Help Please, PC Dying

[x0b00n]

This is a very long post, purely because of the catalogue of errors that happened. Please take the time to read it.
It seems as though my PC is gradually breaking bit by bit. Upon booting the other day I got a message saying that hardware monitor had found an error, but then it just booted as normal.

After restarting the PC and leaving the room, I came back in to find the power off. I tried to switch the PC back on but it wouldnt. So I switched the wall socket off and on again and it booted so I decided to open up the PC and see if there was anything loose or dirty. (Over the last couple of weeks when I had shutdown I could hear a fan momentarily speed up and then stop, making me think something might be dirty). There was alot of dust in there so I thought I'd better clean it. I took each card out and gave them a blow and wiped them with a dry cloth and put them back in. On my graphics card (GF4 Ti4200) I lifted up the fan bit and blew under that until all the trapped dust had gone. I turned the PC back on and it was ok, but the GFX card was noisy, so I decided to disconnect the fan on the card to see if that quitened things down a bit, the plug socket on the card was a bit loose, but I managed to get the fan plug out, when turning the PC back on I ran into a problem...

It turned on but the monitor light stayed orange. I tried loads of times but it stayed the same. I checked the connections 3 times, plugged the fan back in, I tried holding down DEL, I tried the card in my mate's machine, I tried a diff monitor, I tried everything. No difference. So it looks as though my graphics card is dead. I had to borrow a PCI graphics card (only one I could) and it worked ok with that.

I left my original graphics card in the PC to see if windows detected it. It didn't, so it looks as though it's gone for ever. So when I shutdown, I took the card out, but the screw holding it in fell into the case, I picked up the case and shook it for a couple of seconds and the screw fell out. I went to switch the PC back on and nothing. It won't even switch on now. The red light next to where the PSU connects to the motherboard is on so there is definitely power being received. The PSU fan won't start, and the CPU fan won't start. I have checked the Power switch lead and that is in the right place. I have taken the PC apart and rebuilt it, during which I took the fan off the CPU and saw that the CPU was actually stuck to the bottom of the fan and had somehow come out of it's socket, so I put that back in the way it should be. It still won't switch on. I am writing this using my mate's PC.

I hope someone might be able to put a finger on what might have happened, I really don't want to have to buy a new motherboard and graphics card, I really cannot afford to...I don't think it could be heat related because I never got high temperatures. I have built and rebuilt PCs loads of times and never had a problem, Now I've got what appears to be 2 broken bits of hardware in the space of an hour! If anyone can shed any light on this please do, I am at my wits end

My system:
P4 1.8A Northwood @ 2.3
Asus P4B266-C
512mb PC2100 Mushkin RAM
XFX Geforce Ti4200
M-Audio Audiophile
Yamaha SW1000XG
Pioneer DVD-Rom
Sony CD Drive
Standard 300W PSU

 

[selfbuilt]

First off, it sounds like your graphics card is definitely toast. Not much to do there, I'm afraid.

As to your system problems, I'm rather concerned to hear the CPU wasn't seated properly - that could have permanently screwed the CPU or the mobo. If you've rebuilt it several times, then you presumably know to make sure everything is connected properly (most likely reason why it won't turn on on). The "red" light on the mobo doesn't sound right ... all mobos I've seen either have a green or amber light to indicate normal operation. Check your mobo manual to see what it has to say about the red light. It sounds like you may need a new mobo or CPU, if you are sure everything else is properly connected (e.g. the pins for the chassis power/reset switch, memory properly seated, etc.). Good luck with it!

Where does good judgement come from? Experience. Where does experience come from? Bad judgement.

 

[speeduk]

Rule no 1. Never disconnect the fan on the graphics card, its there for a reason!

Rule no 2. Never pick case up and shake! If I did that to my pc, it most definitely won't work ever again. I use a heavy heatsink on the cpu and graphics card and shaking the case would probably break the motherboard and graphics card...

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7000747" target="_new"> 3D-2001 </A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=1284380" target="_new"> 3D-03 </A>
<font color=red> 120% overclocker </font color=red> (cheapskate)

 

[cleeve]

What you must understand is, when you remove a fan, you also remove the cooling device that is preventing the chip under it from frying.

Bad idea.

The first thing you might want to do is (after you make sure your graphics card fan is attached) to try it in your friends computer and see if it still works.

If it does, great! You probably only need a new motherboard. Hang out on ebay until you find a cheap one.

You also might want to try another power supply with your machine. If the power supply died it might have caused similar problems.

------------------
Radeon 9500 (modded to PRO w/8 pixel pipelines)
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3529

 

[x0b00n]

Thanks for the responses. I'm definitely gonna have to get a new GFX card, due to the fact it won't work in my mates machine. I'm just not sure whether it's the motherboard that's gone or the CPU, as the fact it had come out of the socket is scary, maybe the CPU has blown? I don't know anyone with a Pentium setup to test the CPU with either.

 

[x0b00n]

Well, It's not as bad as I first thought. I had a look into the manual for the motherboard and saw that the red light meant there was no AGP card installed. So when I installed the faulty AGP card alongside the PCI card it booted OK. Seems this board wont switch on without an AGP card installed. So all I need now is just a new GFX card. Phew Anyone got any good suggestions for under £100?

 

[Ion]

Ti4200 again. Best bang for buck under $100, even though it is the same as your old one. :tongue: