Issues with your account? Bug us in the Discord!

More computer woes

ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie."London, UK
in Zocalo v2.0
I'm having more computer problems at the moment, and could do with a bit of help!

The problem:

It won't boot; power on, fans, cpu, gpu, HDD's etc all power up, but no signal gets to the monitors, and I dont get a beep from the mobo like normally happens when it boots up. After ~5 seconds it sounds like the HDD's reboot, but again nothing happens. Strangely, the computer powers up by itself after I've turned it off again, but this time the HDD's don't power up, and the only way to stop it powering up is to turn the power off on the psu.

I've tried unplugging the HDD's in sequence to see if it's one of them thats the problems, but unless they're both removed the problem remains. I also removed all the hardware and just left the mobo and cpu powered, but the mobo error code i get is that the psu is faulty. The psu is new (650W, so power isnt the problem), works fine on an old rig, and using an old psu (that works fine) produces the same results.

After leaving the computer powered off a couple of times it has then loaded up, but either crashes soon after loading to windows, loads up but without the keyboard and/or mouse recognised, or I get a flash of a BSOD then nothing. I did manage to get into the BIOS settings at one point, but nothing was immediately apparent although I don't know much about BIOS.

No new hardware or software has been added/removed recently (bar a couple of games, virus scan's run the day before were clean.....

Any ideas?
«1

Comments

  • C_MonC_Mon A Genuine Sucker
    [QUOTE=ShadowDancer;174255]...I've tried unplugging the HDD's in sequence to see if it's one of them thats the problems, but unless they're both removed the problem remains...[/QUOTE]
    So you can't boot into bios if the hdds are connected but if removed you can?
    Is your computer overclocked?

    At this moment I'd say it's the mobo that is your problem.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I agree. Possibly the HDD controller on the motherboard is broken somehow.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    Sure has the symptoms of a mobo problem. Also check out the capacitors on the board to see if the tops are swollen, usually a sign of a local power surge. [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonykus/2330187510/"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonykus/2330187510/[/URL]
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    C_Mon: no I cant get bios to load regardless of what's connected, its just that if I leave it alone for an hour or so it sometimes will load the bios but crashes shortly after. And no, I've never overclocked the computer.

    Stingray: I'll check them out when I get home.

    I did suspect it might be the mobo thats the problem, afterall it must be 4 years old now.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Well as far as I can tell the capacitors look ok....

    New mobo time then?
  • E.TE.T Quote-o-matic
    [QUOTE=ShadowDancer;174260]Well as far as I can tell the capacitors look ok....[/QUOTE]Capacitor doesn't have to be swollen, leaked or blown up for it to have failed.

    Definitely sounds like motherboard.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Ok, time to go and catch up with the progress made in mobo tech since the last time I looked.

    Hmmm..given I've got a 7900gtx, would an nvidia nforce mobo be worth looking at? Because for the moment I really have no idea what I'm looking at/for! :p
  • MelkorMelkor Elite Ranger
    did this start after you move the PC or made any kind of hardware change? If so, check the power connections from the PSU to the mobo, especially if your PC has more than one connection. I have also seen similar behavior occur if something metal came loose and is incorrectly shorting the mobo to the chassis.
  • Random ChaosRandom Chaos Actually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
    Do you have anything else on the 12V rails, such as an optical drive? Does it have any problems?

    Are the HDDs IDE or SATA? If IDE, are they both on the same controller? If so, does your mobo have a 2nd controller? If so, could you try switching to the 2ndary controller and see if it still has issues.

    Do you have another system you can test the two HDDs in? If so, any problems there?

    Do you have any way to test the power supply outside the system? If so, are the 5V and 12V rails within tolerances?
  • TridentTrident Ranger
    Humm.... I've never encountered this type of problem. Download the hard drive diagnostic software and plug the HD's into another rig to test them. Are they sata or pata? I would try differnt cables to see if they maybe faulty. If that doesn't work, then maybe I would try a jumper bios reset. If that doesn't work, I would try to flash the bios by some means. I would also check the cpu and memory for corroded or blackened connectors. I know this isn't an option for most, but I would try differnt memory modules. Or if you have multiple ones, try one then another. I don't know of any cpu diagnostic software or hardware... After all of that and nothing works, I would definitly go for a new Mobo.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Melkor: no, I hadnt moved the pc or done any hardware changes besides the new psu, but I've made sure that everything is connected up properly.

    RC: yeah I've got an optical drive on one rail but its a different one to the HDD's, and I tried disconnecting it anyway with no effect. The HDD's are on separate controllers as well. And yes the psu is operating normally.

    Trident: unfortunately I dont have another rig to test them in at the moment. Checked the connectors but nothing apparent.
  • Lord RefaLord Refa Creepy, but in a good way
    Is your flux capacitor running on 30 jigawats?
  • PSI-KILLERPSI-KILLER Needs help
    this might seem dumb but is the mobo battery good?
  • E.TE.T Quote-o-matic
    Empty BIOS battery would cause pretty much only PC loosing time...
    Unless we're talking about branded shit.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Right, well I get paid next week so will be looking to fix up my pc, but I thought this might be a good time to do some upgrading too.

    Gonna get a new mobo obviously, and the one I was thinking of was [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4QNL"]this one[/URL] for £55

    And then I thought I'd get a new cpu as well. Currently I have a P4 3GHz, but I'd like to go multi-core, and I've spotted [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4DWF"]this one[/URL] for £117. Worth it? Or should I go with a dual core?

    My budget is only about £200, and I think I'll need to get some more RAM too as I've got pc2-4200 stuff at the moment, or would I get away with that?
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    The Q6600 is a damn nice CPU, but with a budget that tight, I'd recommend saving the money and getting a dual core (unless you're planning on playing lots of Supreme Commander).
  • PSI-KILLERPSI-KILLER Needs help
    I think your going to need to get RAM too. MOBO and CPU looks dynomite!!!
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Biggles: well the idea is that I wont need to upgrade again for...well as long as possible ;)

    I dunno, I'll have to see how much I get paid on Tuesday I guess. I did a bit of overtime this month so might be able to squeeze a bit more money into the budget
  • C_MonC_Mon A Genuine Sucker
    Almost the only game that gets some boost from more than dual core is Supreme Commander and even it doesn't get that a big of a boost. What's more important for supremem commander and other new games is that you have atleast 2gb of memory. DDR2 2gb is quite cheap today. Q6600 is nice, but dual cores are still fine. The only software I use that I'd really like a quad core for is Blender 3d.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Well I can get a 3GHz dual core for only a tenner less than the 2.4GHz quad.

    C_Mon: I'd be looking to get 4gb's of memory anyway regardless
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    That's a tenner you can put towards the 64-bit OS you'll need to actually use that 4GB of RAM, then. :)
  • PSI-KILLERPSI-KILLER Needs help
    64 bit definitly, video cards are coming out with 1gb just by themselves.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Want to shave some cash off the budget? Get an E2220 "Pentium Dual Core", an E4600, or an E7200. You'll be fine with almost anything in those range, though the latter two would offer some possible performance benefit.
  • C_MonC_Mon A Genuine Sucker
    I say, get a great heatsink and overclock. ;) I'm running my e4300 (stock speed 1.8GHz) at 3.2GHz.
  • TridentTrident Ranger
    Holy frack! You got a super conductor cooler on that thing? Or do you just have the entire board dipped into that one non conductive coolant?
  • EclecticonautEclecticonaut Elite Ranger
    I'd say he has Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with a Noctua/Scythe/Nexus fan or Xigmatek HDT-S1283/OCZ Vendetta 2. These coolers are efficient enough for minor overclocking as C_Mon has done.

    Of course if you've got a quad core @4GHz or more, you might just need a water cooler or this beauty: [url]http://www.danamics.com/danamics-lm10.aspx[/url]
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Biggles: I'd need a new OS to use it? frak that then!

    Sanfam: when you say 'some possible performance benefit', compared to what?
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    compared to the E2220 and its smaller onboard cache (1mb) and limited instruction sets. The E7200, for example, is armed with a 3mb L2 Cache and SSE4.1, the latter of which may not mean anything at this moment but might be worth a bit of extra go-juice down the road. And while the first two are Allendale chips, the E7200 is a 45nm Wolfsdale offering slightly improved thermal characteristics. Given the recent price cuts to the newer models, the E4600 isn't worth looking at right now (overlapping prices for models of different performance levels) unless the E7200 is not available to you within reason. Over the E2220, all the E4600 really offers is a 2mb cache.

    The lower-clocked E2160 and E2180 would be better options if you don't find the newer cores available and *do* intend to overclock. (I am assuming your interest isn't centered around overclockability) The vast majority of these CPUs are extremely overclocking friendly, so starting at 800mhz or 1066mhz allows for a good deal of performance simply by upping it to the next natural step (800-->1066, 1066-->1333) while keeping the board's other clock ratios in check, making for a rather simple operation. As an example, the only change I really needed to worry about with my cpu (G0 Q6600) when upping the FSB from 1066 to 1333 was the voltage, which only needed a minor bump to keep things stable under intense loads. Other than that, the memory clock was kept at 800 and the rest of the system is fine.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=5335&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=e7200&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0"]dabs.com[/URL] has the E7200 for £78, the [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4RYW&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=e4600&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0"]E4600[/URL] for £75, and the [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=501L&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=e2220&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0"]E2220[/URL] for £55

    So not much in the top 2 you suggest
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Also keep in mind the [URL="http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4YD9&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=E2180&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0"]E2180[/URL] for £43, which is commonly overclocked to 3ghz by raising the FSB to 1333 (up from 800)
Sign In or Register to comment.