PC shutting off

[JNightshade]

Okay... this is really pissing the hell out of me. Two nights ago, I went to bed with my PC on. When I woke up, it had turned off... by itself. There wasn't a power outage, because my clock was at the right time. I tried to turn it back on, but it didn't work. Then, about half an hour later, I tried again, and this time it powered up fine. It worked for about 15 minutes, then turned off suddenly. After that, it wouldn't start up at all. I had a feeling it was the power supply, so I checked it out. Sure enough, it smelled like an electrical fire, so I unplugged it right away.

The next day, I went out to get a new PSU, and spent 60 bucks on a sweet Ultra 500 watt. I put it in, then replaced the heatsync on my mobo (which I'd meant to do forever). It worked fine for about an hour, then I restarted my PC (cause I installed the Catalyst 5.8 drivers) and it died again 15 minutes later. That was about an hour ago, and it still won't start up! Does anyone have a clue what could cause this?


oh, and my stats:
ATI Radeon X800 XT PE vid card, ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo, AMD XP 2800+ proc, Ultra 500 watt heatsync, ATX Demon case, ummm... I can't think of anything else.


My dad thinks it might be the motherboard, which would give me an excuse to upgrade to an Athlon 64... but it's nothing more than a guess.

 

[Kamikazie]

did you plug it into the same outlet?

 

[JNightshade]

It's plugged into a powerstrip, but I know that it works. My clock and monitor are both plugged into it, and they work fine. Also, I'm pretty sure I used a different outlet on the powerstrip each time.

 

[Kamikazie]

are you using the same power cable?

 

[JNightshade]

nope. I used the Ultra's power cable with the ultra, and my old one with the original PSU.

edit: could you please change your sig? It's freaking horrifying. I wince every time I look at this page.

 

[Kamikazie]

is the comp your using now the one with probs?

 

[JNightshade]

No, I'm borrowing my mom's.

 

[Kamikazie]

check and see if there is burn marks around where the power supply plugs into the motherboard.

 

[Asus]

The Fan on your CPU spinning and all? Temps are fine?
If the heatsink isn't exactly flat it can cause the temp to go up pretty quick.

Although an Athlon 64 would be nice. =p

 

[JNightshade]

Temps feel normal, but I can't tell because the damn thing won't turn on. The fans were spinning just fine, and as to the burn marks... none at all.

 

[bryanf445]

I think its the mobo, my friends comp did the same thing. Might not be, but its my guess

 

[Kamikazie]

hmm..well did your dad say he would pay for the motherboard?

 

[JNightshade]

no, but I have more than enough money to pay for it myself. I'm pretty stingy with my money, so I can afford big things.

 

[Kamikazie]

i dont want to tell you to go out and buy it and that not be the problem... :|

 

[JNightshade]

Oh, I'm definitely waiting on this. I mean, I jumped the gun and blew 60 bucks on a new PSU today, which turned out not to be the problem. I think I've learned my lesson.

 

[Kamikazie]

could it be the hard drive?

 

[JNightshade]

hmm... I doubt it. I mean, after the first time it died, it rebooted and worked fine. I've seen harddisks die, and when they die, they're dead. You can usually turn on a PC, it just won't load Windows. This seems like a much more hardware-related issue.


edit: I just noticed something important. The PC may be off, but there's a light on the mobo that's still on. I guess that means it's not a PSU or power cable problem.