Weird computer shut down

I've been having a problem with my computer the last couple of days, i was hoping someone here could help!

My computer keeps switching itself off (not windows shut down, just straight off!), and then it won't turn back on again! It seems to shut itself down randomly, and when i press the power button to switch it back on..... nothing! If i leave it for a little while, or flip the switch on the back of the PSU a few times, i can start it up again.

I'm thinking perhaps the PSU is bust? Or maybe there's a cooling fan knackered somewhere? Could the recent hot weather be a factor? Any help appreciated!

A few system specs if needed:
Asrock K7S8X mobo
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
768MB RAM
GeForce FX5600 AGP
ESI Waveterminal 192L
WinXP Pro SP2

I reckon you might be right with the diagnosis of overheating. Run it with the case off and eyeball the fans. Even if they are OK, it might still be getting too hot.

Definitely overheating, IMHO. Mine overheated once (Athlon XP3000+), and that just switched off too, despite the overheat warning being switched on in BIOS.

Hoovering out the air vents/fans/heatsink helped.

Heh the PC I built my sister did this exact thing yesterday- The fans have never been cleaned and I sat and watched the temps go up into the 60s. Get a hoover in there :-)

Yeah, appears to be a case of overheating as others stated, just wish my PC *didn't* boot-up back when mine was overheating, else my CPU wouldn't have fried, taking out my mobo in the process.....

Aliens!

pixies! Death to the pixies! (and you may also have a BAD CAPACITOR on the MOBO or in the POWER SUPPLY if it isn't a fan issue!)

Jamsz villagesz movesz.

Yeh, check your CPU heatsink - I took the fan off mine and found the heatsink clogged full of dust.

If that doesn't help, try to replace the entire power supply. Maybe if you got a spare one, so it may be tested easily.

it is most likely the fan not being strong enough to cool your CPU, you may need to clean it or get a better one

yepper FAN is #1... DUST in CPU FAN #2... DUST in Power Supply #3... PS Fan #4... Bad Caps #5... ID 10t error somewhere in that list! ;)

what's surprising me is when I had CPU overheat, it usually showed me some kind of dos screen, saying "overheat, willl shutdown in 5 seconds" or something. Probably this depends on the CPU as well as the Motherboard.

You should also take in consideration the machine may have a haircrack somewhere in a connection. Temperature will make some parts expand more than other ones and this may cut the line at a given heat. Later when it cooled down, the connection is back. This may even happen with lightbulbs. they turn on and off every few minutes. One guy I know thought this must be a supernatural event. He simply didn't want to belive me that it's not spook stuff.

I had the same problem. Turned out my fan had died. Because I had no fan I fried my system board, wireless card, and a couple other things. Good thing my computer was under warrenty. :)

Weird computers get shot down all the time, and they should be shut down because they are weird computers! :D