System overheating or power demand?

Yakko

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2004
4
0
18,510
Ok, I'm in an interesting bind here, maybe someone here can help me out. I recently installed a new harddrive to my computer, and while the system had 2 HDs in it, it would randomly just shut off, as if I pulled the plug, but the power light would remain on. Removing the old HD resolved this problem. I thought it might have been heat related, but the CPU and mobo temperatures were within acceptable limits.

Fast forward to yesterday, I install a new wireless network, and move this computer upstairs to my room, where it is a little hotter overall, I suppose. The CPU and MoBo are still supposedly in acceptable temperature range, and now all of a sudden, with the new wireless adapter installed in a PCI slot, the system randomly shuts off. Any ideas?

--Stephen
 

Yakko

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2004
4
0
18,510
I was wondering if maybe the problem was, my 350w power supply was under too heavy a demand? Would that cause the PC to shut off? Or could that be overheating? Here are the components of the system so you have an idea of the power draw and or heat buildup to the system in general...

-Amd processor 3200+, has a fan mounted on it
-1 gig of ram via two 512 chips, one has a heat sink on it
-ATI Radeon 9800 128, which needs additional power so its hooked right up to the power supply
-250gig 7200 rpm Harddrive
-two CD-type devices (dvd player and a cd burner)
-Wireless networking card
-3 case fans
-Optical mouse (i figure even that may have power draw)

Hopefully this info will help someone help me!

--Stephen
 

Yakko

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2004
4
0
18,510
I'm also wondering if it's the power supply for a couple weird problems I've had.
1. In games, my performance doesn't seem like what it should be for my systems capibility with processing, video, ect.
2. the wireless network i just installed will randomly lose connection, and ive investigated all interference possibilities, i think, and have played around with the channels.
3. My fans do not seem to blow very hard

^Could all these be related to my power supply not being powerful enough?

--Stephen
 
Doesn't necessarily sound like a heat problem. The important questions here is what kind of 350 watt PSU do you have. I have seen some 350 watt PSU that can handle more than what you have in your system, and then I have seen 350 watt PSU with similar rattings to a nice 200 watt PSU.

If you believe it is a power problem, try unplugging some things and see if the problems remain, or not. Unplug unecessary stuff, CD-Drives, extra hard drives, fans, whatever is easy to get to.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>
 

Yakko

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2004
4
0
18,510
The power supply is an Antec...so if it ends up not being power, and not being heat....is it just possessed? And if so, is there some sort of downloadable priest for an exorcism?

--Stephen
 

fishmahn

Distinguished
Jul 6, 2004
3,197
0
20,780
I agree with Mr5oh.

Based on what you said in your first or 2nd post, it probably is a PSU problem. You had the problem, you removed some load and the problem went away. Recently you added new load, and the problem came back.

Check with something like mbm5 (motherboard monitor - google for it) and see what your psu voltages are like.

Mike.