Computer wont "turn over"

[Gallstaff]

Ok this has been pissing me off:

It's a struggle to get my comp turned on. If i press the power button, the lights will turn on and everything will start going for maybe a fraction of a second then shut off. To get it to even do that again, i gotta shut off my psu's power switch, turn it back on and try the same thing again. AFter about maybe 11 of those i'm lucky if the thing catches and keeps going.

So it's like if your engine wont turn over after a while, you gotta keep trying till it starts going. I think this might be due to my 25 dollar 500watt power supply :thumbs-up:

I just dont know I mean the hsf is on alright so it' snot shutting down due to that and everything is hooked up because as you can see i have it working now, so what's the dizzle fo shizzle?

 

[mal]

Originally posted by Gallstaff@Oct 31, 2003 @ 10:46 PM

I think this might be due to my 25 dollar 500watt power supply :thumbs-up:

I'd laugh if it was.

 

[IceDigger]

Most defenitly the power supply. NEVER spend less then $50 on a 500w power supply.

 

[Dyne]

reseat the cpu and reapply more of the thermal paste. my bro's comp was doing the same thing and everyone i know was like "reset the bios....do this do that". i took 5 minutes and cleaned the cpu and put it back in. worked for me. it sounds like a definate overheating problem. so before you go and order a psu give this a try.

 

[racketboy]

wasn't it you who was bragging about the "good deal" you got?

then we told you it would probably cause problems .

then you said you weren't worried.

Maybe it wasn't you, but I'm thinking it was

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

haha I believe it was.....but seriously, get a decent power supply cuz that cheap (wether or not it's to cause for this problem) power supply will end up being nuffin but problems and prob. fry a few components.

 

[racketboy]

don't necessarily need a 500W either.

Just get a good branded 400W or something.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I run 3 hard drives, 3 optical drives, and countless fans in my pc on a 350 watt... I swear, people that buy power supplies that are like 400+ wattage would buy suv's for their penis extension instead, but just can't afford them.

 

[racketboy]

I only have a 300W personally

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I have a 350 watt... cause I could get a 350 watt enermax... or a 400watt generic with this case... lol. On the other hand, most people aren't even running 3 optical drives and 3 hard drives like I am.

Edit: with that said, take your hsf off. Get rid of the thermal paste on it. Put new thermal paste on it (the right amount if you had too little/much before) and make sure it's seated properly.

 

[racketboy]

I might get 3 HDs eventually, but don't think I'll get 3 opticals unless I get a DVD before a DVD burner.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I've had a dvd-rom for a number of years now, got them back when the drives were over $200 ^_^. Just got a dvd burner recently. And then the 40x cd burner.

 

[racketboy]

hehe sounds like me with my first CD burner.

I bought a Sony USB burner -- the first major-branded USB drive and paid $300 for it. I was a pretty popular guy on campus that year 🙂

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

my first burner was a 4x internal sony 😀

 

[mal]

I'm sure there was a topic around here somewhere... 😉

 

[racketboy]

any progress gallstaff?

( )

 

[Alexvrb]

Maybe he can't get it to power up again. Anyway, it seems to me that if his motherboard supports modern thermal protection, that is likely the problem. With some of those boards you DO have to reset the BIOS to get it to attempt to power on normally, so that might be where the suggestion came from. Are you using a retail CPU with its stock HSF, or what? If its retail, you shouldn't be having these problems, and they usually use thermal pads anyway (they aren't as effective, but you can't screw up installation easily!). So do what others said first and reinstall it with new paste, or if it has a thermal pad, scrape that off and use thermal paste. If your board handles FSB with a dip switch, make sure you have that set right.

If all else fails, blame your PSU and use another one. It could just be defective. I've seen even good PSUs that are DOA, but cheap ones are waaay more likely to have problems/fail even if they aren't DOA. I mean, I'm a thrifty buyer and advocate saving money on parts... but I still go mid-grade as a minimum on PSUs, like using a 350-400watt Allied or Fortron unit.

 

[Gallstaff]

I think it might be the psu but i solved the problem

At night I would go to turn off my comp then i would also for some reason turn off th power switch on the psu. If I dont do that, then it's fine.

 

[Taelon]

Interesting... I was going to say why is everyone guessing it's the CPU overheating... if that were the case Gallstaff wouldn't be able to use his computer normally once it's turned on, right?

In any case, you say you'd turn the PSU switch off along with the computer's soft-off button... Maybe what happens is that 1. your CMOS battery is weak and loses its charge quickly and 2. because you cut AC power to the system, there was nothing to sustain the saved settings in light of the battery going weak. It might be possible the board just refuses to power on if it detects such a condition. But as long as things are OK now, I'm glad to hear that 🙂

 

[Alexvrb]

I've seen strange things happen with the thermal protection integrated in some boards. My friend's wont let you power on, if it shuts down because of overheating. You have to reset the BIOS, at least from what the manual says. I guess it forces you to open up the case and make sure its all still working. Also, I've seen stock cooling that lets you run the computer fine, but when ambient temps aren't great or you're playing a 3d game for a while, it gets too hot and kills the power/reboots. So you could power on and cruise around in Windows day and night. Play a game for 10 mins, bam it reboots or powers off. That's when I recommend a HS/fan upgrade.