[hobbs07]

I have a PC that is running winXP with a Biostar T-force u775 motherboard and 512 MB of memory. It has begun to shut down unexpectedly. One day, it may go all day with no shutdowns and then the next it may shut down throughout the day. Today, it initially ran for about 3 hours. Then after restarting it probably ran for another 2-3 hours and from there on, the amount of time between shutdowns has decreased to the point that it will not completely start up. This is a brand new MB so i don't think that is it. Also, the MB came with a cpu temp diagnostic utility and the cpu temp is staying around 30 deg Cel, which I know is fine. Also, after it shuts down, the heatsink is warm but not hot to the touch. This leads me to think that the cpu is ok. Right now I am leaning towards power supply failure....what do you think? Is there any way to test a power supply without having a good replacement? Any other ideas as to the cause??

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It does sound like a psu problem, enter bios and look aound for voltage reading of the +3.3, +5 and +12V and post them here.

Bios readings are most times accuate but the best way to check the voltages is with a digital volt meter, even then on rare occasions a psu can be what I call flaky, it reads voltages perfectly fine one minute then at random times drops voltages on one of tha rails, this is one of the hardest to diagnose with out actually trying another psu in the system

[Doby]

It does sound like a psu problem, enter bios and look aound for voltage reading of the +3.3, +5 and +12V and post them here.

Bios readings are most times accuate but the best way to check the voltages is with a digital volt meter, even then on rare occasions a psu can be what I call flaky, it reads voltages perfectly fine one minute then at random times drops voltages on one of tha rails, this is one of the hardest to diagnose with out actually trying another psu in the system