Does this sound like a PSU problem?

tim0chen

n00b
Joined
May 17, 2005
Messages
50
For the past week, I've had a problem where about once every day, my computer would crash randomly. Even at times of little load, it would just shut off without a blue screen or anything - as if the power got pulled. Today, this problem got worse, and my computer won't stay on for 10 mins without crashing even when I have few programs open.

Some things to consider:
1) As of about a month and a half ago, I've had to flip the power switch on my PSU off/on every time before I could turn on my computer. This is regardless of whether my computer crashed or was shut off normally.

2) I've upgraded nearly every part of my computer since I built it a year ago, EXCEPT for the mobo and PSU. So maybe these parts were sufficient in the past, but can't keep up with the upgrades? Here are my comp's specs:

Mobo: Chaintech VNF4
PSU: XClio 450BL 450W
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4400+
Memory: 2GB
Graphics card: ATI X1800XT 256mb
Sound card: Creative X-Fi Xtrememusic (something like that)
HD: WD 74GB Raptor w/ 16mb cache

Does the PSU look like the weak link in this setup, and if so, should replacing it with the OCZ PowerStream 520w solve my problems? If not, what else could be at fault?

Any input is appreciated a ton - thanks in advance!!
 
Seemingly random crashes can be caused by a lot of things from bad RAM, bad CPU, bad PSU, and software like a virus or some other malicious code. Do you have a multimeter available to measure your power supply's output? If so, Give it a go and see if the numbers are within spec. If not, you should replace it.

I might be inclinded to upgrade the PSU anyway. You've got a fairly demanding system, not the most I've seen, but it could be too much for that PSU.

I've not read anything about XClio, so I don't know what kind of PSUs they have, nor how they rate them.
 
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