Power Supply Unit

closed

other than unplugging any peripherals, and having a nosey around bios settings relating to power management, not a lot else to try software wise.

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=price+ascending&price=0+TO+30&cat=149&page=1

macman

Can you beg/borrow a PSU and swap it out to test your theory?
IMHO PSU's don't usually linger for long when failing, they just expire-rapidly and loudly.

Lum

An iffy or underspecced PSU can cause weird stability issues in my experience.

That sait it usually happens throughout the lifetime of the system though. When they die they go bang and sometimes take out other parts of your PC.

HoolyNI

May just persevere with it till it does go bang, have re-seated RAM and graphics card just in case, also noted that the old on-board graphics slot doesn't work anymore though I doubt that is related...

esuhl

If the PC seems to be failing when it tries to shut down, I'd download a bootable CD image (such as Slax Linux) and boot from that. Then try to shut down and see if you get the same problem you have when shutting down Windows. That way you'll know if it's a harware or OS problem

http://www.slax.org/en/download.php

HoolyNI wrote: »

... also noted that the old on-board graphics slot doesn't work anymore though I doubt that is related...

The on-board graphics slot? On-board graphics are built on to the motherboard (i.e. on board), so there won't be a slot for them. If you have a motherboard with an on-board graphics adapter, you may be able to disable/enable it via the BIOS settings.

almillar

I wouldn't recommend sticking with it. The one time I've had a PSU died, I did have plenty of random unreliability, but when it finally did go, it took the motherboard with it! I agree with trying out another PSU if you can to see if you've got a reliable system, OR try unplugging the CD drive, or any extra hard drives, or even the graphics card if you can use internal. All these things will be putting a strain on the PSU, and if you remove them and it behaves, you'll know it's too weak.

HoolyNI

esuhl wrote: »

If the PC seems to be failing when it tries to shut down, I'd download a bootable CD image (such as Slax Linux) and boot from that. Then try to shut down and see if you get the same problem you have when shutting down Windows. That way you'll know if it's a harware or OS problem

http://www.slax.org/en/download.php



The on-board graphics slot? On-board graphics are built on to the motherboard (i.e. on board), so there won't be a slot for them. If you have a motherboard with an on-board graphics adapter, you may be able to disable/enable it via the BIOS settings.

Sorry, I meant where cable for monitor goes in at back of pc, tried it but getting no signal, it might have been disabled years ago when a new motherboard was fitted though.

Am thinking now it is my cpu overheating i fitted a new quieter fan about 6 months ago, though new fan matched specs of the old noisy one.....took heatsink apart last night and gave it a good cleaning as it was slightly dusty but nothing compared to what i cleaned out of the old one...