My computer is phucked

[SMOKEU]

My computer keeps turning itself off at random. It happens in both Windows XP and Linux, which leads me to think it's a hardware issue rather than a software issue. It's only being doing this in the past week, about 3 days after I installed a different motherboard. It turns off as if the power cord is being ripped out, sometimes it will run for a couple of hours before turning off, other times it will only run for about 30 seconds.

The problem seems worse when the computer has been running for a while, although even after running for an hour the CPU, MB chipset and video card temperatures are well within the acceptable ranges.

[avgas]

ya power supply unit is poked.
Buy another off trademe for $1

[allycatz]

my daughter kicked the power cord off the back of my laptop and ripped the end off....beats me why I cant get it repaired. Cant find any for my laptop for $1 on trademe

[bogan]

does sound like a PSU issue, or maybe you phucked up the mobo installation?

[avgas]

my daughter kicked the power cord off the back of my laptop and ripped the end off....beats me why I cant get it repaired. Cant find any for my laptop for $1 on trademe
You can - its just a DC supply. So connect 2 wires and she is away again.

[SMOKEU]

I just got an error triangle in the system tray, with a message saying "Disk write failure" The message kept popping up, I couldn't open any applications and about 5 minutes later the computer turned itself off.

[SMOKEU]

I've also been having problems with a "Disk read error" message coming up after the BIOS, which kept happening even after restarting the computer. I disconnected one of my HDs (the one without my OSs installed) and problem solved. I connected that 'bad' HD up again and it's fine now.

[imdying]

Make sure ya heat sink isn't full of dust nigga :yes: (and it's secured properly, not one of the clips half off or anything)

[SMOKEU]

Make sure ya heat sink isn't full of dust nigga :yes: (and it's secured properly, not one of the clips half off or anything)

I've just given the case and all the heatsinks (except the PSU because I don't want to open it) a thorough cleaning out a week ago.

[imdying]

Give it a memtest next (memtest86), maybe during the cleaning or the motherboard conversion you've zapped it. Or maybe the RAM isn't compatible with the new motherboard... sometimes some brands don't like other brands etc. It'll rule it out at least.

[SMOKEU]

Give it a memtest next (memtest86), maybe during the cleaning or the motherboard conversion you've zapped it. Or maybe the RAM isn't compatible with the new motherboard... sometimes some brands don't like other brands etc. It'll rule it out at least.

Cheers, I'll give that a go.

[Tank]

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[High Lord]

At a guess, overheating . Which triggers auto shut down. and maybe the mobo might be sucking more juice which yr old psu can't give? I got a sweet trademe Psu new for 40-50 bucks. ... then to find my Gfx was fukt...... at least my gsx is reliable !
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Cases-power-supplies/Power-supplies/auction-291847682.htm

[glegge]

also check your mother board cap's - if there lids are bulging, there dead... I'd be surprised if the HDD causes the machien to shut down.

[SMOKEU]

At a guess, overheating . Which triggers auto shut down. and maybe the mobo might be sucking more juice which yr old psu can't give? I got a sweet trademe Psu new for 40-50 bucks. ... then to find my Gfx was fukt...... at least my gsx is reliable !
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Cases-power-supplies/Power-supplies/auction-291847682.htm

I'm looking at spending around $200 for my next PSU, it needs to be at least 600W and have at least 25A on the 12V rail as I'm looking at going SLI soon. Phuck knows how I'm going to fit another video card in my case, I might just have to hang the HDs outside of the case to make room.

[Ronin]

I'm looking at spending around $200 for my next PSU, it needs to be at least 600W and have at least 25A on the 12V rail as I'm looking at going SLI soon. Phuck knows how I'm going to fit another video card in my case, I might just have to hang the HDs outside of the case to make room.

How old is the replacement board? Check the top of the capacitors, if the are bulging up or leaking then it's screwed.

[SMOKEU]

How old is the replacement board? Check the top of the capacitors, if the are bulging up or leaking then it's screwed.

I don't know how old it is, I bought it as a 'refurbished' board from a computer shop. The board itself 'looks' to be in a very good condition, the capacitors aren't leaking or bulging up.

[glegge]

Overheating, Memory (memtest as already suggested), or power then if the board looks OK.
does it always turn straight back on again? or does it beep and carry on?

[Ronin]

I don't know how old it is, I bought it as a 'refurbished' board from a computer shop. The board itself 'looks' to be in a very good condition, the capacitors aren't leaking or bulging up.

Ahhhh, for refurbished read "I think this works"

[steve_t]

Mobo sounds poked

[SMOKEU]

Overheating, Memory (memtest as already suggested), or power then if the board looks OK.
does it always turn straight back on again? or does it beep and carry on?

I don't think anything is overheating, as the CPU and MB chipset temps are quite low. After it turns off I have to manually turn it back on.

[Gremlin]

with memory / mobo incompatibility or problems, it will usually restart. That said, psu could do that too. Besides hdd and memory testing, psu replacement is easy. I have seen OS's cause restart, but if both your os's are causing restarts, then yeah, hardware.

[jonbuoy]

Is the power supply getting hot? Does sound like a power supply issue as it shuts down and doesn´t automatically re-boot. Can you lessen the load on it by pulling off optical or extra hard drives or running onboard graphics and sounds instead of a video card?

[SMOKEU]

Is the power supply getting hot? Does sound like a power supply issue as it shuts down and doesn´t automatically re-boot. Can you lessen the load on it by pulling off optical or extra hard drives or running onboard graphics and sounds instead of a video card?

The PSU doesn't feel hot to touch, the mighty 9800GT is a fair drain on the PSU, and I don't have onboard graphics. I'll have to try and find someone with a spare PSU that I can borrow. One with a PCI-E power outlet and SATA plugs. I may even open up the PSU and clean it out if I really have to.

[SMOKEU]

After the computer randomly turned off before, I felt all the heatsinks inside it after about 2 hours of constant running, and the MB chipset (passive) heatsink felt very hot to touch, almost hot enough to burn my skin so I'll bolt/glue on an old Pentium 133 fan that I have lying around. I also got the following message upon starting up the computer, just as the BIOS was loading:

WARNING: System boot fail
Your system last boot fail or POST interrupted.
Please enter setup to load default and boot again.


WTF is going on here?

[rustic101]

My computer keeps turning itself off at random. It happens in both Windows XP and Linux, which leads me to think it's a hardware issue rather than a software issue. It's only being doing this in the past week, about 3 days after I installed a different motherboard. It turns off as if the power cord is being ripped out, sometimes it will run for a couple of hours before turning off, other times it will only run for about 30 seconds.

The problem seems worse when the computer has been running for a while, although even after running for an hour the CPU, MB chipset and video card temperatures are well within the acceptable ranges.

Just had the same thing with mine. I ripped it to bits and believe it or not it was the fan unit. When pulled to bits I shoved the vacuum over it and it runs sweet as a nut now. The blades were absolutely coated with a really fine dust and the intake coated with dog hair.

[scracha]

Considering how cheap new motherboards are these days ($100) and the amount of mucking about you've had, I can't understand why anyone would fuck about with refurbished ones.

Vacuum cleaning a PC is NOT a good idea. I've learn't this the hard way after thinking I knew better.
CPU overheating...just change the fan/heatsink as they're so cheap. Aftermarket ones are normally miles quieter too.
Cheapo trademe PSU's have given me lots of hassle. Buy a decent brand and get one with a big fuckoff fan on the bottom as they draw hot air out of the PC very well.
Case fans...thermaltake ISGC are cheap and almost silent.
Sticking lots of cheap fans inside a PC just makes it noisy, draws more power and doesn't necessary cool things down. Think about the overall air-flow.

You get what you pay for.

[jeffs]

If you upgraded with out taking proper anti-static precautions anything could be effected.

If you suspect the PSU is not able provide enough power and this may be shutting down with an overload issue, then start by removing the graphics card and running it off the motherboard video. If the PSU is marginal ( because it will run for sometime before dieing ) then the reduced load may help you work out what is going on. You can do the same with the second HD, just try reducing the draw on the PSU.

Then you replaced the MB, you will have had all the h/w out of the machine so any component is fair game, so system minimization is the next step.
Pull all your PCI cards, Try it.
Pull dimm's and try one at a time.
But the most likely issue is MB or CPU ( if you did use anti-static precautions ). And you have no idea on the MB history = the most likely issue.

Generally incompatible components would show up much earlier in the boot process. As for OS, You said the problem happens with both Linux and XP, so no it is not OS.

[breakaway]

Check the event log.

[SMOKEU]

Considering how cheap new motherboards are these days ($100) and the amount of mucking about you've had, I can't understand why anyone would fuck about with refurbished ones.

It wasn't easy to find a new AM2 board that supports SLI. The ones I did find were of the Gigabyte brand, which are the shittest MBs I have ever come across. I have had at least 5 Gigabyte boards fuck out on me, so I bought an Asus.

[imdying]

Many of the fastest PCs in NZ have been built on Gigabyte boards, and have proven their reliability. If you have consistent trouble with them, it's likely to be the way you're handling them. Having said that, Asus is generally ok gear.

[bogan]

Many of the fastest PCs in NZ have been built on Gigabyte boards, and have proven their reliability. If you have consistent trouble with them, it's likely to be the way you're handling them.

i've had mates who have had plenty of issue with them too, may be compatability with non-gigabyte daughter boards, but in my experience, asus pwns gigabyte :yes:

[SMOKEU]

Many of the fastest PCs in NZ have been built on Gigabyte boards, and have proven their reliability. If you have consistent trouble with them, it's likely to be the way you're handling them. Having said that, Asus is generally ok gear.

A few years ago I was building up an Athlon XP system. The first Gigabyte board was 'blown' right out of the box, brand new. I got a replacement under warranty. The replacement board lasted about 2 months before that blew, so I got a new one under warranty. That one lasted about 2 years.

I then built up an Athlon 64 system. First Gigabyte board was blown straight out of the box, brand new. I got a replacement board and that was fine for about a year before the chipset fan became excessively noisy, and needed to be replaced.

And the funny thing is, I've had 5 hard drives over the past 5 years and I've never had an issue with any of them. I've never had any problems with video cards, or processors either.

[imdying]

lol @ an AMD system :D

[Tank]

Its not the pooter - you just unplugged the network cable

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/MNjm/NetworkCable.jpg

[SMOKEU]

lol @ an AMD system :D

They're not all bad...
I just opened up the PSU and gave it a good clean. There was a fairly thick layer of dust everywhere inside it, and after I glued a fan onto the MB chipset heatsink it's running significantly cooler. Hopefully that'll be the end of that problem.

[scracha]

It wasn't easy to find a new AM2 board that supports SLI. The ones I did find were of the Gigabyte brand, which are the shittest MBs I have ever come across. I have had at least 5 Gigabyte boards fuck out on me, so I bought an Asus.

Hmm...failure rates. Out there in the wop wops it's imperative that we sell reliable shit as otherwise I have to drive for fookin miles to fix them at usually my expense and besides, it's just not a good look. I'm sure this is the same for a lot of non-city based IT monkeys.

Agree on the Gigabyte...they're almost as shite as foxpro.
SLI....Asus Intel mobo's with SLI are from about $300 and readily available. BUT you've went AMD so you're pretty fucked. CPU failure is rare. I've had 1 intel processor die. Had 6 AMD's die. Video cards....I always get fanless with a humungous heatpipe.

Probably telling you to suck eggs but Hitachi and Samsung hard drives are dreadful. Seagate then WD IMHO based on my experience but some would say the other way around. EVERY refurbished drive I've had back from Singapore has fucked out again within 2 years.

Screens...I'll give Viewsonic 10/10 as they paid for courier pickup etc on a 2.8 year old screen I'd sold a customer and sent them out a new one a few days later.
Notebooks.... Toshy warranty also fantastic. Asus notebooks, pretty good. HP ....at the moment I've raised an investigation over who's to blame regarding a next business day onsite warranty that took over a week before their authorised agent arrived......shocking. Hope it's a one off. Acer..tried selling them twice and both times well out of pocket dealing with THEIR lousy shit....nuff said.

There's also some REALLY good distributors and some spectacularly fucking appalling ones out there but I'm not gonna divulge on a public forum. Again, it's taken a few years to work out who's who.


I still wouldn't touch refurbished mobos though :-)

[SMOKEU]

Agree on the Gigabyte...they're almost as shite as foxpro.
SLI....Asus Intel mobo's with SLI are from about $300 and readily available. BUT you've went AMD so you're pretty fucked.

I still wouldn't touch refurbished mobos though.

I'm planning on doing a big upgrade next year; new CPU, MB, PSU, possibly RAM (although hopefully I'll be able to run my DDR2 RAM on a DDR3 board to save on money)

I've never had great success with overclocking AMD processors, if I can be assured that I will be able to get a good overclock with Intel, then I'm sold.

[george formby]

time for a new one
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[Gremlin]

unless the mobo supports ddr2 and ddr3, no, the two memory are not compatible, with the notch in different places. Gigabyte, had a good run on intel, amd, I had a disastrous run with my own board.