Heatsink Fan not spinning!!!

[ikickpigeons]

Recently one of my computers died out of nowhere. It had been running solid for a good month or so. So when i tried to turn it on, I get all these crazy artifacts on the screen. From what I know artifacts=over heating=bad. So i try one more time to see whats going on, this time with the case open, and i see the cpu fan is not spinning. Ah Hah! CPU must be fried...

One week later...

I receive my new CPU and Freezer 7 pro after market heatsink. I install the parts and boot up. Exact same thing happens!!!! LOTS of artifacts on the screen (the look like sperm on PCP). And the CPU fan is not spinning. I checked to see if the wire that leads out from the heatsink (I dont know what its called) is connected to the proper plug and it is.

My guess is that its something within the motherboard. The CPU fan controller?

So what should I do? Am I right with my guess? And most importantly, did i just fry my second CPU? (I only had it running for maybe 10 seconds before i killed it.)

*EDIT*

The specs:
Gigabyte S3
E4400
Freezer 7 Pro heatsink

 

[Cutthroat]

Try connecting it to a different fan header on the motherboard, or use an adapter and connect it directly to a molex connector from the PSU, make sure any CPU fan monitoring is off or it'll scream at you.

CPU is probably alright, they have protection built in to shut them down if they overheat. C2D's can also run with a good heat sink and without a fan if they aren't overclocked.

 

[nullpointerus]

The fan won't start spinning during boot unless the CPU's temperature actually requires the fan.

Try removing the video card and reinstalling it. Wierd things can happen if the card isn't inserted the whole way. (But don't cram it!)

 

[ikickpigeons]

Originally posted by: Cutthroat
Try connecting it to a different fan header on the motherboard, or use an adapter and connect it directly to a molex connector from the PSU, make sure any CPU fan monitoring is off or it'll scream at you.

CPU is probably alright, they have protection built in to shut them down if they overheat. C2D's can also run with a good heat sink and without a fan if they aren't overclocked.

The only other fan header is one labeled for the system. Will this still work? And how long can I leave the system on without damaging the chip. because i might try going into the BIOS to see whats happening. The only problem with this approach is that its nearly impossible to read the screen from all the artifacts.

 

[Cutthroat]

The artifacts are really likely due to your graphics card as nullpointerus said. Are you sure the fan is spinning on it?

And no it doesn't hurt to plug the CPU fan into whatever fan header you want, or directly to the PSU, it will just be reported wrong in software.

As I said earlier if your CPU actually does overheat it will shut down the system, it's hard to damage a C2D with heat.

 

[ikickpigeons]

Cutthroat,

You were right. It was the gfx card. The CPU's are fine. thanks for the help.

 

[montypythizzle]

Lulz, it would not boot if the CPU was bad. (or go into the BIOS for that matter)
This wasn't even that hard to diagnose....