Blew up my 1st computer, need help!

[fsstrike]

Okay, I was at my buddies house and his computer exploded. First, ill start with the specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2.2Ghz 1.84V & FSB @ 200. Using Zalman 7000a Pure CU.
512mb DDR 400
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro With Zalman Heat Pipe and Fan
Asus A7N8X
400 Watt PSU
& A ton of bright lights

So, this is what happend:
He was playing CS, and his Fan Control started beeping as his Case Temp exceeded 40 Degrees C. He refused to shut his computer off and allow it to cool down, before we knew it the computer turned off and wouldnt turn back on. After 20 minutes of letting it cool down, we plugged it back in and tried again. This time, the power came on for a fraction of a second then shut back off.

Could it be A: His PSU? B: CPU? C: Something else?

Help needed! He's loosing his mind over here!

P.S. His computer has been working for over 2 months at 2.2Ghz and all the same settings perfectly fine.

 

[Zebo]

PSU I bet. What is it exactly and what's it's 12V rail.

 

[SickBeast]

Try resetting the CMOS. Hopefully he had something set in the BIOS to shut it down when things got too hot.

40C is burning hot for a case temp. Even if the core of your CPU gets that hot it can be serious. What was he thinking not shutting it down? If it doesn't work anymore it's his own fault in all honesty.

If anything's broken it's most likely the CPU, but I doubt that's the case unless his CPU fan actually failed.

 

[Zebo]

How does a comp get 40C? Outside in New Mexico? No case fans?

 

[fsstrike]

The CPU Fan never failed, and we cannot enter the bios because the computer wont even turn on. And I dont know what its 12v rail is:\

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: Zebo
How does a comp get 40C? Outside in New Mexico? No case fans?

The thermometer was in between the CPU HSF and the Northbrigde HS. The side of his case was open, and he only had 1 fan blowing air out the back.

 

[SickBeast]

Yeah Zebo's probably hit the nail on the head. Was it a cheap PSU? Cuz usually those will blow up under heavy load like that. It probably won't turn on cuz it can't. He should probably invest in a good PSU anyway. A 350watt Enermax would be my reccomendation.

 

[Zebo]

You reset bios with a jumper pins not entering bios. Shouda got a dell.

 

[SickBeast]

How many lights is "a ton"? Maybe they're generating heat and sucking up all the juice from the PSU. He might want to scrap some of them or give them to you. Then you can have a 1337 case too.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: fsstrike

Originally posted by: Zebo
How does a comp get 40C? Outside in New Mexico? No case fans?

The thermometer was in between the CPU HSF and the Northbrigde HS. The side of his case was open, and he only had 1 fan blowing air out the back.

Cases are designed to act as a shroud. Pulling cool air from a cool location, usually the front or bottom of a case, passing over and cooling mobo and all it's heat generating componets, then exiting though PSU fan and back case fan. NEVER operate a overclcoked computer w/o side panels, doing so defeats the whole design.

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Yeah Zebo's probably hit the nail on the head. Was it a cheap PSU? Cuz usually those will blow up under heavy load like that. It probably won't turn on cuz it can't. He should probably invest in a good PSU anyway. A 350watt Enermax would be my reccomendation.

It is a 60$ or 70$ CA PSU. Its not a good brand name one but im not sure exactly what brand it is.

Originally posted by: SickBeast
How many lights is "a ton"? Maybe they're generating heat and sucking up all the juice from the PSU. He might want to scrap some of them or give them to you. Then you can have a 1337 case too.

And he has: 2 Big neon lights on the front of his case, 2 big neon lights inside the case, a swirly colorful thing on the front of the case, and a fan in the back with 4 green lights on it.

 

[SickBeast]

Does the PSU have lights on it too??

It sounds like he got ripped off on the PSU. Antec and Enermax are the only two quality brands of PSUs that I know of. My 350watt Enermax was $70CDN over a year ago.

Maybe for all those lights he should buy a high-end PSU. If it's just the PSU he got off easy. He obviously doesn't know what he's doing. He needs much better cooling and a PSU at the very least, who knows what else is going on with that system.

If he continues to run that thing at 40C something else is going to blow up, it's only a matter of time. It's a time bomb.

 

[Zebo]

When comp failed were HD's still spinning and power light still on?

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Does the PSU have lights on it too??

It sounds like he got ripped off on the PSU. Antec and Enermax are the only two quality brands of PSUs that I know of. My 350watt Enermax was $70CDN over a year ago.

Maybe for all those lights he should buy a high-end PSU. If it's just the PSU he got off easy. He obviously doesn't know what he's doing. He needs much better cooling and a PSU at the very least, who knows what else is going on with that system.

If he continues to run that thing at 40C something else is going to blow up, it's only a matter of time. It's a time bomb.

His cooling is good tho, he has the Zalman 7000a CU and a VGA Zalman HeatPipe with the fan. And his PSU doesnt have any lights on it. Is it possible that the mobo could be burnt out?

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: Zebo
When comp failed were HD's still spinning and power light still on?

The computer completely shut off, everything was off.

I have a question, lets say it WAS the CPU, would the computer still turn on? Like would the lights turn on, HD, Monitor etc...?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: fsstrike

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Does the PSU have lights on it too??

It sounds like he got ripped off on the PSU. Antec and Enermax are the only two quality brands of PSUs that I know of. My 350watt Enermax was $70CDN over a year ago.

Maybe for all those lights he should buy a high-end PSU. If it's just the PSU he got off easy. He obviously doesn't know what he's doing. He needs much better cooling and a PSU at the very least, who knows what else is going on with that system.

If he continues to run that thing at 40C something else is going to blow up, it's only a matter of time. It's a time bomb.

His cooling is good tho, he has the Zalman 7000a CU and a VGA Zalman HeatPipe with the fan. And his PSU doesnt have any lights on it. Is it possible that the mobo could be burnt out?

I'm onboard with the guys saying to go get a high-quality power supply. If your pal can afford it, I'd even push for more like a 400W+ one for cushion.

One thing about the A7N8X is that it pulls all its power through the 20-pin ATX cable, not using an ATX12V line for an assist. So among other things, inspect the ATX plug from the PSU closely for signs of charring/melting/overheating.

 

[Zebo]

Have you reset bios/cmos jumper yet?

Edit and no with no CPU no booting allowed. But you will get beep codes.

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Have you reset bios/cmos jumper yet?

We cant because the computer wont turn on and we cant access the bios. Is there a way to reset it without turning the computer on?

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: fsstrike
His cooling is good tho, he has the Zalman 7000a CU and a VGA Zalman HeatPipe with the fan. And his PSU doesnt have any lights on it. Is it possible that the mobo could be burnt out?

He has serious cooling issues if his case temp is 40C. I would have to see the system myself to know for sure what the problem is. Something is amiss. I have a feeling those lights might be a contributing factor.

The Zalman is a decent CPU cooler, but he's running his CPU at almost 1.85v; he's really pushing his luck. That kind of voltage can bring an SLK-947 to its knees.

The mobo *could* be burnt out, but start by getting a new *GOOD* PSU and take it from there. You can't test anything without power.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: fsstrike

Originally posted by: Zebo
Have you reset bios/cmos jumper yet?

We cant because the computer wont turn on and we cant access the bios. Is there a way to reset it without turning the computer on?

Dude it's a JUMPER. As in, a little switch you flip on the motherboard itself. You don't use the BIOS to reset your CMOS!

 

[fsstrike]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: fsstrike

Originally posted by: Zebo
Have you reset bios/cmos jumper yet?

We cant because the computer wont turn on and we cant access the bios. Is there a way to reset it without turning the computer on?

Dude it's a JUMPER. As in, a little switch you flip on the motherboard itself. You don't use the BIOS to reset your CMOS!

Lol Ahh i didnt know that!

 

[Zebo]

Look on your board for this, it should be labeled CMOS: http://www.dansdata.com/images/133aboards/cmos180.jpg

Unplug power. Move it over one pin for one minute then place it back again. Plug power back in and try to reboot.

 

[fsstrike]

I just remembered something, when the PC first went off, the light on the mobo stayed on. And when we tried turning it on again, everything was off but the mobo light was on.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: fsstrike
I just remembered something, when the PC first went off, the light on the mobo stayed on. And when we tried turning it on again, everything was off but the mobo light was on.

You might be in luck then. Reset teh CMOS.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Have you reset bios/cmos jumper yet?