A couple of weeks ago, I hit the start button on my PC and walked away to get a drink. When I came back, the PC was off. I was puzzled but just restarted it again with no problem.

Yesterday I booted up and spent about 5 minutes doing stuff when the PC just stopped. No warning at all, it just shut completely off. I tried to start it again but only got the start button to light up for about a second and it got no further. I went away for about an hour and tried again. It booted up fine for about 2 minutes and then shut off again. Again an attempted start only lasted for about a second.

Power supply? I have a 500 watt PSU in it. I did upgrade my video card about 2 or 3 months ago. The one I put in had to have the extra power cord to run. (I can never remember what I have in it when I am away from the PC...like now)

Tell me I am going to get off cheap here.

I've had suggestions to open it up and make sure the CPU fan is working also.

Appears to be a PSU problem. Replaced it and have been up and running for well over an hour.

That happens sometimes - a new video card, requiring more power, causes problems with a PS that might not be powerful enough for it.

Just be happy that none of the other components were damaged or affected.

(01-29-2010 03:51 PM)JohnWho Wrote:  That happens sometimes - a new video card, requiring more power, causes problems with a PS that might not be powerful enough for it.

Just be happy that none of the other components were damaged or affected.

I am giving mucho thanks for that part.