I had a look inside the case when the computer was running to see if I could find any other clues. I took a glance at the power supply which I had suspected was the problem. What do you think I saw? The fan on the PSU was not spinning! This was the case solved for me as I then knew that the PSU was overheating, hence causing the computer to shut down.
Faulty Power supply symptoms:
Power supplies do fail eventually. Factors like age, dust and ventilation all affect the life of a power supply. However there are usually some obvious signs that it will fail. Apart from the overheating problem as I have mentioned earlier there are other signs to look out for:
- If you notice that the outside case of the computer is hot to touch around the area of the PSU.
- If you switch on the computer and after a few seconds it switches itself off again.
- If nothing happens when the power button is pressed. An light may flash on your computer to indicate a fault.
- After intensive applications or games have been running for a while, the computer might switch off or might even display a BSOD.
- Usually the computer will shutdown randomly without a BSOD.
- Beware when you upgrade a graphics card to a high powered one. Graphics cards are extremely power-hungry so make sure that your power supply can deal with it.
What to look for when choosing a PSU:
Check with all your hardware's minimum requirements and see if you match it by at least greater than 20%. A power supply will only supply what is needed. That means that if you buy an 800w power supply it will not use 800w all the time, only what is required.
Do not attempt to repair a power supply as they hold a high charge even when not plugged in. Replace a power supply when you can at the first signs of failure to minimise the risk of damage to other system components.
