Won't post, fan spins but CPU heat sink cold to touch

[dylanbarnhart]

My core2Duo sytem has been running fine for a year or so before it started crashing intermittently. Sometimes it's frozen while I was inside BIOS setup, sometimes as late as 20 minutes after windows boot up.

Well, that's only the beginning. I tried to find out if it's a memory problem by switching out the 2 DDR2 memory sticks. I didn't unplug the power (only turned off the computer), and that probably caused some damage. Now it's just dead. When I power up, all I get is a black screen. It won't even show the spash screen and I can't even set the BIOS.

All the fans spin, including system/CPU/graphics. The DVD drive also spins. But the CPU heast sink is cold to the touch, and so are the north bridge heatsink, graphics heatsink, and memory. They all used to be warm before. Actually my northbridge used to be quite hot.

Anyways, I know I need to switch out components. I just need some clue on what to replace first. I can't afford to buy mobo+CPU+memory+graphics all at once. I already swaped out the power supply from my old computer and it didn't help.

Also, anybody know if a used component can be returned to NewEgg? How about Fry's Electronics? After I swapped out the component and determined that it didn't help, can I return back the item? The CPU will not look brand new because of the thermal paste.

Thanks a lot!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: dylanbarnhart
I already swaped out the power supply from my old computer and it didn't help.

But does your old computer's PSU have what it takes to power your Core2Duo system, is one question. If in doubt, a high-quality PSU with enough wattage to run the system might be a good gamble.

Look closely at the motherboard and see if it happens to have leaking or bulging capacitors, since that problem sometimes crops up. They should be flat-ended like a soup can, not bulging, leaking, or corroded.

 

[dylanbarnhart]

I'll update here, in case other people have the same symptoms. It turns out that my motherboard was the problem. After I replaced to a new one, the whole computer works just fine.

The motherboard that died was the MSI P6N SLI FI with Nvidia 650i chipset. I replaced it with the Platinum version of this same mobo (instead of FI version), which has heatpipe on the northbridge plus an optional north bridge fan. The old FI motherboard only has a normal heatsink, which runs really hot, and over time the heat killed the motherboard.

Both of these motherboards allow overclocking on my Core2Duo CPU 4300 1.8Ghz. I got 3.0Ghz on the old mobo with an increase on vCore voltage (1333 FSB on 9X multiplier). The new mobo can't do the same, and only reached 2.7Ghz (1200 FSB x 9). This is bad, because the Platinum version is supposed to be more overclockable. The good thing is that no voltage increase is requied. I only used the stock CPU fan, with a couple extra large case fans. Orthos stable and running reasonably cool.

About returning items, Newegg has special rules for CPU. The refund period is 7 days, and there's a 15% restocking fee. UPS now also charges extra fuel fee for delivery. Ouch.

Thanks mechBgon, the only one who replied to my question.