So today my pc just stoped.

Today while playing BFvietnam my computer shut off all by itself. It is still plugged in the lil green light on the mobo is on, but pushing the on button does nothing.

If i turn of the swich on the power supply off and then turn in back on. and push the on/off button all the fans spin a few times and like it is about to start but it dies in 1sec. verry short.

mobo = asus a7v8x
chip = amd xp2500 retail (barton core)
ram = 1024 ddr400
hd = maxtor 40g
vid = ati radeon 9600 pro
sound = Audigy gamer
os = windows xp sp1 and all updates

The pc that died is nothing but a game machine so im not worried about loseing anything, but since i know verry little about computers, I dont really know where do begin trying to figure out whats wrong or how to fix it. so any idea's :D

ouch
First thing, have you let it sit for a long while unplugged and tried booting up then?
gut instinct says somethings up with your CPU fan or video card fan (if it has one). Many motherboards/video cards will prevent a boot if these fans fail. After that I'd say power supply.

Basic troubleshooting would involve disconnecting all non essential parts (dvd, cdrom, floppy, any add on PCI cards) and booting off just the basics, CPU, Memory (just one stick, cycle through them all), video card, powersupply, off on switch. See if you get a screen or beep code.
At which point if it fails, get some loner parts from a friend if you can and try swapping the pieces out with any spares you or your friend may have.

Well, the standard procedure in this situation is to remove the battery (it's a big watch-type battery, probably in the lower-right corner of your mobo, maybe left). Then unplug the back of the computer and let it sit like that for several hours. Put the battery back in and plug it back in and turn it on. If it still doesn't work, you have problems. :p If the fans only spin for a second, it's either the PSU or the mobo. You can try unplugging some components like your cd's and hd's and see if it starts that way. If no luck still, try taking the PSU from another computer and substituting it. Dunno if that's beyond your experience though.

Thanks for the help im will try those things and keep my fingers crossed.

Not shure about installing a new power suplly i actually have 1, just not shure i knw how to install it correctly.

thanks again

Well I stripped it down to just the mobo the cpu and a memory stick and i cycled threw them. nothing made a difference. i pulled the battery out for about 10 minutes also.

gonna try this other power supply so any thing i need to know?

what steps should i take from here?