possible defective power supply?

[factor 9]

About 3 weeks ago my computer stopped booting, it wouldn't even try to
boot. I replaced the power supply and the case (the power button was
broke off on the case) which wasnt easy because I lost the motherboard
manual. I got it installed though and it worked just fine for a couple
of weeks. Then yesterday the computer started rebooting after a few
minutes of usage. Applications would lock up and pc would shut down.
Very soon I noticed a burnt smell coming from my computer. I saw no
smoke at least.

I opened the case and couldn't find anything obviously wrong. I
couldn't even determine what device in the pc was responsible for the
smell although common sense would indicate the PSU given the
circumstances.

The previous PSU was 350W the new one is 450W. Could I have gotten a
bad PSU? Could I have goofed somthing up when installing the power
supply? Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[JK]

It might be a power supply problem, or it could be a problem with the
cpu overheating. Another cause might be faulty ram, however the burning
smell indicates it is probably one of the first two. It isn't just the size of
the power supply in watts, but its quality that is very important. Buy only
very high quality power supplies. I prefer the brand Antec.

 

[Matt]

I lost the motherboard
manual.

At boot, the system should display a BIOS ID string. If you google for
that string you will be led to the mobo make and model, which will
probably enable you to find and download the manual.

 

[DaveW]

The smell is from a fried power supply unit. Might I suggest that you buy a
QUALITY name brand power supply this time. The cheap ones can be death to
motherboards.

 

[factor9]

The smell is from a fried power supply unit. Might I suggest that you buy a
QUALITY name brand power supply this time. The cheap ones can be death to
motherboards.

Thanks, went out and bought an Antec power supply this morning,
installed it 4 hours ago, no problems so far.