My computer will not start anymore. This whole thing started 3 days ago when I was ripping a DVD to my HD. Stupid idea. It was stupid because my Power Supply fan hasn't been starting when I power-on. I have to manually get it to movie with a toothpick! So during the DVD rip, I started playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live. I return about 20 minutes later to find my computer has shut off. I assume it overheated. It has done this before and has restarted without trouble. This time I was not so lucky. I pushed the power button and nothing. The motherboard light is on only when the I/O switch is on. I read around a bunch of forums and other PC help sites and figured it was my Power Supply that was the evil culprit. My old PSU was 300W, I bought a new one today that's 350W. I have everything plugged in and I get a little more of a charge this time. By charge I mean the CPU fan spinnes about 2 spins and stops. I also have blue LED lights on the front of my case and those flick on then off in a second. The old PSU had no effect. What can I do? My specs: Windows XP Pro ASUS Motherboard Intel Pentium 4, 3.06 GHz Maxtor 80 GB HD 1 Gig Ram (2 512 chips, DIMM I believe) If you need any other information I can give you whatever you need. I really need my computer to work. I don't think I can replace the mobo or the cpu because of budget issues - they were very expencive when I bought them.

Sounds like you may have gotten a cheap PSU. 350W is cutting it pretty close. Is it a quality unit or a cheapie? How many amps on the +12v rail? You should have a bare minimum of 16A & more would be better. Weight is a fair indicator of quality. Heavy = good, light = junk. Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz 768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

Thanks for the reply Jam. The PSU I purchased is Antec SmartPower 2.0. It actually seems to be pretty good quality. Cost $60 from Bestbuy and is pretty heavy. The previous one was very light. The amps on the +12v rail are MAX: 10, MIN: 1. Doesn't appear to meet your standard minimum 16A. My previous PSU +12v rail says 13A. So you are saying a higher +12v would get my PC started up? 13A used to do the trick. What could have changed?

I found this PSU that I can afford. Tell me what you think. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=273001 Also, being the old PSU +12v was 13A, and the new one 10A, could this be the reason for the _NEAR_ startup?

[Update] My computer is now running. However, I have disconnected the power from a certain place on the motherboard. For some reason it seemed to be the evil genius behind the no-starting business. I will be getting a new PSU to go with Jam's suggestion of more than 16A with the +12v. I'm getting one with over 30A. The place that I disconnected has small text under it saying "PWR_FAN" - It doesn't connect to any fans of any kind. So I don't understand that at all. I should mention that it's the only 4-pin connection that I have. My motherboard is an ASUS P4S8X-X. Reguardless of anything at the moment, I am so utterly happy that my CPU/Mobo are Ok and in top running shape!

Doesn't the Antec PSU have +12v1 & +12v2? If so, it's probably OK. Isn't the PWR_FAN connection where you're supposed to connect the HSF? What did you have plugged into it? Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit Gamer Edition WinME/WinXP Pro

The new PSU has +12v1 (10A) and the +12v2 has 15A. I guess it's all okay then. I didn't even see the +12v2 yesterday! Ha. I guess it is for the HSF. I had it plugged in with the old PSU. A 4-pin plug went directly from the power supply to the PWR_FAN. All the fans seem to run as they did before. I did some searching on the mobo I have (ASUS P4S8X-X) and I guess the PWR_FAN is pointless. I could be wrong.