Computer GURUS ..... HELP!!!!!! - Page 2

XplosiveR6 · 06-01-2005, 07:40 PM

Athlon XPs downt shut down till something like 85deg, so it shouldnt be a prob

MotherNature · 06-01-2005, 07:46 PM

OK ..coolies .......

Daughter has about a million msn pm's going atm & Im downloading a file & have this opened & winamp is playing ......

Temp reads 37oC & 50oC .........

XplosiveR6 · 06-01-2005, 07:51 PM

to test the stability of your pc download prime95, it gives ur pc a hard time
http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 08:03 PM

Yeah, I don't think it's a heat problem...

(BTW, my AMD XP1800 @ 1815MHz is currently sitting on 36c/96f, and under load it doesn't rise above 55c, bloody cool for an Athlon system, go AMD lol :1syellow1)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotherNature

OKkkkkkkk ... I am running Win98SE ... found the power part & have changed it to never & the monitor shutdown to the same as yours MaDDeSTMaN ......

Theres No hibernate tab there but there is, in the advanced section a bit that syas power buttons .......... 'When I press the pweer button on my computer' & the a drop box saying Shutdown & standby ......... which one should it be ..........

Also when I put my hand over the power source last night(well this morning) on Martins suggestions it cut out again .... maybe coincidence ..... Im not sure .... that was the time I gave up & went to bed.......

In the advanced section where it refers to 'When I press the power button on my computer', you probably want it set to either "Shutdown my Computer" or "Ask me what to do" (or words to that effect), either way shouldn't cause any problems.

When you say you "put my hand over the power source last night(well this morning) on Martins suggestions it cut out again", where exactly did you put your hand? Over the fan at the back near where the power cord plugs in, or somewhere else?

4.0i_SiX · 06-01-2005, 08:33 PM

My guess is its a cheap case with generic PSU ( Omni, X-sonic, vtech etc )
You will most likely find the PSU is a little dodgey, we get this alot at work. Usually it gets to the point where the caps swell and it will just not turn on any longer. it MAY be heat related but I doubt that very much. If you ar eonly getting LED's and no fans, its the PSU

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EF_Dave

to test the stability of your pc download prime95, it gives ur pc a hard time
http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

Fantastic idea, I'll second that suggestion! What you want to do with that, once you've finished downloading it, is this:

Once you've installed it, it will automatically run, go to its window, click "Options", then click "Torture test...". Finally click ok, and leave it to do it's thing, personally I'd let it run for a couple of hours.

If it runs for a couple of hours without showing an error, click test, then stop, then click test, followed by exit.

If it reports errors, let us know. Even if it doesn't report errors, please let us know.

Good luck.

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4.0i_SiX

My guess is its a cheap case with generic PSU ( Omni, X-sonic, vtech etc )
You will most likely find the PSU is a little dodgey, we get this alot at work. Usually it gets to the point where the caps swell and it will just not turn on any longer. it MAY be heat related but I doubt that very much. If you ar eonly getting LED's and no fans, its the PSU

I agree, it's most likely the PSU.

LuvinmyEB · 06-01-2005, 09:09 PM

After reading everything I think it's a PSU problem. I change mine every six months or so (or at least give it a good clean out).

I'm running an AMD 2800+ with one extraction fan, PSU fan and CPU fan and my CPU is sitting on 36 degrees. Not too bad for a basic AMD set up.

If MN can have multiple MSN windows open, be using Winamp and whatever else was running, she was getting a decent temperature.

I went through a couple of PSU's before I got my PC stable, just had to spend a few more dollars. It happens to the best of us. ;)

MotherNature · 06-01-2005, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EF_Dave

to test the stability of your pc download prime95, it gives ur pc a hard time
http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm

OK so is it possible that this test will kill it completely ?????????

So far its been going for over 2hrs now & not crashed ........

The weather is a lot cooler up here tonight as well & I have turned off the pedestal fan .......

The case its in is an Age of Digital Case .......... well thats what is on it .... When I had this thing done they used my DVD rom,CD burner & HDD from my old computer but everything else is about 6 months old ......

I really appreciate all this help guys

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotherNature

OK so is it possible that this test will kill it completely ?????????

No, don't worry, if it was likely to, I would have warned you

If it's run for that long without reporting a single error, that is a good sign, you could run it overnight to be sure, but most likely that rules out any problems with your CPU, RAM or some parts of your motherboard.

I think the most suspect part is definately the PSU.

MotherNature · 06-01-2005, 10:05 PM

OK its downloading now ...... can I stay online when I run it .... or is it a thing to do when I go to bed ;)

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotherNature

OK its downloading now ...... can I stay online when I run it .... or is it a thing to do when I go to bed ;)

Ahhh, I thought you meant you had already been running prime95 for two hours, my bad, yeah, you can still be online while running it, although your computer might slow a bit, this is to be expected, seeing as you'll be stress testing it.

I think the best option would be to run it before you go to bed, if when you get up in the morning it's still running, and it isn't showing any errors, then we can rule out a few things.

If however, you leave it running prime95s torture test when you go to bed and prime95 isn't on the screen when you get up, that's not exactly a great sign.

Either way, try it, and see what happens, you're not going to do any damage with it.

MotherNature · 06-01-2005, 10:59 PM

Gotta hate links that dont work ... I have tried to get this thing 4 times ...... still no joy :(

Is it possible for someone to email this program to me ?>??????

The MaDDeSTMaN · 06-01-2005, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotherNature

Gotta hate links that dont work ... I have tried to get this thing 4 times ...... still no joy :(

Is it possible for someone to email this program to me ?>??????

You've got mail.

**Captain Stubing** · 07-01-2005, 01:12 AM

Mother Nature,
The motherboard of these PC's are very intricate. sometimes, when installing RAM chips, or Video cards, or whatever, whoever is pushing these card/chips can push hard enough to rupture the solder connections to the copper tracks on the boards. I've done this myself on my own PC, and it wouldn't start up, or would freeze when the temperature got right. Before going and buying a new board, I tried flexing the board the opposite direction, by gently wedging a non-conductive object between the bottom of the board and the case frame i.e. plastic or wooden such as half a peg!. It's been 18 months now, and I haven't had to buy a new motherboard!

xdc351 · 07-01-2005, 09:15 AM

It sounds like a dud power supply to me as well. The CPU fan always spins for a couple of seconds after it looses power so thats not the cause.

Shutting down for no reason is likely either a dud PSU, damaged RAM (fixed a PC once that was randomly re-booting and it turned out to be a damaged RAM chip), a faulty motherboard and less likely is bad thermal shutdown settings (don't laugh i've seen it before).

Your PC may have adjustable thermal cutout points in the BIOS. To check hit 'Del' as your PC goes through the RAM check, or if that is all hidden from you just have a look at the screen that pops up and it should have a 'press F11 for setup' or something similar.

Check what temp the cutout's are set to and enable warning tones as well. It might have the 'shutdown' temp set to 55 degrees and no warning tone!

Unfortunatly if its not the temp cutout, only the PSU is cheap to fix... so I hope thats the problem.

MotherNature · 07-01-2005, 05:02 PM

OK I have the stress test happening now ..... will let you all know how it goes ........

BTW ...... I was able to manually shut down the computer last night & have rebooted again without a hitch so far ...... No pedestal fans or anything & it is a warmish day here ........

Im wondering if it was the power settings in windows or if it just likes its new home now :P ..... It is still sitting on the new bench on its side & without covers ......

MotherNature · 07-01-2005, 08:09 PM

OK .... stress test has been going for 3hrs & 6 mins ....... there are no errors reported .....

:

The temp is running at Case 43oC CPU 52oC ... no external fans & at a reasonable heat today ........

Im hoping it was the power stuff that I changed last night

to all of you who have tried to help me out

The MaDDeSTMaN · 07-01-2005, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotherNature

OK .... stress test has been going for 3hrs & 6 mins ....... there are no errors reported .....

:

The temp is running at Case 43oC CPU 52oC ... no external fans & at a reasonable heat today ........

Im hoping it was the power stuff that I changed last night

to all of you who have tried to help me out

Sweeeeeeeeeet, hopefully you have no more problems with it, if you do, let us know and we'll do our best to help