Is it the PSU?

[MJM]

Hey guys,

basically my mum's PC is broken. She gave me a description of what was happening, but as you can possibly imagine, not a very good one, so first thing I excluded was malware.
It is definately not a software issue.

So redefining her definition of some stuff I've decided it's probably the PSU. Basically what happens is that some times her computer will just suddenly shuts down (I assume she means turns off by power cut and not windows shutdown - try explaining the difference to yourmother - argh). Sometimes it will not boot up again for the longest time. She unplugs it and leaves it for a while and then it might turn on again only to eventually shut down again.
When it doesn't turn on, she says the PC still has some lights on, but pressing the power switch does nothing.

If you guys need more info, you'll probably need to formulate any specific questions to be clear enough for her to understand.

I'm not there, but soon I will be, I'd just like to try and figure this out now.

[philthomas]

It could be overheating ..... try cleaning the heatsink and fans and see if things improve.

[Razer]

I'd go with heat too, a good clean will help any situation but this may just solve your problem =)

[Carbon]

It sounds like heat to me too, but PSU a close second. Give it a good cleaning.

[Hybrid]

+1 heat, clean your CPU fan.

[MJM]

I should've mentioned that we installed SpeedFan and she gave me the temperatures she saw and they seemed normal. Though by the sounds of it, it was only the case temperature.
I've taught her how to clean and she's been keeping it up, but I'll remember to check those two out once I get there in ten or so days.

[PC WhizzKid]

I will say it is heat as well maybe the PSU.

[Imanuel4u]

I agree with the above post.

[ilop12]

well if it was overheating, it would automatically restart and turn on. if some lights are on but it doesnt boot i would say to test the computer with another power supply then test the "broken" power supply on another computer. but be careful as it could break a new computer.

[MJM]

Well, I've replaced the PSU (no spare, so had to be bought) and look at this... it's been running all day, no issues what so ever, added the X1600 XT and it's running pretty well.
Doing a memtest just in case.

[ilop12]

ok good. im glad it fixed your problem