hey guys, ive a problem where my pc wont start up. When i power on, the monitor's LED is flashing orange, the LED on my harddrive is a constant red (this normally flickers when i open an app or game,etc.)my cd-rom drive's light is flickering and all i can hear is the fans spinning and the PSU gradually quietens down after a few secs.
It's a Golden Point 300W and here are my specs:
WinXP Pro
512mb RAM
2.6ghZ
GeForce FX 5900
DVD-ROM with burner
ive had the pc for a few months already and only upgraded the gfx card (which was a GeForce MX440)and have had no problems with it at all until recently.
Ive posted on some forums and they tell me that its a problem with my PSU, however when the pc is switched on, the lights are powered up and i can see its fan spinning - the only thing is that it quietens down within 5-10 seconds - AND on some occasions my heatsink fans or gfx fans refuse to spin. So im guessing that it's messed up/weak/dead/toast. What do you guys suggest and is a 300W PSU rather weak for the specs i have? thx in advance

The important factor is how much amperage you have on the +12v rail. 16A on the +12v is the minimum these days, with 18A or more being the general recommendation.

A 300W PSU doesn't leave a lot of headroom for future upgrades. Have a look at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200
Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit
Gamer Edition
WinME/WinXP Pro

Not sure if you problem is with the power supply, but I can vouch for the PSU that jam just recommended because I bought one and installed it in my PC. It does have 18 amps on the +12V rail, and I have had no issues with this unit.

hmm im confused, the lights come on, and the fans work fine in some way so it might not be the psu. I heard it could either be the psu, some bad ram, or an overheating issue. I cleaned out my heatsink, (and accidentally removed it, was a pain to put back in) powered on and still no effect, so i dont think it has anything to do with that. Haven't tried removing the RAM sticks though, do you think that could be the problem?

"I cleaned out my heatsink, (and accidentally removed it, was a pain to put back in)"

Hopefully you cleaned off the old thermal material & applied a fresh layer of thermal compound? If not, & you didn't have an overheating problem before, you probably will now.

If your system had been running fine before, I highly doubt the RAM would just up & quit on you. But a piece of crap PSU might. "Golden Point"? And you didn't address the issue of how many amps are on the +12v rail? Look at the label on the side of the PSU & post back. BTW, did you ever have this PSU out of the case? If so, would you say it was lightweight or heavy? Lightweight = junk

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200
Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit
Gamer Edition
WinME/WinXP Pro

You could test your RAM by running one stick at a time. Also, do you get anything on the monitor, or does it stay dark? If so, you might try reseating your video card.

ok i had a look at the label and it shows 10A under the 12V rail ;O tried looking up Golden Point in Google, didn't ome up with anything, so it sure sounds like a cheap piece of s*** to me. In reply to Daniel, the screen stays black as if there's no signal being sent to the monitor, and i think the vidcard is perfectly alright as no shifting had been done to the hd up till this point. Anyways before this, the pc would randomly shut down to a black screen (monitor LED would flash orange) and it would take me 5mins or 5hours (had to unplug then plug back in) before i could start it up again. Eventually it came to this where it won't even boot up at all.

10A? LOL! Replace the PSU. If you're in the US, consider the one in response # 1

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200
Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit
Gamer Edition
WinME/WinXP Pro

Just to go against the flow, this could be caused by a hard drive failure. Try disconnecting it and see if the computer will post.

lol im going nuts now, i read somewhere that resetting the bios would solve the problem (taking out cmos battery) i did that a few days back and comp still didn't work. However last night i decided to switch it on...buzzzz...whirrrr...BEEP and im like WTF?! IT'S WORKING! yesssssssss!!!
anyways it took me to the bios screen and i checked the cpu temp, it's at 40C, is this normal?
Also, what app would you recommend me to use for checking the system temp, fan speed, etc. ive tried Motherboard Monitor but that shows my temp as -1C (eh? lol) and Intel Active Monitor doesn't want to install on my pc.
The comp is working perfectly fine now, thoguh i still fear for some reason that those random shutdowns will occur again ;(
Thx alot for the help guys, really appreciated it.

40 degrees is good. The best program to check those things is as you already know, bios. There are lots of programs that run in windows which look to bios and report back what it says. You already have one of these.

Everest is another program which does this. It also does a lot more! Though I have noticed some real screwy temperatures reported by it!

Have the same problem. The PC was not working for several days, same thing, red light for few seconds, goes off, the monitor is not receiving anything, fan is working, green light on. Then suddenly PC started. No problems for few days, restarting/booting- everything was fine. Then again, PC died and I am hoping that when I go home today it will work again... I read in several forums about the same problems and people are talking about so many issues: hard drive F**k up, PSU, motherboard problems, virus!?!, the cmos battery, processor, ram memo...uhhhh. It is a PC, the most intelligent machine and still can't tell you with some pop-up window :" change your hard disk..or buy new PSU" so confusing!!!
Don't want to put a spell on you - Somen00b, but don't be so happy, your PC might go dead again.