Computer shuts off when an appliance turns on

My computer shuts off whenever an appliance in my apartment turns on, usually my fridge. I can tell because whenever my fridge starts humming, the computer turns off. It's not faulty wiring in my apartment, because the same thing has happened in another apartment as well as a house (same computer).

I thought a power surge protector would solve the problem, so I purchased a power surge protector with 7 outlets and protection up to 1060 joules (about 450 v). The only thing plugged into the protector is my PC. It seems to prevent the computer from shutting down sometimes, but not always.

I bought my PC about 2 1/2 years ago. It has an ASRock 939 Dual-Sata2 motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU, a gig of generic samsung ram, and a 6600 GT gfx card. The case came with an antec power supply. I thought antec power supplies were good, but apparently the ones that come with the cases are crap. The power supply was causing some problems, so I got it replaced with an enermax 350 W power supply.

I'm thinking the problem is probably that the power supply isn't powerful enough, although I remember reading that a 350w power supply was more than enough for my computer (remember this was 2 1/2 years ago).

Before I waste any more money, I would like to hear what you people think.

 

This should NOT be happening, but you knew that. Since the same thing has happened in several different locations, I'd say it's time for a new power supply in the PC. Since one power supply has already been replaced because "it was causing some problems" there's a chance that the first PSU damaged the motherboard making it overly sensitive to changes in power, causing the PC to shut down because of minor fluctuations. If there's a way to remove your current power supply and install it temporarily in another PC, or install another power supply in your PC, you'd know if it was the power supply or motherboard. Another course of action would be to get a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) which is essentially a battery that runs your PC when the power goes out, but your power isn't going out, so I'm not 100% sure it would help. A UPS will provide much cleaner power to the PC than the surge protector does, and a UPS is less prone to being affected by line surges and dropouts. If you do buy one, keep the receipt just in case; or maybe a friend has a UPS you can borrow for a day or two....

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

Or you can lug it to your friend's/neighbor's & try it out there for an hour. Then you'll know what's going on.

The enermax 350w should suffice for that pc. Enermax is a quality brand. However, some old mobos may require a minimum of 400w. Check your mobo manual.

Oh the above advice is good. I have an 860w UPS. Yep, 860w. My pc uses less than 200w at idle. The ups can run for 10-30 mins during a black-out, but I'd use it for something else like a desk lamp or charging my phone/handhelds in the event of a black-out. The ups comes with software that will shut down the pc safely when the power goes out.