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Computer Issues (Power Supply?)

Corp.ShephardCorp.Shephard Registered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I've been having a pretty big problem with my computer in which I do not know what to do. The problem likely originates from a LAN party just this last weekend. I was playing Company of Heroes with my friends when my graphics card simply kicked the bucket. Died out then and there. It'd been strugglin' and overheating for a while, so I had already bought a new Graphics card: a Geforce 8800 GT, a sizable upgrade from my current card, but I was going to ride this card to the end. When the card died I went home and picked up the new one and then installed it at the LAN.

My computer ran fine for the remainder of the LAN, which lasted for about one more day before ending. I came home, got some sleep, woke up, hooked my computer up and began to experience serious graphical problems. Graphical glitches on simple programs like Diablo 2, which would inevitably end with the screen going black and forcing a restart.

Immediately I thought this to be a power supply problem: the card was sharing a connection to the PSU with the CD drive and a few other devices. The next day I ran out and picked up a fresh 600 watt ULTRA power supply unit. It had additional wiring that allowed me to give the graphics card its own connection to the PSU (Which the card manual reccommends). Upon booting up I found that my graphical errors were gone and everything seemed fine! Diablo 2 to Company of Heroes ran fine and dandy. However, about an hour to an hour and 1/2 after booting the computer up it just suddenly cut off. Distressed, I looked down to see that the LED light, the green light on the front that usually was consistently green when the computer was on, was blinking on and off. Unplugging the computer did not stop this immediately, it continued for a few seconds before ceasing. Furthermore, it seemed I could not reboot the computer until it stopped/the computer had been unplugged and replugged in.

I can get on the computer and use it for 30 minutes to an hour before experiencing the problem. The amount of time appears proportional to the strain on the computer (IE: playing a game or something intensive appear to shorten the amount of time). I suspect that this is also power related, but I am not sure where to start troubleshooting this. Could this brand new PSU be faulty?

I'll follow this post up with some computer specs. I want to post this in case it cuts off again.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Corp.Shephard on

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    Corp.ShephardCorp.Shephard Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Computer:
    Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
    OS Service Pack Service Pack 2

    Motherboard:
    CPU Type Unknown, 2200 MHz (11 x 200)

    Motherboard ID MSI 07/21/2005-RS480-SB400-6A666M4DC-00

    System Memory 2048 MB
    BIOS Type Award (07/21/05)
    Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
    Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

    Display:
    Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB)
    Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (PS3052801348)

    Multimedia:
    Audio Adapter Realtek AC'97 Audio [NoDB]

    Storage:
    Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
    Disk Drive Generic 2.0 Reader-CF USB Device
    Disk Drive Generic 2.0 Reader-Multi USB Device
    Disk Drive SAMSUNG HD160JJ
    Optical Drive _NEC DVD_RW ND-3540A
    Optical Drive CB3017K YHU092T SCSI CdRom Device

    Partitions:
    C: (NTFS) 152617 MB (8590 MB free)

    Input:
    Keyboard Logitech HID-Compliant Keyboard
    Mouse Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse

    Network:
    Primary IP Address 192.168.1.101
    Primary MAC Address 00-13-D3-21-51-52
    Network Adapter Hamachi Network Interface (5.70.129.172)
    Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC (192.168.1.101)

    Peripherals:
    Printer Auto hp deskjet 990c on NEWJOEL
    Printer Auto HP PSC 950 on FREEMAN
    Printer HP Officejet 7200 series fax
    Printer HP Officejet 7200 series
    USB Device USB Composite Device
    USB Device USB Human Interface Device
    USB Device USB Human Interface Device
    USB Device USB Mass Storage Device

    Gathered using AIDA32.

    Would this be better located in the Technology Tavern?

    Corp.Shephard on
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