Computer turned off, won't turn back on

[ebs530]

My graphics card died so I bought a new one, plugged it in, and it ran for like 40-45 minutes then my computer shut off and won't turn back on. My powersupply was a 500watt and the gts250 required a 400watt. I am guessing it is the powersupply but is it possible it is something else. I don't want spend a 100$ on a new one and it not be the powersupply.


What are your guys thoughts on what the problem could be and what should I do?


Thank you.

 

[v1zzle]

Sounds like you have heat issues. You should monitor your cpu temperatures. Your power supply should be suffice as long as it's a good brand - gts 250 aren't demanding in power. As your computer shut down before your graphics purchase, or just now after you bought it, also, when you say your computer shut down after 40 minutes was that just on idle, or were you gaming or "stressing" your computer in general. Also check your graphics temperatures and report back.

 

[pjmelect]

Sounds like the power supply to me. If it isn’t the power supply then it will cost you a LOT more money than the cost of a replacement power supply. Have you tried the paper clip trick to start the power supply?

http://aphnetworks.com/lounge/turn_on_psu_without_motherboard_the_paperclip_trick

 

[jsc]

System specs? Not all 500 watt PSU's are created equal.

Work through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If not, continue.

I have tested the following beeps patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. You do have a case speaker installed, right? If not, you really, really need one. If your case or motherboard didn't come with a system speaker, you can buy one here:
http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU.

Motherboard LED's mean very little. When on, all they are telling you is that the computer os plugged into a live power socket and the PSU is switched.

Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps:
At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card. Silence or long single beeps indicate a problem with the memory.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

 

[shovenose]

exactly what modl power supply. some junk 500w units can really only do 150w

 

[ebs530]

Sounds like you have heat issues. You should monitor your cpu temperatures. Your power supply should be suffice as long as it's a good brand - gts 250 aren't demanding in power. As your computer shut down before your graphics purchase, or just now after you bought it, also, when you say your computer shut down after 40 minutes was that just on idle, or were you gaming or "stressing" your computer in general. Also check your graphics temperatures and report back.

I can't check anything because I can't start the computer up, it won't turn on. The reason for the new purchase of graphics card was a heat issue, as my old graphics card (9600gt) was overheating when I would play a game. It had temps of 95C and then would make the computer shut off. So I bought the gts250, played starcraft for 40minutes and the computer shut off and won't turn back on which is why I think it's the powersupply.

My computer is a cyberpower, so the powersupply isn't that good. I also had a problem with the powersupply before but my warranty for cyberpower was still going so I just sent my computer to them and they replaced it, as now the warranty is up.

 

[shovenose]

okay, so what model power supply do you have? you will have to look at the label on the psu