pc shuts down

[cocotheclown]

Can anyone help!!! My pc shuts down after about 15 minutes when playing games and wont start back up until i unplug the psu i have plenty of air flow through the case so i dont think its a heat prob could it be a short in the 400w psu??? I can leave it on all day as long as i dont put a full load on the psu i.e hamering graphics card and cpu or do i just need a bigger psu i am running a p4 1.9 512mb ddr400 gf4 ti4200 on a gigabyte 8sq800 ultra mobo can anyone give me some advice please:confused: :confused: :(

[cocotheclown]

btw its a q-tec dual fan 400w psu

[Whyzman]

Hello cocotheclown,

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

It sure seems like it would be heat related...What I would suggest doing is opening up the case and let a fan blow gently on the innards as you shoot the bad guys and see if the situation is resolved...

Try that first and let us know what happens... ;)

[cocotheclown]

I have plenty of cooling so i dont think it is the problem i have 2 intake and 2 exauste fans pluss the dual fan psu and a Tt volcano 7+ heatsinc and fan the cpu runs at mid 30's and the graphics card at around 40im sure it is something to do with the power supply i have done stress tests on the cpu and it will run with a full load when the graphics card is not in use

[Whyzman]

Random reboots and siezures are usually heat, RAM, or PSU related...so, it could be the PSU...I wouldn't rule that out yet, and is a possible concern...

Have you totalled up your 12V rail usage to see if you're possibly marginal??

OOps...:Here it is:http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/power_supply/

It could also be that you've sufficient fans, but not adequate heat removal...I'd suggest the fan to at least eliminate that possible variable...

[cocotheclown]

Heat in the case is definatly not the problem and the cpu temps are not high either
Could it be the graphics card getting to hot? Would that shut down the system? It is around 40 idle and 47 straight after runing 3d mark 2001 but thats not to hot is it??? And why wont it start back up until i have unpluged the power cord from the psu :confused: Any help would be verry much appriciated

[Whyzman]

There might be a reset mechanism that requires the unplugging of the PSU...

Have you added up the 12V rail drain that you're putting on the PSU yet??