Hi everyone!
am new to the forums! how are you all?
Ive got a p.c problem at the moment.
Everytime i have my pc on for around 30 minutes and im using powerful music production software such as cubase and the powerful vsti plugins my Computer decides to completley cut out (the power) AND it takes a while for the power switch to work again. I keep pressing it and nothing happens, i have to remove the power lead and plug it back in for it to come back on.
Does anyone know what the problem could be? ive monitored the heat levels and the CPU temp is around 68C and the HDD around 50C
ive got cooling gel on the CPU.

My pc is a
2800Xp AMD ahtlon
1GB Ram
32MB Geeforce graphics
Asrock motherboard
thanks alot for reading

68C is awfully hot, it could be overheating at that temp. Is your cpu fan working? Case fans ok? I don't think an athlon xp should be nearly that hot.

ive not got a case fan in the machine coz i leave the side of the machine off.
I recently put sum cooling gel on the cpu, shouldnt that of helped? whats the optimal temperature for my cpu usually around?
thanks

I'd think it should be closer to 40C +/-.
Thermal gel itself doesn't cool the cpu, it just lets the heat transfer easily to the heatsink, which dissipates the heat away from the cpu, and into the air instead.

what is the next step to take to cooling my CPU down as cool as possible?
this fan is only 8 months old, i have just cleaned it out and it seems JUST sligtley better running at 55C when idle.
Should i buy a better fan?

Hmm I have an AThlon XP 3000+ and it has the same temperatures. How many fans in total you have? ITs actually worse not to have it open then to have it closed. IT cuts the airflow plus if you live in a humid area static electricity can bunch up in the components and short circuit them. :bounce:
You can try to swap out the heatsink also or make sure you have ab intake and and an outake fan. IF you do have an intake and an outake, make sure they are facing the rgiht way