I need expert opinions please... do I need to get a new CPU?

[guynexdoor]

I'm not sure how to precisely describe my problem, so I'll just write what I know, I hope you all can help... PLEASE! I built my computer back in May, (which by the way was awesome and fun!) and it was running smoothly until a few weeks ago.

Here are the specs:

1. MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
2. eVGA 256-P2-N376-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
3. AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor
4. CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory
5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3200826AS 200GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
6. SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
7. NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A BK
8. Thermaltake Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) ATX 420W Power Supply
9. Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I recently purchase the Dell 2005FPW widescreen flat panel monitor, and installed an additional 1GB or RAM (the same model as I purchased initially). Also I recently bought and installed Battlefield 2, Age of Empires 3, and the demo for Call of Duty 2.

I had been having problems with my computer with increasingly frequent crashes with automatic restarts the past few weeks. Windows XP attributed it to some nonspecific device driver as being the source of the problem. So I updated all the device drivers, including my video drivers and BIOS. But it would still crash especially when I ran high end games like Battlefield 2 or Far Cry.

It would also shut down when idle (like if I left it overnight), and not start up again, by moving the mouse, or even turning it off... only by unplugging it would it start up again.

Then 2 days ago... it just wouldn't start at all. I mean, there's power... all the fans turn on, the blue background lights to my tower would be on... only the fan to the CPU would NOT start... and thus nothing else would start up.

The D-Bracket lights all show red. The manual says this means "System Power ON. The D-LED will hang here if the processor is damage or not installed properly."

Could this be related to the crashes I was experiencing earlier? Do I need to purchase a new CPU or could there be another explanation? If it is the CPU that's damaged, might I have damaged it when installing the additional RAM?

Could the initial instability be related to the new RAM I bought?... I had been reading that I needed to make some adjustments to my BIOS when adding RAM.

Please help, I'm using a friend's computer to write this....!! Thanks.

 

[Matthias99]

Could this be related to the crashes I was experiencing earlier?

Probably. I see you didn't do anything to figure out why you were having instability, though.

Do I need to purchase a new CPU or could there be another explanation?

If it's a bad CPU, obviously you will need a new one. However, it could be a number of things. The fact that your MB won't POST means it's hardware-related, but it could be the MB, RAM, or CPU.

If it is the CPU that's damaged, might I have damaged it when installing the additional RAM?

Unlikely.

Could the initial instability be related to the new RAM I bought?

Um, yes. Did you run something like memtest to check it? Or Prime95 to see if you were getting computational errors with/without the new RAM? Can you POST with just the old RAM installed?

... I had been reading that I needed to make some adjustments to my BIOS when adding RAM.

Usually it's all automatic these days. I'm not sure what 'adjustment' you would need to make (unless it was defaulting to the wrong memory speeds or something like that).

 

[guynexdoor]

Thanks Matthias...

I did try to figure out why I was having instability... I tried to upgrade all the drivers, and remove the new RAM and just use the old one... I tried flashing the BIOS... I uninstalled the gaming software and reinstalled them... but it stayed unstable... If I am able to startup my computer... can you suggest anything else I can try?

As for whether it could be the MB, RAM or CPU, is there anything you can suggest I try to do to differentiate among the three?

I didn't know about things like memtest or Prime95. Up until 2 days ago, I was able to post with and without the new RAM, and with just the old RAM installed. Now I cannot get it to POST even with using only the old RAM.

 

[Phluxed]

Well I mean, there IS the possibility of a number of things. Static shock, Couldve nudged the heatsink and it was loose and it pulled the CPU. If you tried it with the old ram that you knew worked, best bet is its the PSU, MOBO or CPU. Probably not the PSU in this case, but it is a possibility.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: guynexdoor
Thanks Matthias...

I did try to figure out why I was having instability... I tried to upgrade all the drivers, and remove the new RAM and just use the old one... I tried flashing the BIOS... I uninstalled the gaming software and reinstalled them... but it stayed unstable... If I am able to startup my computer... can you suggest anything else I can try?

As for whether it could be the MB, RAM or CPU, is there anything you can suggest I try to do to differentiate among the three?

I didn't know about things like memtest or Prime95. Up until 2 days ago, I was able to post with and without the new RAM, and with just the old RAM installed. Now I cannot get it to POST even with using only the old RAM.

Well, start from the basics. Unplug everything except one stick of RAM, the CPU, and the video card. If it still won't POST, try the other stick of RAM. If it *still* won't come up, there are only a few possibilities (in decreasing order of likelyhood, in my experience):

1) The motherboard is defective, or is shorting against the case. Check for any blown capacitors or damage to the board. You can eliminate a short as a suspect by removing the motherboard from the case and running it with the MB placed on a nonconductive surface.
2) Both sticks of RAM are bad. Only way to be sure is to get another stick of RAM and try it.
3) The CPU is bad. Only way to be sure is try another CPU.
4) The PSU has gone bad and is not providing good power. You'll need to get another PSU to test with.

Also, if you have a speaker hooked up to the motherboard, you may get beep codes or audio diagnostics giving you some idea of what is wrong.

 

[Lyfer]

I'm sorry, but your computer is being lame.


More than likely its a hardware problem. And NO, its not your cpu, if it was your computer won't be posting. Try running a bare system, Board, cpu, and video only. Install Windows and see how its run. If it works, then slowly add on your peripherals, such as sound card, nic, and USB stuff.


If that doesn't work its probably a crappy board, I've only seen this with an Epox board (8RDA) which would bootup when it wanted too and detect wierd arse cpu settings.

 

[xanis]

Sounds like a video problem to me, but I would try the old method of taking everything but the essentials out and putting the otherp arts back in one at a time until you find the culprit.

 

[guynexdoor]

thanks everyone... i'll try those suggestions... btw, Lyfer... my computer IS NOT posting... so I guess, it could still be the CPU

when you say just "board, cpu, and video" only, do you mean that the hard drive is NOT connected as well?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Is your computer overclocked or stock speed?

The symptoms sound like RAM to me, I would first try installing only the original ram, reset the CMOS jumper and battery and see if it will post. It could also be a dead CMOS battery, check the battery with a tester. If you get it to post, install the new ram and run memtest or Prime blend for several hour. If you get errors drop the ram divider to 166(DDR333) and run memtest again, even though the memory controller on the SD should handle 4 sticks at DDR400 some sticks just won't do it

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: guynexdoor
thanks everyone... i'll try those suggestions... btw, Lyfer... my computer IS NOT posting... so I guess, it could still be the CPU

when you say just "board, cpu, and video" only, do you mean that the hard drive is NOT connected as well?

Yes. Unplug everything else (hard drives, optical drives, PCI cards, etc.). You do NOT need anything else plugged in to POST or get into the BIOS.

 

[guynexdoor]

Ok update... I unplugged everything except the board, CPU and video card. Finally the fan over the CPU turned on, but I noticed that the little fan on the motherboard was not spinning, even though it was plugged in. Also, when I attached the monitor to the video card there was no output to the monitor. What does this all mean? Could it be the video card? I'm thinking it's the motherboard actually.

Any opinions?

 

[Skyhanger]

have you reset your CMOS? That usually fixes a ton of things...

When did the errors start happening? If it started happening after you got your ram, try booting with only your old stick of working ram after you reset your CMOS.

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: guynexdoor
Ok update... I unplugged everything except the board, CPU and video card. Finally the fan over the CPU turned on, but I noticed that the little fan on the motherboard was not spinning, even though it was plugged in. Also, when I attached the monitor to the video card there was no output to the monitor. What does this all mean? Could it be the video card? I'm thinking it's the motherboard actually.

Any opinions?

Try again. This time make sure the monitor is already connected before you start the system. You should see the system post. As for the small fan on the mobo, it's probably the chipset cooler. Try manually spinning the fan to see if it will spin. BTW, are you using DVI or VGA connection for your monitor? Let us know.