Please help me!

Alright, I just got a new ABIT motherboard, AMD Athlon XP 2900, a AMD Athlon XP 3000 cpu fan, Dynex 400 watt power supply, and 256 mb's of ram. I have a 250 GB HD that i formatted. When I put in my Redhat 9.0 linux disk, it loads it, and right when i'm installing it the computer shuts off as though it were unplugged. This doesn't only happen with the linux, it does the same thing with Windows xp, and Windows 98! I did once get the 98 installed, but after it kept coming up with all these errors, i had to format the hard drive once again. So, now i can't get any OS to install. I also tried to install an OS on my 30 GB Western Digital HD, but it also does the same thing. Now i've been asking around everywhere, and no one can help me! People have been telling me that it is my power supply, but the power supply is brand new, it was bought at Best Buy. The temperature of the CPU is fine also. I personally think it's NOT a power problem, or a heat issue. Now, if anyone thinks they can help me, please tell me!

Thanks in advance!

 

Just because anything is bought new doesn't mean that it isn't defective, or there wouldn't be return policies and procedures for defective products! I would tend to go with the advice that others have given you. The problem seems to be system related. It could be a defective temperature sensor on the motherboard, but you wouldn't see it in BIOS while you are trying to install an OS, and there might be settings to power down the system if this problem occured.

 

You have a definite hardware issue, although it's difficult to say exactly what. You've eliminated hard drive, the next easiest thing to try is RAM. I suspect either MOBO or power supply, although it could be as simple as the heatsink not sitting correctly on the processor, or a lack of thermal heat transfer compound.