PC randomly powers down during games?

Hi all,

My computer has developed a nasty habit of just randomly powering down, then powering back up almost instantly, mostly during games (99% of the time). Rather frustrating as you could imagine.

System is:
- Compaq Presario 06
- AMD Athlon (tm) xp 2400+, ~2.0 GHz
- 256 MB RAM
- GeForce 4 MX 420 (with up to date drivers)

It hasn't had any hardware alterations since it left the factory as far as I'm aware.

Running games like Diablo 2, System Shock 2, Emperor of the Fading Suns, etc, nothing too flashy. I've mostly been playing Diablo 2, which seemed to trigger the problem more often once I installed the expansion and started running it in the higher resolution.

I've tried running the PC with the side panel removed, which seems to extend the time I can play until the problem occurs, but today it happened while I was sitting in Firefox with a few other bits and pieces running.

Any clues on what the problem might be?

My techie assocatiate at work suggested running diagnostics on the motherboard power supply bits and bobs but I can't find the right utilities for it.

 

Sounds like something, maybe the video card is overheating, or your power supply is not up to the task. Make sure the heatsink on the video card is clean and the fan is working. Try another video card, and if you still have the problem, I would suspect the PSU.

Another thought would be your RAM, download memtest or the program of your choice and make sure the RAM is good.

E