FAO those who know about computers...PLEASE HELP!
milkywhite
Posts: 534
My PC started playing up today. While I was watching a DVD it just went dead, as if it had been switched off at the wall. No warning...nothing. I tried to restart, and the light on the front came on, but it died again after a couple of seconds. I left it 20 minutes or so, then restarted again and it worked fine for about 45 minutes then did the same again. It seems to me that something may be overheating, explaining why it works again after leaving it a while.
I took the heatsink off and cleaned it up thinking the dust that was clogging the veins may have been causing the processor to overheat and shut the computer down.
Do PCs have this shutdown capability if the processor overheats???
Anyway, that didn't do it. It's continued to shut down randomly over the course of the evening.
Could it be a dodgy power supply? The PC is 3.5 years old now, and only has a 250 watt PSU which has not as yet been replaced.
Are there any other things that could potentially cause this problem?
What do you all think? Thanks in advance for any replies!
I took the heatsink off and cleaned it up thinking the dust that was clogging the veins may have been causing the processor to overheat and shut the computer down.
Do PCs have this shutdown capability if the processor overheats???
Anyway, that didn't do it. It's continued to shut down randomly over the course of the evening.
Could it be a dodgy power supply? The PC is 3.5 years old now, and only has a 250 watt PSU which has not as yet been replaced.
Are there any other things that could potentially cause this problem?
What do you all think? Thanks in advance for any replies!
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Comments
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It does sound like it could be an overheating problem. You can confirm system temperatures in the BIOS (usually hit DEL or F2 on the first screen that comes up when you boot - it should tell you which and you'll have to be quick.) You may be able to check system temps from within Windows. SIW is one of the easiest I've found, and it's free.
When you removed the heatsink did you check the thermal compound that goes between the flat base and the CPU?
It may be worth cleaning this off completely and replacing it with new goo.. it comes in tiny tubes and you use just enough to get a really thin layer where the heatsink meets the die of the CPU.0 -
Could be the PSU.
Unfortunately, another possibility is that there is a hairline crack in the motherboard that goes across one of the main power circuits, fine when everything is fairly cool, but when stuff heats up the mobo expands and breaks the circuit. Really hard to track down as the crack will be too small to see by just looking, and if it is that you'll ne a new motherboard.
Have you moved your computer around at all recently?0 -
Most hardware failures with pcs come from the PSU, I'd try and borrow one to see, ideally you want to spend around 40-50 for a low power (ie less than 300W) id look at one of these if it turns out to be the PSU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... 23&subcat=0 -
Thanks for your replies fellas.When you removed the heatsink did you check the thermal compound that goes between the flat base and the CPU?
It may be worth cleaning this off completely and replacing it with new goo.. it comes in tiny tubes and you use just enough to get a really thin layer where the heatsink meets the die of the CPU.
I'd considered this, and might well do it anyway just to be sure. I just didn't want to start handling the processor without proper static handling gear. I'm pretty certain they'd be static sensitive?Have you moved your computer around at all recently?
Up until the first time it failed, it hadn't been moved for over 6 weeks when I moved house, so I doubt that would be the cause. I'm expecting it to be the PSU. On last nights evidence it doesn't seem to cut out when I leave the side cover off the PC, further suggesting there's an overheating problem.
Ride_whenever. Thanks for the link. If it does turn out to be that, I'll be looking into getting one of those!0 -
OK, I think I know what's going on.
The fan on the heatsink is only working very intermittently. This is causing the heatsink to get very hot (it would probably have blistered my finger!). It's not the fan that's faulty as I tried another one that I know works. So...I reckon it's got to be the motherboard.
Who's with me?0 -
milkywhite wrote:OK, I think I know what's going on.
The fan on the heatsink is only working very intermittently. This is causing the heatsink to get very hot (it would probably have blistered my finger!). It's not the fan that's faulty as I tried another one that I know works. So...I reckon it's got to be the motherboard.
Who's with me?
probably a dodgy heat sensor on your m.board.
simplest solution although possibly a few db more noisy would be to wire up the fan straight to one of the 12v cables (yellow cable and the closest black cable), bypassing the sensor control on the motherboard (assuming the fan is a 12v'er, most are).
see how that goes."It\'s so easy, Even Drummer can do it"0 -
To be honest when mine has gone like this in the past it's been an ace excuse to get an upgrade past the missus.
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Case-Fan-Power-Ad ... dZViewItem
sorry about the link, that will allow you to wire it onto your 12V rails safely and pretty easily. However an upgrade would also be good.0 -
ride_whenever wrote:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Case-Fan-Power-Adaptor-3-pin-to-4-pin-12v-Molex-power_W0QQitemZ170169232290QQihZ007QQcategoryZ3761QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
sorry about the link, that will allow you to wire it onto your 12V rails safely and pretty easily. However an upgrade would also be good.
yeah safer is better....i tend to just stick the wires in the molex holes n leccy tape it together a bit
but then my pc looks like something the doc out of back to the future has lying around in his shed. "It\'s so easy, Even Drummer can do it"0 -
Thanks for the replies everyone.
I've just put the heatsink fan on to the supply for the fan on the back of the case, and left the side cover off for now. It's bloody noisy with the fan running max chat all the time, but at least it's not cooking the processor any more.
I'll just have to play music louder to drown out the fan!0 -
if the noise is a bit much you could look on google for a "psu 9volt mod"
as far as i remember its just a matter of using a 3v+ (orange wire) and a 12v+ (yellow wire) to achieve 9v+ and a much quieter fan.
been a while since i used that last so better to look it up.
might also be worth looking on somewhere like instructables.com for a voltage regulating circuit (the fan controllers you can buy are often overpriced).
good luck "It\'s so easy, Even Drummer can do it"0 -
my pc did the same to me in the end i at to get a new one because it would not start up and when it did it just turned straght back off.0
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or. do like I did, buy a usb fan and poke it through the case. or better still, buy a laptop0
