Power supply not working!

[Krypto44]

When i turn on my computer everything goes normal for a little while until about 15-20 seconds have passed. Then the computer just turns off. I used an older power supply that i had and it does the same thing. I have checked all of the connections to make sure there in correctly.

Any ideas on how to get my computer to turn on is great!

[primesuspect]

It might be a temperature thing. Many computers have built in temperature monitoring and if the CPU temp gets too high it shuts off immediately to prevent damage.

Post the specs of your computer - and make sure your CPU fan is spinning fast enough. Touch the heatsink - is it burning hot? Perhaps the heatsink isn't making good enough contact with the cpu core. Those are just some of the things to check. If you've tried a different PSU and it still does it - then it's not the PSU.

[Krypto44]

i have pretty basic things,
512mb of RAM
120gb Hard Drive
Intel Celeron D, its either 2.4gz of 2.8
Radeon 9600 graphics card 256mb
P4P800-SE motherboard


I have a temperature dial on the front of the comp and it reads only 72 degrees. The heatsink is pretty cool, so i dont think its that.

[Mt_Goat]

I bet it is either temperature or the CPU fan sensor is not getting a high enough fan speed reading and shutting down be default.

[Krypto44]

How can i fix that?

[Mt_Goat]

How can i fix that?
First make sure your CPU fan is plugged into the correct fan header on the motherboard and the fan is spinning. If that doesn't work try clearing the CMOS by moving the jumper and the power unplugged.

[Krypto44]

What is the CMOS? ... and the CPU fan is plugged into the right place.

[Mt_Goat]

Is the CPU fan spinning?

CMOS is your bios settings and clearing it reverts all to "Default Settings". The jumper is usually close to the battery and has 3 pins with the jumper on 2 of them. To clear it you move the jumper to the opposite side.

[Krypto44]

Hmm... i cant seem to find that, or i just don't know what it is. But yes, the CPU fan is spinning.

[MAGIC]

did you try cleaning the heatsink surface and putting it back on?

[edcentric]

can you get into the bios settings?
it sounds like it thinks that the cpu is overheating.
You may need to remove your heatsink and clean everything, apply new compound, and reseat it.
Or, as mentioned already, your fan my be getting old or dirty and it may not be getting up to speed fast enough. I have a mobo that likes to trip out for this reason.