Crackling sound and stops after 2 mins of the startup

[imported_ramu]

With the help of some of the folks here, I made my first ever desktop about 15 months.
till now things were going smooth and about 5 days back i was able to upgrade my desktop with a new graphics card too.

today morning there was a crackling sound and the computer died.

did the following attempts but all resulted in vain

a) Initially suspected recently installed video card and connected monitor to existing onboard vga slot. Result :: shutdown after 2 mins of booting

b) Replaced CPU fan and bought a new fan and connected to motherboard. Again the result is shutdown after about 2 mins

I am not sure where the problem is
1) is it motherboard
2) is it CPU
3) is it something to do with power supply

Any advice will be very helpful,

CPU - > Intel Core 2 Duo 6550
Mobo -> MSI P6NGM
Video Card -> BFG Tech geForce 9400 GT

 

[RebateMonger]

Crackling sounds usually mean high voltage. The only high voltage inside a PC is in the power supply.

 

[imported_ramu]

Thanks for the quick reply, does this mean that I now need to change the PSU and is there any way to validate that PSU is culprit ( I am assuming that your suggestion means that I now need to buy a PSU, is my assumption right)

 

[Quiksilver]

Replace PSU. It's faulty.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ramu
Thanks for the quick reply, does this mean that I now need to change the PSU and is there any way to validate that PSU is culprit ( I am assuming that your suggestion means that I now need to buy a PSU, is my assumption right)

If the PSU is the problem, the problem will go away when you replace the PSU. Get a brand-name, quality PSU. If it doesn't fix the problem, it never hurts to have a high-quality, known-good PSU laying around for testing and emergencies. There's nothing more potentially damaging than a bad PSU.

 

[Lemon law]

Premature says I, here our OP upgrades to a video card and suddenly has problems.

First, get rid of the video card and see if the problem goes away.

Or alternately remove the side panel and see if the crackling sound is coming from the power supply or the video card. For that,
some sort of automotive type stethoscope might help to isolate the source of the sound.

One should also be able to go into the PC health section of the bios and see what your voltages are on the various rails, a too small reading may point to an inadequate power supply. With VOM readings on any molex connector a good double check.

The other possibility is that our OP has not properly shut down the on board video in the bios, sometimes it takes a jumper and not many boards auto sense for the presence of a video card and do the set up automatically.

Why waste money on a power supply when the problem may be elsewhere? Replacing parts at random is never smart, at worse fixing the problem ends up costing you enough to buy two whole new PC's.

And edit in, a quick look at the board in question, a MSI P6NGM may or may not be the same board my wife has, because that board number has 3 sub varieties, and some have totally different bios versions. My wife has the -FD version. PM me if you have the FD variety because I have the mobo manual handy. Other wise search on the MSI website and use the search criteria "MS-7366" without the quotes.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
Premature says I, here our OP upgrades to a video card and suddenly has problems.

First, get rid of the video card and see if the problem goes away.

Or alternately remove the side panel and see if the crackling sound is coming from the power supply or the video card. For that,
some sort of automotive type stethoscope might help to isolate the source of the sound.

One should also be able to go into the PC health section of the bios and see what your voltages are on the various rails, a too small reading may point to an inadequate power supply. With VOM readings on any molex connector a good double check.

The other possibility is that our OP has not properly shut down the on board video in the bios, sometimes it takes a jumper and not many boards auto sense for the presence of a video card and do the set up automatically.

Why waste money on a power supply when the problem may be elsewhere? Replacing parts at random is never smart, at worse fixing the problem ends up costing you enough to buy two whole new PC's.

no, no, no, don't even waste your time looking at PSU voltages in BIOS

 

[imported_ramu]

Thanks Quiksilver, RebateMonger and Lemon law for your valuable suggestions, I will be buying the PSU and will retest the setup, but one thing is sure, upon repeated trials (with existing PSU), I am able to pinpoint the crackling sound to CPU, (not tools / diagnostic software, just my ear)
but as you have suggested I would replace PSU and update you all once I get do the test.

Lemon Law, I have the manual for the mobo, its the MSI P6NGM - FIH

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ramu
a) Initially suspected recently installed video card and connected monitor to existing onboard vga slot. Result :: shutdown after 2 mins of booting

b) Replaced CPU fan and bought a new fan and connected to motherboard. Again the result is shutdown after about 2 mins

CPUs don't make crackling sounds. CPU FANs can make noises if the fans are hitting something. If the fan blades are hitting something and stop turning or slow down too much, this will cause the CPU to shut down as it overheats or as the BIOS initiates a shutdown because of low CPU fan speed.

Note that some motherboard chipsets have fans, too. Their failure couuld cause overheating and a shutdown.

If the "crackling sound" is at all continuous, you can (carefully) temporarily stop the CPU or video card fan with something soft and see if the noise goes away.

 

[Quiksilver]

Now that I think about it a bit more, if the PSU isn't the issue and you eliminated any other components. It could also be house wiring, specifically a poor ground.

 

[imported_ramu]

Folks thanks a lot for advise and help, finally i replaced with a new PSU and the computer works like a charm.