computer just goes off

merk

Distinguished
Nov 5, 2001
189
0
18,690
this happens to me maybe once a week ... today it happened twice so i'm getting tired of it.

Using the computer, when the mouse/keyboard stop responding and 2-3 seconds later, the computer just goes off. The monitor acts like its not getting a signal and goes into standby. Keyboard doesnt do anything (numlock light doesnt respond etc). Only thing i can do is hit reset.

I'm guessing this is a hardware problem because when i reboot, xp doesnt say there was a crash, and theres nothing at all in the event log. So i'm guessing something hardware wise is just blowing up.

cpu/mb temps are fine.

Any suggestions? My first guess would be power supply. Although i have a 400watt supply which i think should be more then enough for 3 HD's and 2 dvd.

I have an asusp4p800 delux mb
P4 2.6
1gig kingston memory
sb live
ati 9700pro
3 HD
2 dvd drives
350 watt power supply (from antec i think, sl350)

nothing in the system is overclocked.

thanks
 
sounds like your first instinct about the power supply is on the right track. <A HREF="http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/" target="_new">power supply wattage calculator</A>.
 
well according to that it says i should have at least a 437 watt supply. Any particular brand you suggest? coolmax and antec seem like the most likely pair i'd go with since i can get a 450watt supply from newegg for around $60.
 
those guides are usually over kill. your antec is enough power but it sounds like its not working properly. way to check is watch your voltages and see if it drops when it crashes.

wpdclan.com cs game server - 64.246.52.144:27015
now featuring (optional) cheating death!
 
unfortunately its really not an option to watch the voltage, since it occurs too randomly and without any warning. I'd litterally have to keep asusprobe open all the time and sit and stare at it.

I have opened it randomly to check, and the graph seems pretty stable to me. some very very small bumps in the graph, like from 11.977 to 12.038 which i assume is fine.

right now the volts read:
12.038
4.99
3.328
1.584

the last two are perfectly straight on the graph, and the first two with those small .05 bumps

although it looks like i can get it to record the changes to a file. Although i dont see any way of reading the file it records.

oh well. Maybe i can find a spare PS to test it out with. PITA thing is though it happens randomly, sometimes days apart, so its not going to be easy to test.
 
Uninstall Asus Probe.

Download Motherboard Monitor 5.. Install and set it to monitor at 1 second intervals,or continueous. and record to a log file.

Now run your comp doing whatever you think might make it crash. After it crashes restart and read the log file.

I aint signing nothing!!!
 
i just installed motherboard monitor 5.x

What are the acceptable voltage ranges? According to MM core0 should be 2 volts. But for me its fluctuating between 1.49v and 1.57v with 1.55 the average

I assume core0 is the cpu voltage. I've got a P4 2.6