Hello. (I realized after I posted this in Window XP forum that is would have gotten more response in hardware forum- sorry about the double post- it wont happen again) I recently installed a new heatsink on my machine because I decided that my system was overheating. It now runs at 125F at 2000 revolutions which is less than half the amount of revolutions (5000) it used to run at for the same temperature- so I don’t think it is overheating at least not the processor. Anyways while I am gaming or doing anything requires lots of CPU the power supply gets louder and louder, (just like the heat sink used to do) the computer does not freeze but often times after 45minutes of gaming or so I lose control of keyboard and mouse but computer keeps on ticking away. When I don’t lose control of keyboard and mouse- I shut down the game and let the temperatures drop the power supply is still making the same amount of noise it did while gaming. On start up there is almost no noise or air coming from the vent in the case but while gaming there is lots of air even after shut down of game. (This may be obvious but in case it helps…) Also when I place the computer in sleep mode and wake it back up and play a game I lose the mouse and keyboard in about 1 minute. I narrowed it down to… •My case does not do a good job of ventilation and I would need a whole new case to ensure that nothing overheats. •My power supply is not powerful enough (350watt) and I need a more powerful one or need one that does a better cooling job. This is why I lose control of mouse and keyboard in gaming- eventually the power supply 'sucks' so much power/or heat I lose keyboard and mouse. But power supply still powers 'more important' compenents like heatink and such. •A setting in the BIOS for power is set wrong. •They are two different issues power supply making noise is that it is overheating or not powerful enough. And the loss of keyboard and mouse is a Windows issue. •Any others… Thanks again for any input. ASUS K8V-X 1 gig RAM, Redaon 9250 AMD 64 3400 Athlon

You're on the right track but maybe I can shed a little more light on the situation. Many modern power supplies have a thermally controlled fan. As the psu does more work and gets hotter, the fan spins faster. Sounds like that applies to your machine. The more you load the cpu, motherboard, memory, graphics card etc. while gaming, the hotter they all get. It's certainly possible than one or more than one of these components is just getting too hot under load. Case ventilation is vital...all that extra heat needs to get the hell out of the case. Did ASUS Probe come with your motherboard so you can monitor load temps? You need to be able to monitor as many temps as possible when under full load. Can the psu be marginal? Sure it can...I had problems with my nice 400w Sparkle last week and a midpriced Allied 300w cured it until I can go shopping. HDD overheating? Could be...good temps are under 50°C. A64 getting too hot under load? Maybe...just monitor the load temps. Graphics card heating up too much under load? Again a possibility but the 9250 doesn't run very hot at all. Memory overheating? Unlikely. A64 doesn't use a northbridge chipset on the motherboard...it's built into the processor. You can improve the airflow through you case. Do you have any fans in the front or rear of the case other than the one on the psu? What brand and model is your case? How does cool air get into the front of the case? Does it have a little "vacuum cleaner" looking slot at the very bottom front or any slots/holes in the front? Good basic airflow can help you a lot, expecially during the summer months. Ambient air should enter at the front bottom area and exhaust in the power supply area. A couple of extra 80mm fans can do wonders. Skip

Can't remeber where i seen this but there was an article on power supplys and video cards and making sure that your power supply's rails meet a cetain requirement because the video cards demand so much these days.If i find it i will post back.

Wow, and wow again thank you for your full response. Yes my Asus mobo came with a probe and the temperatures are stable while gaming the procesor never gets over 54C and the mobo never gets over 32C. I dont have a mointor on either my PSU or my HDD but by 'touch' they never seem to hot. My graphic card has fan but also does not have a mointor. I let newegg get to me they had a great deal on a 450w PSU with free shipping so I brought it should be here by Monday or so I will let you know how it went. If the new PSU does not work I will place a fan in the front or back of case like your metioned. I have an old sony vaio case like 1996 so I dont know how good the air flow would be. I have no idea what the "vacuum cleaner" thing is- this is my first time ever building a PC so I dont know much... I really appericate the response. Thanks a lot- I will tell you how the PSU installation went. ASUS K8V-X 1 gig RAM, Redaon 9250 AMD 64 3400 Athlon