Dead...it's dead... - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 03:41 - 1

ARG!!!!

Guild Wars fried my power supply, which fried my video card. Then when I switched to Integrated video for about five to ten minutes, it (the bad power supply) fried my motherboard.

SO.

I have a new power supply. Good quality 350 watt.

New video card. 256 MB DDR Ram on the video card...

Still no signal from the computer to the monitor. I've done everything I know. Now I'm shopping for a new motherboard. I hate my life. This thing's only five months old. Curse me for building my own computer.

So....i don't remember what kind of processor I have.

It's completely dead and no way of booting...well, there is, but you can't see anything to do anything.

I have an AMD Athlon processor, about 90% sure it's an AMD Athlon XP but I don't know if it's Duron or Sempron or what. I've got 512 DDR RAM and a 120-gig hard drive.

Um...yeah.

R A C

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

In my parent's basement

R/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 03:53 - 2

You built your own rig 5 months and can't remember the processor? Got receipts or confirmation email (if it was online store)? Should say on there. I hope you learned that it never hurts to spend a bit extra on getting a good psu. Are you sure the new vid card is seated right? Just checking just in case, sounds like it's time for a new mobo IMO. Hopefully the cpu is all right.

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 04:04 - 3

A friend got most of the parts from a magazine order type thing. He had the power supply spare (which i now realize is what caused everything...) but ordered all the parts and everything for me. I was just there when he put it together, and started learning from there.

First...

There was a glitch on the screen and a loud, sustained beep. I shut the computer down. I remarked that it started up faster than it has in the past month. Ten minutes later, it turns off - as though someone had unplugged it. I couldn't get it to start.

We cleaned and got it to start. But nothing was sending to the monitor from the video card. So I swiched over to the integraded video, and it worked. Very horribly, but it worked. For five minutes.

Then it shut down again abruptly, and the same thing happened. Fans on and stuff, but nothing sending to the monitor. Then I would get a spurt of power, and then nothing. I got a new power supply from the tech guys, and it worked...but nothing going to the monitor.

So I bought a new AGP vid card and power supply. We're back to "nothing going to the monitor". The monitor is good, we checked that. It's not the video card. Only thing left is the motherboard.

:: sigh ::

Da Immortal King

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 04:30 - 4

When i switched my new vid card nothing showed up on the monitor except after a few reboots.

EternalTempest

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

United States

Dark Side Ofthe Moon [DSM]

E/

07 Feb 2006 at 07:30 - 5

Or the power supply good of fried B, C, D, E, F components

and re-zapped replaced parts before the power supply was replaced.

I have a friend that had a pc that the powersupply fried just about everything on his cutom built pc. Kinda worked for a bit then stopped and kept redamaging new parts until we figured out it was the power supply.

It changed the way I build PC. Top of the line memory, mother board, and powers supply as the base. Build from there.

What it really sounds like you have two hardware problems making it very hard to pinpoint, or a damage component damaged an replaced component.

SaucE

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

OgreSlayingKnife.com

[MEEP] Biscuit of Dewm

N/

07 Feb 2006 at 12:17 - 6

If you got the parts 5 months ago, RMA them.

PS> Power supply is the most important part of your computer.

PSS> A 256MB Video card isn't always better than one with 128MB. Its all about the GPU.

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 17:13 - 7

Well, I figure that a Radeon 9550 is a pretty good video card. Just couldn't remember the name last night.

I got a new power supply in there before i put the new vid card in. The remaining components to check is basically the RAM, the motherboard, and the hard drive.

:: groan ::

Loviatar

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Feb 2005

07 Feb 2006 at 17:21 - 8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

I got a new power supply in there before i put the new vid card in. The remaining components to check is basically the RAM, the motherboard, and the hard drive.

:: groan ::

what brand is the power supply? (and price and how much does it weigh)?

if you got the store *this is our super duper best we got power supply* it still may be a dog

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 17:24 - 9

It's a very heavy 350 watt Antec SmartPower 2.0 I got at Best Buy for $60.

Loviatar

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Feb 2005

07 Feb 2006 at 17:27 - 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

It's a very heavy 350 watt Antec SmartPower 2.0 I got at Best Buy for $60.

good

a fast learner.

i have older Antec True Power in both pc i built (380w and 430 w)

both have given years of perfect service so far

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 17:30 - 11

Good to hear. I'm NOT building another PC with shoddy parts that will fry out on me in five months.

Still might be needing a motherboard.

I heard that newegg.com gives some good stuff but i was looking on there and i hardly recognized any of the brands.

EiS

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Save The Dragons

R/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 20:03 - 12

if you looking for motherboards i would go with ASUS MSI is pretty good to and also i found i have never had a problem with gigabyte motherboards eather if you not looking for any Overclocking functions gigabyte is good but if you want decent OCing options and stability then go ASUS

Loviatar

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Feb 2005

07 Feb 2006 at 20:13 - 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

Good to hear. I'm NOT building another PC with shoddy parts that will fry out on me in five months.

Still might be needing a motherboard.

I heard that newegg.com gives some good stuff but i was looking on there and i hardly recognized any of the brands.

i have been getting my parts from Newegg.com for years.

absolutely dependable with good prices/shipping costs

Josh

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

England, UK

D/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 20:54 - 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

i have been getting my parts from Newegg.com for years.

absolutely dependable with good prices/shipping costs

So are the products from what I hear.

Too bad I'm in England.

Rayea

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

west yorkshire, Uk

Sisters of Serenity

N/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 21:10 - 15

ok..when you boot up (or try to) do you get the single quick Beep noise from the pc?

if not, its ethe the chip or the board, or both..., sorry, man.

if you bought about 5 months ago, you *might* still have a athlon, but i think its more likely to be an amd sempron...we havent been able to buy athlon chips (like amd athlon1700) for over a year, and only a single type and brand of mainboard for said type of chip.

might be worth bighting the bullet and moving up to athlon64 in the socket 939 type...i did the same when my north and south briges blew my board, vid card and hdd..

however, since my gaming is lower end (ie, no fps or high end style mod games lol, just good old GW and Maple and AO) it should last me about 2-3 years....

we mainly use gigabyte, asus and a-bit mainboards as staples, but the boss has begun to buy items like thermaltake *finally, after much twining from me*
so were not too bad hehe.

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 22:08 - 16

No beeps.

My friend called his uncle who is good with computers, i guess, and says that if the motherboard has power (the fans spin, but there aren't any LEDs on the motherboard or CMOS) then it might be the processor...

/sigh...looking at new motherboards + processors. This is a whole friggin' rebuild process...

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 22:21 - 17

What do you guys think of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131535

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...239&CatId=1181

Rayea

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

west yorkshire, Uk

Sisters of Serenity

N/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 22:30 - 18

aye, it can be frustraiting.....
try swaping mainboard out, then replacing psu, then another chip, then another different chip...lastly, poping the original mainboard and psu back into case with a working chip, all in the space of 1 hour..^^ exhasting lol
especialy when it could have been just swaping for the working chip after 5 mins with heatsinc off.....but then, im just a girl

(sarcasme) what would i know whn i can get one rol per day, per machine natural 20 on resurection:dead pc

asus are a good brand, we use them (v8 i think and v8 delux) mainly for athlon64 builds...delux is nice, has lots of extras compared to the normal one..its just getting peeps to pay for a more expensive board lol....i swear, everyone i build ends up going to boot sales to sell bootleg dvd *kidding*

Josh

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

England, UK

D/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 22:36 - 19

Not that mobo, it only has AGP.

Try one with PCI-E?

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

07 Feb 2006 at 22:39 - 20

Either I get the Biostar and keep my vid card...or get the Asus one and return the vid card...i looked closer and the Asus doesn't have an AGP slot but instead has a PCI Express x16 slot. Which i don't have anything to go in there.

Thanks a ton for your advice!

Rayea

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

west yorkshire, Uk

Sisters of Serenity

N/Mo

07 Feb 2006 at 22:44 - 21

pci express is good, and theres reasonable priced ones, if you know where to look....

guess it depends on how much use and how good the vid card you have rignt now is.....
if you want ideas for other brands to look for, look at my bosses site (yeah, its uk, but the boards ect are available elsewhere ehhe)
www.computer-warehouse.net

assuming he still has all the stuff on it....*he been updateing lately lol*
would show you the asus we get that *dont* have pci-e slots and still have good old agp ones

Dex

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

Chicago, IL

Black Belt Jones

R/Me

07 Feb 2006 at 23:57 - 22

Those are Socket 754 boards. If you have an Athlon XP you might need a Socket A. You should make sure you know what CPU you have before you decide on a motherboard.

I'm guessing that your PSU killed your video card and your motherboard. CPUs tend to be harder to kill with power, so if you're lucky it might be ok. Your RAM might be damaged, too. Make sure you test it with Memtest86 after you get the system booting again. Try a new motherboard first before you bother buying another CPU. Once you get the system running again, run the Prime95 torture test and Memtest86 to test your system integrity before you decide you're in good shape.

BTW - Abit, Asus, MSI, EPoX, and Gigabyte are all tier-1 motherboard makers. However, Google up some reviews of the boards you're looking at before you buy, as even the best manufacturers have their duds.

The lesson here? Don't use cheap power supplies. The health of your entire system rests on it.

Alias_X

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2005

08 Feb 2006 at 00:39 - 23

yah, as someone said before, can't you RMA your parts?

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

08 Feb 2006 at 01:46 - 24

I'm looking at getting the motherboard-and-cpu packages right now...i found a great motherboard that has more than what i need (for AMD 64) but then i'd need to get the processor, too. The package of the Biostar one i posted earlier is looking like a good deal, but...is Sempron a good processor?

Dex: Where would I get those tests?

Dex

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

Chicago, IL

Black Belt Jones

R/Me

08 Feb 2006 at 05:02 - 25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

I'm looking at getting the motherboard-and-cpu packages right now...i found a great motherboard that has more than what i need (for AMD 64) but then i'd need to get the processor, too. The package of the Biostar one i posted earlier is looking like a good deal, but...is Sempron a good processor?

Dex: Where would I get those tests?

A Sempron is a budget Athlon. It's at least a 64-bit Sempron, right?

Here's where you get Memtest86:

http://www.memtest86.com/

Download the compiled Win32 install files (makes a bootable floppy disk)

Here's where you get Prime95:

http://www.mersenne.org/

Go to the downloads section...this one is just run in Windows. Read the instructions as it's not terribly user-friendly.

Again, make SURE you Google up some reviews of the motherboard you're looking at before you buy it. The specs and brand name of the board don't tell you enough about the board's quality.

Kaguya

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Moon

Mo/

08 Feb 2006 at 06:36 - 26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dex

Here's where you get Memtest86:

http://www.memtest86.com/

I'd recommend Memtest86+, it's still updated unlike the original.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dex

Here's where you get Prime95:

http://www.mersenne.org/

And for this, StressPrime 2004. SP2004 is Prime95, but with a much nicer & user friendly GUI.

Dex

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

Chicago, IL

Black Belt Jones

R/Me

08 Feb 2006 at 08:46 - 27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaguya

I'd recommend Memtest86+, it's still updated unlike the original.

And for this, StressPrime 2004. SP2004 is Prime95, but with a much nicer & user friendly GUI.

Bah. Just sniff it. If it smells bad, throw it out.

Seriously, though, the last version of Memtest86+ I used kept hanging on me...granted the RAM was bad, but I couldn't complete the tests. Could just have been a fluke.

Manic Smile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

----- 15^50[Rare] ---- Alliance: ----- [SMS] -----

08 Feb 2006 at 08:54 - 28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayea

might be worth bighting the bullet and moving up to athlon64 in the socket 939 type...i did the same when my north and south briges blew my board, vid card and hdd..

however, since my gaming is lower end (ie, no fps or high end style mod games lol, just good old GW and Maple and AO) it should last me about 2-3 years....

AMD 2200 since 2001...lol

I recomend paying the extra price for anything that says Asus, only ever had a problem once that was due to shipping and they paid for the replacement and shipping both ways. 5 years of stable function for a MB and Vid Card seems respectable.

SaucE

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

OgreSlayingKnife.com

[MEEP] Biscuit of Dewm

N/

08 Feb 2006 at 12:00 - 29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaguya

I'd recommend Memtest86+, it's still updated unlike the original.

And for this, StressPrime 2004. SP2004 is Prime95, but with a much nicer & user friendly GUI.

Agreed all the way. Great tools.