Computer Died

[jliger99]

I was playing Oblivion last night, when the game suddenly stopped working. It froze and I pressed the Reset button to restart the computer. The act of pressing the Reset shut the computer off entirely, and now it will no longer power up. I opened the case and noticed that if I push the On button, the fan on the video card will spin slightly, and then nothing. No other fan will start, and the machine just sits there. I have switched power supplies to no avail. Same results. Switching out other parts is not an option as no other machine in my house has the same memory slots or PCI-Express slots.

When I took of the cover initially, there was no odd electrical burning smell, either.

If someone has an idea, I would appreciate hearing it.

Intel D945PSN
820D CPU
ATI X800XL
2G RAM
300G SATA Drive
DVD-RW
Blah-blah-blah, sound card, monitor, etc.

 

[bluestrobe]

Pull everything out except the minimal and start from there.

 

[jliger99]

Here's an update:

Thanks for the suggestion, blue, but leaving just the CPU and motherboard connected yeilded the same result. I DID notice, however, that the Reset switch on the case does not reach the Reset button inside without presseing with a pen (or something like that). Could giving the machine a "half reset" have caused a short somewhere?

 

[jliger99]

Update/Question Number 2: How can you tell if a CPU has died due to overheating (other than switching it out)? I discovered that one corner of my Arctic Freezer cooler was not on properly. Oblivion is quite a system hog, and it IS an 820D, after all, so could the CPU have fried? There was no odd smell, and when I cleaned off both the CPU and the cooler, both looked normal (no burns).

Also, would a dead CPU prevent power from going to anything else?

...or has my motherboard died?

Thanks for looking!

 

[BadThad]

Try swapping out the power supply. That's usually the first thing I do on a system when I have the problem you're describing.

 

[BadThad]

Originally posted by: jliger99
Update/Question Number 2: How can you tell if a CPU has died due to overheating (other than switching it out)? I discovered that one corner of my Arctic Freezer cooler was not on properly. Oblivion is quite a system hog, and it IS an 820D, after all, so could the CPU have fried? There was no odd smell, and when I cleaned off both the CPU and the cooler, both looked normal (no burns).

Also, would a dead CPU prevent power from going to anything else?

...or has my motherboard died?

Thanks for looking!

Intel CPU's will shutdown the system if a certain temp is reached, I'm pretty sure your CPU is fine.

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: BadThad
Try swapping out the power supply. That's usually the first thing I do on a system when I have the problem you're describing.

Originally posted by: jliger99
II have switched power supplies to no avail.

It seems we have narrowed it down to your cpu and mobo. Last thing I would do is pull the motherboard out and try it on a it's own with the cpu. Its a far cry but maybe something shifted or a metal filing or something got in somwhere. Like I said, last ditch effort.

 

[jliger99]

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried powering the machine on with only the Mobo and CPU.

No go.

 

[mechBgon]

What brand & model was the original PSU, and the one that you tried as a replacement?

 

[jliger99]

My current (pardon the pun) power supply is the Antec TruPower 550. I also tried the machine with my son's Enermax 365.

 

[mechBgon]

So a couple of respectable brands, then. Try this, if you didn't already: remove the video card entirely and try firing up the system without it. Does the CPU fan run instead of not running?

 

[jliger99]

It lies there dormant.

 

[BadThad]

Originally posted by: jliger99
It lies there dormant.

You had one ram module installed, right?

 

[jliger99]

I have 2 1G modules

 

[jliger99]

I think a new motherboard definitely is in order. Here's what happened:

On Bad's suggestion (not assigning blame by any means), I tried powering up the machine with only one of my modules installed at a time. I shut off the power switch on the power supply, unplugged the machine and tried just one. Nothing. Did the same for the other module.

Something actually happened!

A watched a capacitor on the motherboard spark and "Pop!", and I was finally able to enjoy the tell-tale smell that I have been waiting for!

I've ordered a replacement...

Thanks to everyone willing to take the time to help!

 

[bluestrobe]

Sorry to hear about the motherboard, RIP.