Crashing Problems

[Albatross72]

System P4 home build
2.4 Ghz P4
PC Chips MoBo
1.25G ram
Radeon X1300
Onboard Sound
Onboard Net.
80 gb IDE hard drive (6mos. old)
CD-RW
DVD-RW
Floppy Drive

Windows is up to date.
Video Drivers are up to date
Scanned for viruses and such.

The Problem: for about a month now

When i play video intensive games (Medieval II Total War - Americas Army)
The computer crashes, alot of times quickly, sometimes it lets me play for a while.
Once in a while it will just freeze and not crash - its rare.

When it crashes, most of the time I cant just hit the restart button, I have to
unplug my puter from the wall for a second or two, then plug it back in to start.
:x :x :x

I can browse the internet and play little games with no problem.

Can anyone help me? this problem is more than anoying :confused: :confused:

[Albatross72]

I just knoticed i have a 300w power supply.

Is that enough?

[MadPistol]

Sounds like a power issue or it's possible the ram may be stressed too heavily during games. We need to know what type of power supply you have running. If it's not powerful enough, I'm pretty sure I know what's causing your system to crash.

EDIT: Just saw your response. If it's a name brand PSU (corsair, PC power & cooling, etc.) you're fine. If it's a generic PSU that came with your case or something, that may be your problem.

[Albatross72]

The name on it is premier

[MadPistol]

Ouch. it may be your PSU.

Ok, test time. Try unplugging everything you don't need in the computer. Unplug the floppy drive and extra DVD drive. If your system is still crashing like it was before, it's probably not your PSU. If it doesn't crash anymore, we've found your culprit.

[Albatross72]

thank you gonna try it now

[Albatross72]

my comp wont start up after removing power from my floppy and dvd-rom-
im going to plug them back in to see if it will start

[Albatross72]

now when windows tries to start my video goes away

[Albatross72]

ok i changed the power plugs that goto my dvd-rom and it fires up again

[MadPistol]

This doesn't sound good. I'm thinking its the PSU. :(

It's rare that a PSU is finicky about which plugs you use on certain peripherals.

[Albatross72]

ok thank for your help im going to get a new 1 ...
400 w sound big enough?

[Lgbpop]

Splurge and get a good one with plenty of power. If it outlasts the computer, reuse it in a new build. (With a PCChips mobo, that may be soon.) You can get a decent 500W-600W range PSU for less than $100. By buying in that range, your PSU will be loafing most of the time - which translates to lower temps and longer life.

Temperature, BTW, seems to be the problem with your current one. If your PSU is working to capacity while gaming, that would explain why you have to unplug the PSU - to reset a thermal cutoff switch.

[MadPistol]

Corsair power supplies are great, and they're not terribly expensive either.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058+50001459&name=Corsair+Memory%2c+Inc.

I'd go for something around 520-watts. If you want to go higher, go for it, but only do that if you're planning on getting a new computer within the next year. If you're not, just get the 450-watt model and be done with it. There's no point in getting something higher.

[MadPistol]

This one also looks like a good deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182044

[Albatross72]

thanks alot people

[Lgbpop]

This is the one I use in all our desktops, and most of the ones I build for sale. I've also used the Rosewills in customer's computers, without complaint. I prefer the 140mm fan in the Xion PSU, it's whisper-quiet and the PSU is rock-stable as well. MWave sell it $40 less than NewEgg so why not save the money?

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct.asp?PID=PW500-XION&updepts=PS-600WP&DNAME=Power+Supply+%2D+500W+%2D+695W+