a while back i put myself together a new computer in an old case i liked. the case had only a 250 watt power supply and i have a lot of stuff in the computer so i put in a 350. after that, the computer would restart randomly and eventually the power supply blew. i went out and bought another one and after a month or two, it blew. a couple of days ago i put in a 400 watt and my computer restarted by itself again. each time one blew, i put the old 250 back in until i got around to buying a new one. i've never had a problem w/ the old 250, just w/ the new ones. anybody got any idea why the old 250 watt works flawlessly but all the new ones cause the computer to randomly restart. are they making them differently now? appreciate any help, thx, maxwell

It sounds like you have a bad grounding problem. Is the case you have one of those proprietary types, like a DELL or Gateway? If it is, then the case and the 250W power supply were designed to be together. This is one of things companies prevent third-party upgrades on their systems. COMPAQ is well known for this. Just buy another case - they come in all shapes, sizes and colors now.

the case is an old micron case but not proprietary in that the power botton wires connect to the board - it doesn't use a switching pwr supply. the 250 that i keep having to put back doesn't have a wire that grounds to the case. i'm not even sure that it is the one that came w/ the case - i've got a lot of old cases and power supplies. can anyone think of another reason why all the new power supplies i put in cause the computer to randomly restart. has anyone else had this problem. (when i brought the first power supply back, i asked the guy i bought it from what could cause the problem and he said that newer power supplies have smaller filter caps, if that helps anyone.) thx, maxwell