Computer Broke, how to fix it and what to do if it can't be fixed?

[coolred]

I have an Asus PC-DL dual Xeon Motherboard, dual 1.6Xeons running at 2.4Ghz, I know they are stable at that speed, I have run them stably much higher as well. 2x512MB Patriot PC3200, PNY 6600GT, bunch of hard drives, all the other expansion cards you would expect, an Antec 500watt PSU.

So anyway, my son was playing some games on nick jr., and the thing just froze, completely, even ALT-CTRL-DEL did nothing, so I restarted using the power button to shut it down then restart it. The whole thing powers up, all the fans spin and everything but nothing else happens, no display, nothing. I tried the video card in another computer and it works fine, so unless its the slot itself, then its not video related. I have tried unplugging the power to everything not needed for booting, installed just one stick of memory in every slot, reset the CMOS, still nothing. I was pretty sure I had another old video card somewhere, I will try to find that and try it in this computer, but I have yet to locate it. Any other ideas?

ANd if I/we determine it to be dead, I will then need to decide how to proceed from there, and would love some input, but we will get there if and when needed.

 

[coolred]

Okay, I found my other video card, and it was a no go as well. The fans on the cards spin up, so they are getting power, but I still see no display. The other thing is, even with no ram and no video card installed, I get no beeps or anything from the computer.

 

[OdiN]

You have a bad motherboard or processor. Possibly bad power supply. I would try a new power supply first.

If PSU doesn't work - you could have fried one of your CPU's due to overclocking or the mobo could have just decided to go out.

 

[coolred]

If it is the PSU, then why is it still powering everything up, also the motherboard is still getting power since it has a light on it which is lit, as it should be, so thats not indicating a problem. A cpu could be the problem, but wouldn' the thing still boot?

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: coolred
If it is the PSU, then why is it still powering everything up, also the motherboard is still getting power since it has a light on it which is lit, as it should be, so thats not indicating a problem. A cpu could be the problem, but wouldn' the thing still boot?

Powersupplies can be blamed for many system instabilities, although it's an ANTEC PSU, I'd still check that out but yeah I believe it's a bad motherboard or CPU. Overheating northbridge?

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: coolred
If it is the PSU, then why is it still powering everything up, also the motherboard is still getting power since it has a light on it which is lit, as it should be, so thats not indicating a problem. A cpu could be the problem, but wouldn' the thing still boot?

A power supply can power up the fans and such but still be providing the incorrect power to the board, etc. causing it not to boot.

If it is the CPU then no it wouldn't still boot - even though you have 2 CPU's. A CPU is needed for the board to POST. Also with a bad CPU on a good board you will get no POST and no beeps. But with a bad motherboard you will get no beeps period too.

 

[coolred]

If it is a processor, I may be able to find a replacement, but it could be tough, if its the psu, then I can definately get a new one. If its the motherboard, I can maybe find one, but I may just get rid of the setup if it is a motherboard. Unfortunately I have no way of testing if its the psu. I do have a PSU tester somewhere, but its for 20 pin, not 24, which my psu is. If its a processor, I coudl try them on at a time, but I would have to try each one in each socket, and I have to have them modded to over clock, if I have to test them all and redo the mod each time, its probablly not worth my trouble. And I have no way o test the motherboard either really.

Unless I can think of something easy to test and fix, I may just have to get rid of the setup. Maybe I can sell it to someone on the forums who has time to mess with it. I just don't have the time or the interest in messing with testing those CPU's individually.


Which leads me to my next question, where to go from here. On top of this computer, I have 2 other systems, I have a Biostar 200N SFF, with an Athlon XP 2100+ and 2x256MB PC 2100, It is currently using the nvidia onboard video. It gets minimal use really, I had considered putting it in my sons room. Right now it is hooked up to my projector, for the occasional big screen web browsing or whatever. I also have the system I am using to type this. Its actually a laptop. Pretty decent system, 1.86Ghz Pentium M, 1GB ram, 100GB 4200RPM HDD(I know its a bottleneck, I may replace it sometime). Unfotunately it has intel integrated video, so no gaming on this one. I don't do much pc gaming though. And hardly ever FPS's or other graphics heavy games. Right now I am currently playing Age of empires 3 and black and white 2. So really the laptop could serve me fine as my daily use rig, but I need something for the occasional game and something to hold all my storage. MY broken rig has about 6 HDD's in it.
Obviously if my video card is good, then I should only need to replace my motherboard and CPU, and maybe the ram. I just am not sure how to go, since my current graphics card is AGP, but PCI-E is probablly the way to go now a days. I could sell the graphics card as well, or maybe use it in the biostar rig, although it may be overkill in that rig.

 

[coolred]

I checked for overheating earlier, but just went back and checked again. The cpu heatsinks are warm, but not hot, the northbridge is also warm, not hot. But somethign I just noticed, maybe its the southbridge, but its a chip down near the PCI slots with no heatsink on it, and it is extremely hot. If i touch it for more then a second it burns, maybe this is the problem

 

[coolred]

actually I just checked again right this second, the rig has been off for at least 20 minutes, maybe more, and the dang thing still burnt my finger. I have since unplugged the power cord from the unit. I never expected it to still be that hot, whats up with that?


Edit, I just realized I have been listening to the football game since 1, so the rig has been off, but plugged in for almost and hour.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: coolred
If it is a processor, I may be able to find a replacement, but it could be tough, if its the psu, then I can definately get a new one. If its the motherboard, I can maybe find one, but I may just get rid of the setup if it is a motherboard. Unfortunately I have no way of testing if its the psu. I do have a PSU tester somewhere, but its for 20 pin, not 24, which my psu is. If its a processor, I coudl try them on at a time, but I would have to try each one in each socket, and I have to have them modded to over clock, if I have to test them all and redo the mod each time, its probablly not worth my trouble. And I have no way o test the motherboard either really.

Unless I can think of something easy to test and fix, I may just have to get rid of the setup. Maybe I can sell it to someone on the forums who has time to mess with it. I just don't have the time or the interest in messing with testing those CPU's individually.


Which leads me to my next question, where to go from here. On top of this computer, I have 2 other systems, I have a Biostar 200N SFF, with an Athlon XP 2100+ and 2x256MB PC 2100, It is currently using the nvidia onboard video. It gets minimal use really, I had considered putting it in my sons room. Right now it is hooked up to my projector, for the occasional big screen web browsing or whatever. I also have the system I am using to type this. Its actually a laptop. Pretty decent system, 1.86Ghz Pentium M, 1GB ram, 100GB 4200RPM HDD(I know its a bottleneck, I may replace it sometime). Unfotunately it has intel integrated video, so no gaming on this one. I don't do much pc gaming though. And hardly ever FPS's or other graphics heavy games. Right now I am currently playing Age of empires 3 and black and white 2. So really the laptop could serve me fine as my daily use rig, but I need something for the occasional game and something to hold all my storage. MY broken rig has about 6 HDD's in it.
Obviously if my video card is good, then I should only need to replace my motherboard and CPU, and maybe the ram. I just am not sure how to go, since my current graphics card is AGP, but PCI-E is probablly the way to go now a days. I could sell the graphics card as well, or maybe use it in the biostar rig, although it may be overkill in that rig.

Can you pull the PSU out of one of the other systems? The 20-pin will fit on your 24-pin board and it will power it up enough to test if the PSU is the problem.

BTW those PSU testers aren't always so accurate. Sometimes the PSU will still turn on with them and the green LED will light up but they still won't power a system.


Eep...just read your last 2 posts. Yeah southbridge or a HD controller chip or something sounds fried. Should not burn your finger.

 

[coolred]

Southbridge?

Her is a picture of the motherboard, the chip I am talking about is as i said by the PCI slots, since the picture is sideways, it is on the left side of the pice, it says intel on it. It is directly above the white IDE port

 

[coolred]

yeah the only other psu I have is in the biostar, and it would probablly be alot of work to get it out. But like you said, its likely that chip. I have unplugged the system, I don't really have anything I can put on it to act as a temporary heatsink. I will leave it sit till it cools, and then try it again, but its probablly fried. What would cause that? I mean maybe I could see it if it was plugged in, but its been unplugged.

 

[OdiN]

Yup that's the southbridge. Does it look brown in the center? It's fried.

 

[coolred]

I will check to see if it looks brown, but after being unplugged for 20 minutes, it is now completely cool

 

[Tarrant64]

Just FYI, had issues similar to that with just power supply being bad. Just because it powers everything up doesnt' mean everything has the power it needs. A PSU tester as mentioned earlier isn't always reliable. If you can, try to swap for another power supply.

 

[coolred]

It doesn't appear burnt, at best there may eb one small spot about the size of one of the letter ont he southbridge, not the intel letters, the other ones, I mean its really small, looks mor elike a speck of dirt, but, I can't really rub it off, so maybe it is a burn mark. I just plugged the machine back in and turne dit on, and touched that chip and in under 1 minute it was hot enought o brun again, so do I need to kiss my motherboard goobye?

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
Just FYI, had issues similar to that with just power supply being bad. Just because it powers everything up doesnt' mean everything has the power it needs. A PSU tester as mentioned earlier isn't always reliable. If you can, try to swap for another power supply.

Thanks, but I think we have narrowed ti down to the southbridge, it is getting hot enough to easily brun me, even when the rig is off but plugged in, it is still hot

 

[OdiN]

Yeah...that board is toast. Is it under warranty still?

Also..here's the rub. It's possible that the PSU fried the board.

 

[coolred]

thats a good question, I suppose it should be, I got it less then a year ago, I think from mwave. Anybody know how long asus's warranty is? And will they cover it since its bene over clocked?

 

[coolred]

the asus website says something like 3 years, or 1 yera limited, but it says to contact my reseller, I doubt i still have the receipt for this thing

 

[coolred]

Although at this point in time, even if I can get it replaced, I will still likely sell it and the processors. They are nice, but I think I am ready for something new. Not sure if i should go cheap with socket 754/agp, go mid range with socket 939/agp or go full on with a socket 939/PCI-E board. Or maybe even stay with intel, although I am an AMD guy at heart. The only reason i went with intel in this system is cuse I got 2 cpu's capable of 3.0Ghz+ for 100 bucks.

 

[OdiN]

Asus should replace it unless you've modded it like...with solder, etc.

I wouldn't stay with Intel at the moment. If you want dual proccessing then get an X2.

 

[royalk4]

Call ASUS up they have really good tech people and were gonna return my board after I bought it like 2 years ago. They should be willing to help

 

[coolred]

Not mods other then uwire, which is removeable and no one would ever know it was there. I don't need dual processing. Like I said, I only got them because they were cheap and overclocked like crazy. I will admit, I have liked having dual processors, but I doubt its something I actually need.

 

[coolred]

okay, thanks guys. One last thing, I just can't believe this thing. I just plugged the machien back in and within like 5 seconds the chip is hot as it gets. How can it get that hot without the machien being on, is that normal. I mean why is it drawing so much power?