thats the answer. gl man

[RD]

Its your psu

[thrash_head]

Sounds like its the PSU. You can go in and make sure that all of the power cords are connected to the motherboard good. Other then that i would get a antec psu.

[|RES|arod]

Sounds like its the PSU. You can go in and make sure that all of the power cords are connected to the motherboard good. Other then that i would get a antec psu.
That is what I have.

[adamantium]

Definitely, as stated before, the PSU. The exact same thing happened to one of my machines a month or so ago. Ordered a new PSU and it worked perfect.

[thrash_head]

You have a Antec PSU? I would see if its under warranty, they are very good about sending new products if your still under warranty.

[ass*assassin]

lesson:

if all you guys would deal with a local computer shop, and independant with a guy that is a gamer, he would more than likely have the spare parts, knowledge and all that to help you out in cases like this.. i got guys all the time bringing in their stuff for quick troubleshooting and help.. (serious gamers, they all come to my shop.. at least in my area..).. it takes me like 2 mins to troubleshoot something like this, and sell them a new psu and get them back home and gaming pronto...instead of screwing around on some forums like this.. :)

again, find a good, honest gamer, that runs a small shop.. they will almost always go that extra mile to help you out..

[RD]

lol ive had my share of going to local shops and the ones I've visited didnt impress me. Not saying you dont run a good shop but yea.

[Dave]

Around here it's cheaper to buy new parts. The prices they charge are fair, but it's easy to burn through two or three hundred bucks trouble shooting.

[RD]

Yea its much cheaper to troubleshoot the problem yourself, and to fix it. Sure you'll have some questions here and there but theres guides on the net and forums to ask those questions.

[thrash_head]

Personally, for me, I learned everything i know about computers by doing it all by my self. Around here, there isn't a local computer shop. So now everyone comes to me for a computer related issue. I'm not saying local computer shops are bad or anything, but I learned it all from doing it myself, and now i have a good job because of it.

[|RES|arod]

update: The problem only occurs when I have vysync turned off and an getting over 250 fps. With vsync on, I get 120 fps. So, I guess I will keep vsync on for a short-term solution.

[thrash_head]

I like Vsync

[|RES|arod]

bump:
I just replaced my power supply with a new 500 watt antec smart power and the problem continues. I am thinking it might be RAM or my processor. I am planning on testing the ram tomorrow when I wake up and hopefully that is the problem. Otherwise, I have no clue what I will do to try and fix this short of creating my next computer earlier than I had wanted to. My previous post is actually untrue. It has started shutting down with vsync enabled as well.

[|RES|arod]

The problem has been solved.
After buying a new PSU and swapping the ram, I began to monitor the temperatures with ASUS probe. I noticed that everytime it crashed, the CPU temp was 62 degrees celsisus. For some reason, it would shutoff at that temp instead of the custom threshold I set at 70 degrees celsius. When I took off my heatsink, I found that the arctic silver was only on half of the processor for some reason and it wasnt directly in contact with the copper part of the heatsink. I hate myself.

[thrash_head]

Try and sell your old PSU to someone. I know if i needed it, i would sure buy it from you. But glad you got it fixed :D