Computer randomly turns it self off

[sonneti]

This has happened twice in the last month or so, it hasnt been under any load at the time.. can't be overheating as the side is off and its in a cool room with all fans working.

I tried to turn it back on straight away but the power only came on for a few seconds... I tried a few times more and it would turn off again just before the post beep.

Left it for a few minutes and tried again.. and it works!!

Any idea what this might be? Power supply maybe?

This apartment doesnt have a great electricty supply, 1 double socket in the room to power the PC, printer, speakers, monitor, tv, dvd, ps2.. although only the pc has been on all day.

PC is 3 years old custom built.. never had any problems like this before. I ran hijackthis with no problems, virus checkers etc showing nothing.

[sonneti]

It happened again :/

[BluffTHIS!]

You said you are sure it's not overheating, but you didn't mention whether you checked the internal fan to see if it's operating OK. Assuming it is, then it does sound like a power supply problem and I would probably just replace it. As to your electrical situation, you should get a combo battery backup power supply/surge suppressor, which should deal with fluctuations as well as actual outages.

[PokerImprov]

Used to have a similar problem. I replaced my power supply and it was fixed.

[Beavis68]

you realize that having the side off can mean you get worse air flow? The cases are designed to pull the air where it is needed, with the side off it draws the air straight to teh fan about back out instead of taking it over the parts that need cooling.

[Freakin]

are you sure the HSF is on w/ decent thermal compound? Are you sure it's attached properly? Have you done any kind of heat checks on the system, or are you just assuming it's ok cause it should be?

[ajml]

I had a desktop that used to do this to me. I was able to salvage it for a little while by going into the BIOS at startup (Fsomething it says) and turning down what speed my processor would operate at. This worked for a few months and eventually it started doing it again so I junked it.

[skelm]

Ok, If this isn't an overheating problem then I would say that it is most likely a problem with one of the RAM chips. If you are able then open the box and check that the RAM is in properly. I would even suggest changing the slots that the RAM is in if possible or even change the RAM sticks themselves... PM me if you need anymore help!

[Meech]

[ QUOTE ]
Used to have a similar problem. I replaced my power supply and it was fixed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd start here.