Thread: My computer "died"

  1. #1
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    My computer "died"

    This is interesting.

    I've had my computer for, eesh, has to be atleast a month(edit: OR 3). When I first got it(after putting it together) I threw software at it that demanded none-less than 1,000mhz or more.

    While playing the routine round oy Mortal Kombat 2 through a port of MAME called, "Smooth MAME", my computer decided to shut off and refuse to turn back on. This software HAS been used before, and MAME has unthrottled Mortal Kombat 2 on my computer up to 381 frames per second. The motherboard is an Asus A78NX, the cd rom is some generic cd writer. The CPU is AMD 2000+. The ram is 512mb pc2100 DDR. The hard drive is Western Digital 40gb. The video card is GeForce 4 MMX 440. I did not have a case fan intsalled into the tower yet, but a highskilled friend said that I probably could get by without one. I'm only running 1 hard drive, 1 cd rom, 1 floppy, and 1 mobo off that 300w PSU. I have 2 free IDE power plugs. Could it be the Power Supply? I've stress-tested the AMD chip countless times and like I said, I'm using the 2000+ and I have a heatsink and fan recommended by AMD(or from AMD, not sure, has their sticker on it) that is designed for the 2800+. I'm not stressing the PSU, the CPU has adequete cooling.........I-dunno, any ideas?
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

  2. #2
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    did you try the switch in the back of the power supply?
    is it plugged in? on both end of the power cable?
    does it boot at all?
    if not, have you tryed unplugging everything inside and takeing out everything but the necessities, to see if it boots at all?

    yes this post does contain sarcasm.
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  3. #3
    It's full of stars adrianxw's Avatar
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    Is the power light on? If so, simple but easy check, is the CPU fan turning - if so, the power supply is running and the motherboard has power. Disks turning?

    These are quick and easy things to check to verify the PSU's operation.

    AMD have had problems in the past with heat, although the TB and Barton cored systems are supposed to throttle correctly now, just because a chip soak tests n times, doesn't mean it will soak n+1 times. You will no doubt have been thermally stressing the chip.
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  4. #4
    our PSU went out in our old comp and burned out the CPU, because the CPU fan had no power. This could be it. Just do like he said, test the fans and the disks. With an Athlon XP 2000+ it'll be easy to burn, mine burned quickly, and it was just a AMD K6-2 500MHz

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    Sorry for the late reply..I was gone for a few days enjoying part of my spring break with my girlfriend.

    As far as the box...the motherboard's LED light says that the the motherboard is getting power. NOTE: This is in the OFF mode. Meaning, the actual computer, and motherboard is turned off, but the actual BOARD istelf has an LED light saying that it's receiving power. while the PSU is in the on position but the case power button is depressed. However, when I go to press the power switch, the computer WON'T even turn on, post, anything. No fans, NOTHING. The power supply fan DOESN'T even budge.

    Before with my computer, I couldn't get it to boot because I was shorting the board by not having the motherboard mounted flush. Well, after troubleshooting that problem, I noticed the PSU fan would move slightly, but then stop due to the motherboard killing the power supply because it didn't like how things were going(my crappy mounting job).

    I'm not even getting that. The PSU also smells like burnt broccoli.
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

  6. #6
    It's full of stars adrianxw's Avatar
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    The led on the board would indicate that at least some of the power supply is working, however, the psu will have several voltage rails, and it could be that another is dead. The fact that the psu's fan is not working really does tend to point at the psu, and if you have been giving the psu hell with shorts...

    The only system component which smells like burnt brocolli under normal circumstances is the DFF 12885/rev 7 with the 3.0.2 firmware revision - as you don't have that, I suspect something is fried.
    Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity unto the dream.

  7. #7
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    Thanks alot Adrian - I have a PSU replacement on the way, once I get that, I'll poke around and see what I can come up with.

    Have a good one.
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

  8. #8
    5|-|1+|-|34|) ober's Avatar
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    keep us updated.

  9. #9
    Dude I would take it to some store or place that knows what they are doing - my friend has a shop and I had a similar problem it turned out to be a shorted wire in the power button - the whole comp shutdown and refused to start or even make a noise that it was starting.

    U may be spending needless money when it could be something simple.
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  10. #10
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    >The only system component which smells like burnt brocolli under normal circumstances is the DFF 12885/rev 7 with the 3.0.2 firmware revision

    How do you know that? Do you go around sniffing computer parts for fun?
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    > Dude I would take it to some store or place that knows what they are doing
    Well, I want to expierment around so I no longer NEED to do that.

    > U may be spending needless money when it could be something simple
    Well, u r right, but, I wud ratha spend a little exta cash myself to save myself some hassul in da future.

    > keep us updated
    Oh, I will. I have that PSU which was dirt cheap on the way along with some other stuff. Hopefully I'll start seeing some FedEx and UPS trucks here pretty soon. I'm at my g/f's for now though until the weekend so I won't be home to monkey with any of it until Friday or Saturday.

    It's a good thing I have a spare fan+heatsink combo that's recommended by AMD because if I start going to unplugging each and every thing, I don't have any heat-phasing "gue" - the spare heatsink+fan combo has the themral strip by default - my current strip has been used up by operating the cpu if i were to detach it.(everything else is, "plug it in and turn it on")
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

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    Sorry for the delay, I just got back from my g/f's/spring break get away.

    Got the PSU in the mail. Hooked it in, and everything powered up accordingly. For the past 20-30 minutes I've been listening to music, checking webpages, mail, and watching music videos.

    Good spot Adrian.
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

  13. #13
    Redundantly Redundant RoD's Avatar
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    What did you pay for the PSU shadow? I purchased a 400W for 13.99 + 3.00 shipping, did you get a better deal?

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    *checks receipt*
    $13.98 - zero tax - zero shipping

    The receipt, and website advertised it as 300w, and the psu itself says 400w max on it. This psu DOES have more inputs than my old one that died...2 3.5 floppy power plugs, and, oh i-dunno, I'll pm you sometime with the plug specs if you're interested.
    The world is waiting. I must leave you now.

  15. #15
    Redundantly Redundant RoD's Avatar
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    not needed, i just wanted to see if i got ripped off, or visa versa. They had a 600W for 23.00, i kinda wish i had of paid it.

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