My computer died!

[||§§||Dr.H]

Well I might as well start a "crap my computer fried" thread since mine did last week.. :doh: This will be a good diagnostic and question thread for the future.

Anyway on Saturday between 8-9am we lost power due to a tree branch shorting across the lines down the road. When my computer turned back on the fans were the only thing running and I think the hard drive.

First things first I reset it and I'm getting no POST(Power ON Self Test)(aka that stuff that scrolls on your screen before the Bios loads). So I'm wondering if the video card died but Windows is not loading and my keyboard screen is not loading so that means there is really no POST...

Next I unplug the PSU and pull the mother board battery. I switch the jumper on the board from pin1-2 to 2-3 to reset the CMOS which will bring the Bios back to default. Put the jumper back and replace the battery. This usually works well. Nothing happens.. :cry:

Ok I get a external Hard Drive case and pull my Hard Drive. Lucky after hooking it up to the laptop it shows the Hard Drive is fine. Not that the Hard Drive can cause a POST issue but I wanted to make sure it was'nt damaged also.

Well it's one of three things.
1) The CPU is fried, I have the Thermalright IFX-14 cooler with three 120mm Scythe S-Flex fans on it.. that thing is a beast and one of the best fan coolers made so I doubt it's a cpu overheat issue.
2) The motherboard is dead. This is very likely the problem and the best fix for that would be a new system lol I would prefer not to do that right now.
3) The PSU(power supply) is partly dead. This could be it too. I bought it last year when I got my new video card that required 2-8 pin power connections. It's a Thermaltake Toughpower 850w. I had a Thermaltake once before and it was on the Nvidia recomended list for the card but I should have know better.. It started making a odd noise last winter and turns out the ring on the fan shaft broke and the fan blades slid down until the were grinding against the power supply case. The fan froze and overheated the PSU a couple times, crashing my system before I found the problem and replaced the fan.
Now since the fans are all running you would think it was ok but it's not a single rail PSU so it could be that part of the PSU is not putting out the required power.

I don't have a second simular system to test the CPU on and I don't want to bother buying a PSU tester to see how it's handling loads.

My current fix is to first buy a new PSU and try that since I would want a new one if I needed to rebuild anyway.

I ordered a CORSAIR 850HX 850W module PSU. It's a bad ass power supply I know I can trust and a tad cheaper than the PCP&C 860.

I want better cooling and more space for my huge video card than my old Thermaltake case had so I ordered up a full tower Antec Twelve Hundred. It's a killer non-liquid gaming case, one of the best there is.


So I will update this next week on whether or not the system works with a new PSU.

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

well I say that you scrap the whole thing and give me all your stuff that still works since it is still all better than mine.

With all seriousness, i hope you get it all straightened away soon.

[||§§||dkadar]

you never know i could use some stuff too lol like some new ram and a better Hard Drive.

Other then that hope things work out for you Dr.H

[||§§||Zombie]

Man I love that PSU and the case is freaking awesome.
I've got the Corsair TX750W and I love the hell out of it.

I am thinking of building yet another PC come income tax time, it would be the third one I have built (for myself, built others for Friend and family) but I'm looking forward to building me a bad ass monster...

But yeah good luck with your system H I hope it all works out, keep us informed..

[||§§|| Sven The Slayer]

I had a pretty good "dead" computer scare the last time we had a good lightning storm take out power. After the storm was clear I went to turn my machine on and nothing happened. I even tried the on motherboard power switch, and nothing. I pulled another computer up, "one hell of a pc build" in my blog, and that would power up off my power supply. So now I'm thinking great, my mother board is dead. I go online to see how much it is to replace the board only to find out it's now been discontinued. On whim I put everything back together and this time the machine powered up like there was nothing ever wrong with it... basically what ever was wrong was fixed by unplugging and reconnecting the power cable to the motherboard...

[||§§||Zombie]

I had a pretty good "dead" computer scare the last time we had a good lightning storm take out power. After the storm was clear I went to turn my machine on and nothing happened. I even tried the on motherboard power switch, and nothing. I pulled another computer up, "one hell of a pc build" in my blog, and that would power up off my power supply. So now I'm thinking great, my mother board is dead. I go online to see how much it is to replace the board only to find out it's now been discontinued. On whim I put everything back together and this time the machine powered up like there was nothing ever wrong with it... basically what ever was wrong was fixed by unplugging and reconnecting the power cable to the motherboard...

I have had that happen to me a couple of times, scary as hell think I got to fork out some money.

[||§§||Dr.H]

Well I stripped my old computer and installed everything into my new case with my new power supply. I didn't install the hard drive or hook up the cd drive for this test.

The case is cool. One of the hard drive chambers has an extra fan hookup on the back of it on the inside of the case so you can make a cooling tunnel to go onto your video card or cpu, I chose the video card. So that's seven 120mm case fans two 120mm heatsink fans and one 200mm fan... won't have to worry about heat anymore.

Module power supplies are nice, this is my first one. It's nice not having all those spare wires laying around in the case.

So everything is hooked up and powered up... nothing happens NOTHING!! ugh well I guess the motherboard is dead.
It's odd when I took out the video card before removing the mb from old case I saw some oil type substance on the board. I also saw some on the bottom side of the board. The only new thing in there was my cpu heatsink and I doubt it came from that. More likely some mother board component is leaking.. probably a capacitor is leaking but didn't pop... crap!

[||§§||dkadar]

wow that really sucks. so now u have to get a new motherboard and hand over i dont know another 100 dollars or so. i hope things look up for u man, i truly do.

[||§§|| Sven The Slayer]

Guess we won't see you on game night tomorrow again.

[||§§||Dr.H]

Yup no game night for me until I manage to get all the parts together. Unfortunately DK the EVGA motherboard I'm looking at is over $250

[||§§||Zombie]

check it out Drh, I don't know the price you paid but here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-11-129-043-_-Product

[||§§||Dr.H]

I looked at New Egg first along with the other pc component companies and then did a general google price search just incase. I was shocked that Best Buy Online was selling it for $10 cheaper than New Egg, add in I had a $20 Rewards Certificate for Best Buy I hadn't used yet and I got it for $30 cheaper than that ;)

[||§§||Zombie]

damn Best Buy, wow you got a great deal

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

pick it up or had it shipped?

Side note my mom tried buying a computer from them a few weeks ago and they tried the "Price Mact Garuntee" thing but best buy said it was a different model number. what they do it add a random letter to all there model #'s and then tell you they don't match when you show a different stores ad. if you check with the makers of the products, they will tell you that that model does not exist. Nice huh?

[||§§||Zombie]

pick it up or had it shipped?

Side note my mom tried buying a computer from them a few weeks ago and they tried the "Price Mact Garuntee" thing but best buy said it was a different model number. what they do it add a random letter to all there model #'s and then tell you they don't match when you show a different stores ad. if you check with the makers of the products, they will tell you that that model does not exist. Nice huh?

Thats fing wrong F best buy

[||§§||Dr.H]

My case was shipped. The stores hardly carry any higher end gear. Most stores price matches are BS these days.

Staples use to match Tigerdirect a few years back for me since their small print didn't say anything about it being an online store. Then I went in one time and their new policy was that they would match it but they had to charge you what would equal an overnight shipping fee since you're picking it up right now.. huh? So that was the last of me getting stuff from them.

Best buy is the worst. I wanted them to match the price for my keyboard a couple years ago to the sale price that Circuit City had across the street since Circuit City was out of stock. They would not match a sale price for me but they did for my father when he said he would try later that day.. big bearded scary man discout I guess lol.

I also wanted Best Buy to match the price for a camera from B&H in NYC. B&H is the best photo video store in the United States. They told me they could not match a price from a store that is not in their area..?? I told them there was a Best Buy in NYC a block away and they still told me no. Dicks lol.

[||§§||Dr.H]

Ok to update this thread.. The PSU I got a few months back didn't do a thing and it looked to be the MB that fried so I figured if I was going to replace the MB I might as well replace the CPU and Ram.

Well I put things off from Sept 3rd to now to try and save some money but between some Christmas cash and a nice donation from my loving wife :). (I've worn out my welcome on her gaming laptop) I was able to order the new parts I wanted this morning.

EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED motherboard. It's a killer overclocking dream.

Intel i7-920 Bloomfield CPU This thing is a beast and outsells the extreme chips 10-1

6GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM The same as the Dominator series but without the big heatsink for overclocking.

Thermalright Venomous-X CPU Heatsink This just replace the Utra-120 Extremes which was one of the top coolers ever.

I'll update once it's all togeather!

[||§§||Makdaddy]

EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED motherboard. It's a killer overclocking dream.

Intel i7-920 Bloomfield CPU This thing is a beast and outsells the extreme chips 10-1

6GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM The same as the Dominator series but without the big heatsink for overclocking.

Thermalright Venomous-X CPU Heatsink This just replace the Utra-120 Extremes which was one of the top coolers ever.

Where's the laser? :lol:

[||§§||Dr.H]

Another reason why I like UPS better than FedEx in my area.

Both items shipped yesterday.

The NewEgg order shipped out of their NJ warehouse with free UPS shipping and will be here in CT today.

The FrozenCPU order shipped out of NY and cost over $8 for FedEx ground, it's one state closer and in fact the state right next to me and it won't be delivered until tomorrow?? How does that make any sense lol.

[||§§||Kit]

Where's the laser? :lol:

I'll get the popcorn!!! Geeze, you know it's probably just the two of us and Dr. H who will get that one!!! :D

[||§§||Zombie]

I'll get the popcorn!!! Geeze, you know it's probably just the two of us and Dr. H who will get that one!!! :D

I got it LoL, i rem.. that movie

[||§§||Dr.H]

:P Yes my name if from an 80's movie and if I recall it was Makdaddy who started calling me Dr.H back in I think 05 when I first bought that big laser engraver.

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

I hate Popcorn

Always wanted to freeze my hallways for Skiing after that movie though

[||§§||Dr.H]

Ok I'm back in biz and currently installing 101 programs, drivers and games urgh..

There was a few setbacks today of course besides the time consuming job of assemble.

First I realized that I was still running XP Pro 32.. well that wasn't going to work with 6G of RAM..
Most of you know that you can't upgrade from XP to 7, you have to go through Vista first but it looks like no stores have Vista in stock anymore! I'm thinking it's because Microsoft was offering free upgrades to 7 from any vista bought after June 26 so it was cheaper to do that.

So I had to buy the full version of Win7, hard drives are so cheap now I figured I'd grab a 500gig and use my other as a backup since it has all my files on it that I wanted to keep safe.

Ok everything was being installed into my case and I ran into problem two.. my new motherboard has no EIDE plug on it lol only SATA so I needed to drive to Best Buy to pick up a new DVD drive which I'm glad are cheap but when I get into the parking lot I realize I had forgotten my wallet..(I use a plastic card to spread a thin layer of thermal grease since it's sooo thick) at least they let my wife call in her credit card #.

Anyway Long process and more money than I wanted to spend as always but the system is up and running and I took a couple photos that I will add soon!

[||§§||Dr.H]

Ok well after upgrading the video card drivers on my 9800 GX2 it killed the card.. crap!

EVGA sent me a RMA after they decided it seemed to be the card and depending on what's in the RMA dept at the time I could get back a 9800 GX2, GTX 275, GTX 280 or a GTX 285. Chances are it will be a 275 or 280 which are both almost the same as the GX2 power wise but a tad better for gaming. I'm hoping for a 285 which is a slight improvement over any of the others.

Whatever card I get will be fine with me since I bought the other one over a year ago and a free high end card is a free high end card. I just wish I had picked 3 day shipping instead of the free ground but oh well I'll be back up and running in a couple weeks.