Is this really a PSU problem?

[pcgirl]

I recently bought an old Abit KT7 (non raid) mobo and an 800 mhz T-Bird from someone. When I got the items, I noticed a bunch of AS3 caked all over the processor. I attempted to boot up the machine, but it wouldn't post.

So I cleaned off the processor real good and placed it back in the computer. This time, it booted fine and I had the machine running for two hours. Then, I went to restart it, and again it wouldn't post. I shut it off and went to bed.

Then this morning, I turned on the computer, and it wouldn't post. No video, no beeps, just the fans spinning. I have an old Aopen 235W PSU in there and now I'm wondering if that might be the problem? Or is the processor bad and maybe I just got lucky that it booted up that one time?

Oh, and I don't have any add on cards in the system, just video card, ram, cdrom, HD, and floppy.

[Maximouse]

Try another PSU.
Or try taking the motherboard out of the case and test running it, the symptom sounds like it could be a grounding out problem with the MB and case.

Good luck.
Al

[Monaco]

your symptoms sound exactly like some problems I've had! A bare-bones Duron box that I had wouldn't power on the first try(fans spin but no beeps or vid), nor would it restart correctly, but it ran just fine once you DID get it started.

I switched the lame-o 235watt Sparkle PSU I was using for a more beefy 350watt unit, and all my problems went away.

As for the CPU- personally I have never come across a CPU that works only sometimes. For me at least, a proc' either works or it doesn't. ;)