Computer starts then shuts down right after

[umrjake57]

I went to turn my computer on this morning and shortly after posting, everything turned off. I went to turn it back on and the computer lost power 1-2 seconds later. If I leave the computer turned off for a while but still plugged in, it will stay on long enough to post, but if I try to turn it on right after it shuts off, it powers off right away. I pulled the PSU out and tested it with a multimeter, and all of the voltages were where they should be. Is this a motherboard problem?

I have the following setup:

Antec TP 550W PSU
Tyan Tiger K8W Dual Socket 940
Dual AMD Opteron 252's
4GB ECC Registerred DDR
XFX HD4650 1GB
2 x 160GB SATA HD's in RAID 0
Windows XP Pro

 

[shovenose]

hmm...check for any bulging or leaking capacitors...thats my only idea.
oh and what exact psu?

 

[acer0169]

Could be a motherboard issue, but I've got a computer in for repair right behind me and that was doing the same thing. Turned out to be a faulty RAM stick. Try all RAM out, then one at a time (if there's more than one) testing them in the first DIMM slot and see if you can boot up.

 

[umrjake57]

I will have to check the RAM when I get off work, I definitely like that idea better than having to replace the motherboard.

The PSU is an Antec True Power 2.0 550W circa 2004

 

[hell_storm2004]

It could be the RAM's. If you have two sticks. Try to boot individually first then see if anything works.

 

[shovenose]

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/printthread.php?t=4415&pp=40

 

[umrjake57]

It turned out to be a RAM problem, just not bad RAM. Either my RAM sticks are too thin, or the slots on my motherboard are too wide, because the sticks are easily moved while locked in place. I wiggled them back in place as best I could, and the computer finds all 4 sticks and stays powered on just fine.

 

[jsc]

Unusual problem. Nice work.

 

[umrjake57]

Best answer selected by umrjake57.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey