Author Topic: Troubles  (Read 844 times)

Offline JVboob

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Troubles
« on: May 07, 2017, 05:04:46 PM »
So, my computer is down. I went to log on yesterday and my TV (in lieu of moniter) stayed black. I took the panels off of the tower and when I powered up the PC from the back 2 of the 3 fans were running the power unit was running but I had nothing. I hit my power button and reset button on the front panel and nojoy. Ive switched TVs, HDMI cords and nothing so something inside the PC is jacked up anyone have any ideas where I should start?
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Offline Vulcan

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Re: Troubles
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2017, 05:14:59 PM »
is the CPU power fan running?

Offline JVboob

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Re: Troubles
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2017, 06:52:05 PM »
idk which of the 3 that is. The fan at the back of the case runs, then the one that is on top of the large heatsink runs (assuming thats the CPU fan) then theres one at the front of the case that does not run
"Sighhhhhhhhhh, office closed do to ice for a day, And I miss a thread like this.."HiTech
Armed N Hammered 2002-2003
JG44 Night Hawks/JV44 Butcher Birds 2003-2009
49th Fighter Group fightn' 49ers Feb2012-present
138th FW Tulsa, OK 2009-2015

Online Bizman

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Re: Troubles
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2017, 01:28:47 AM »
The CPU fan is the one that is attached to a heatsink on the motherboard just as you thought.

There's also a fan inside the power supply. Depending of the case design it may either face the floor at the bottom of your case or at the top taking air from inside the case. In either case it's important to keep it dust free.

The symptoms you're describing can be due to several issues. Memory, Video dard, CPU and BIOS backup battery all can cause that. The last one is the cheapest to replace. De-dust your system and reseat both the RAM sticks and the video card so you know they're sitting firmly in their slots. Don't let the fans spin when using compressed air for cleaning!

If those don't help, there's more troubleshooting tips available.

Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

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Offline JVboob

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Re: Troubles
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2017, 01:51:28 PM »
bios back up battery is the giant watch battery in there right? and how would i check my gpu, ram, and cpu?
"Sighhhhhhhhhh, office closed do to ice for a day, And I miss a thread like this.."HiTech
Armed N Hammered 2002-2003
JG44 Night Hawks/JV44 Butcher Birds 2003-2009
49th Fighter Group fightn' 49ers Feb2012-present
138th FW Tulsa, OK 2009-2015

Online Bizman

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Re: Troubles
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2017, 03:07:08 PM »
Giant watch battery indeed... Actually used in Tamagotchis, too.

Ram is the easiest to test. You usually have at least two sticks. Simply take them off (there's a latch at the end of the slot) and try one at a time, preferably in several slots. Your motherboard manual should have info about where to attach an odd number of sticks, so check that out. If you can make your computer boot with or without one certain stick, you've found the culprit. But if your system boots with one stick but not with a pair or more, it might be the psu. Or motherboard... If you can make your system boot but can't access windows before rebooting, there's bootable cd/USB stick tests. More on the subject here: https://www.howtogeek.com/260813/how-to-test-your-computers-ram-for-problems/

Testing the gpu or cpu is not that easy. Basically the only way is to try with a known good one. And again, there's always the possibility that the symptoms are misleading and the true culprit is the psu or the motherboard. Anyway, if your motherboard has onboard video, simply take your video card off and try with the onboard one. If your system boots, it's video card related. Yes, unless it's because your psu can't feed your video card or your motheboard has a failing pci-e slot... But anyway, if the onboard video works, you then can try with another gaming level video card to see if you can boot with another power thirsty one. Vice versa, you can plug your video card into a known good system to see if it boots. Same goes with the cpu.

As you can see, it takes quite a lot of fiddling, swapping components from one system to another. That's why the easiest way is the first thing to recommend. So: Change the button cell. Take out the ram sticks and video card and clean the slots. Try with a single ram stick. Try with the onboard video if your motherboard features one. Check that the cpu cooler sits properly. Check that the cpu fan is connected to the right connector. If you have another fan, swap the connectors for case fan and cpu fan just in case the cpu fan speed indicator is broken.

If the above doesn't help and you end up swapping parts, notice that the test components need not be exactly similar to the original ones. You're not going to use them for heavy gaming, only for testing if you can make your system boot. Thus any underpowered psu would do as long as it has the connectors needed. Equally, an old video card would be fine if it has vaguely similar power connectors. Not every pin has to be used for testing. And of course same goes for the cpu, the weakest one of theright type for your motherboard will do just fine. Most likely you don't have all the testing parts at home, so ask your friends/colleagues/job or school IT dept/local shop for testing parts.

Good luck!
Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

Kotisivuni