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Computer died. Advice welcome.

Discussion in 'Technical, security and bug reports' started by NotAdmin, Dec 31, 2009.

  1. Dec 31, 2009 #1
    NotAdmin

    NotAdmin Administrator

    Yesterday evening, my 4.5 year old PC switched off. It's been doing that frequently recently (particularly when I tried uploading more than one file at a time), and usually wiggling the big socket at the end of the main powercables from the power to the motherboard did the trick, but not this time.

    I opened her up, and noticed that the air around the cooling base near the CPU fellt incredibly hot. There was also a hint of smoke or burning to the nose, though I'm not sure that was the PC, or my whisky. I cleaned the fan and cooling sink today, and applied new cooling paste. I was afraid the CPU burnt, but upon visual inspection, I could not see any visible damage with the naked eye on the outside.

    When attempting to switch on, if I ensure no current is in the PC (the power has a small light on the back to indicate this), the fan for the CPU will turn half a turn, and that's it. I tried ruling out it's my surge protected power thingy by directly inserting the power from the PC into the wall, rather than through the surge protection, but that did nothing.

    I am thinking it might be the power supply that's ruined. I have some older supplies lying around but the main power cables on those ends in a block with 10 pins, while my PC's motherboard has 12. I saw there's converter cables available, but am not sure if that poses any drawbacks or risks.

    I might also consider replacing the fan with a newer and better one in case the supply is not the problem.

    Any ideas or suggestions other than these? I *really* hope it's not the CPU or the motherboard (Which I could only inspect from above, but if I replace the fan, I'll be able to see the underside as well).

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Dec 31, 2009 #2
    safara

    safara Pamwe Chete

    Certainly sounds like the PSU will be the first thing to rule out.

    Also one of the cheapest things to replace, and maybe an opportunity to get a higher wattage one for a bigger GC at some point.....
     
  3. Dec 31, 2009 #3
    AlphaGeek

    AlphaGeek

    The fan not turning after a bit of a shudder does kind of point to the PS, usually one of the +12 volt busses since most fans don't use +5 or -12 volts.

    If you decide to get a new one, most of the 24 Pin ATX connectors will seperate 4 pins to allow connection to the older ATX motherboards with the 20 pin connector.

    You can future-proof yourself a bit by making sure the replacement has both the 12V v2 connector for newer motherboards, and a PCE-E connector or two since the newer, higher performance graphics boards don't get all their power through the PCI bus.

    All this assumes it's an ATX motherboard, and not an older AT board.


    ATX board info
    20 pin ATX , 24 pin has 4 more (duh!)
    12 Pin AT Board Power connector
     
  4. Jan 1, 2010 #4
    Shinobi

    Shinobi

    Same thing happens to me too. I know why. Older PCs overheat and switch off automatically. For a while I used to just fan my PC board whilst busy with multipple applications. untill it dawned upon me. You need to go into your Bios screen and turn off the overheating safety features. Now it works No probs.

    Dont forget to clean the inside carefully with a vacuumcleaner and a clean paintbrush, especially your 3D card. The fans also need cleaning regularly.
     
  5. Jan 2, 2010 #5
    NotAdmin

    NotAdmin Administrator

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I bought a new PSU today, but that did not do anything. I took my machine to the shop, where the guy determined the most likely cause is something shortcircuiting in the motherboard. He used a paperclip that he put in two of the holes in the main connector, which ensured the fan worked, but it instantly stopped as soon as we connected the power for the fan to the MB.

    They're keeping her for observation, but I'm afraid it'll mean a new MB :(
     
  6. Jan 2, 2010 #6
    Lykke TheNun

    Lykke TheNun In Loot We Trust

    before someone gets any ideas ... it wasn't me ... OR my cola :lolup:
     
  7. Jan 18, 2010 #7
    Luckycharm

    Luckycharm

    Have you tried taking out all cards in it and leaving only memory & cpu in to see if anything happens when u try to turn it on? Held the powerbutton down for 10 secs with the power unplugged and plugged? Did you short the "clear cmos" jumper on the board? Refitted the memory modules?


    If none of that works I think you need a new mainboard.
     
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