Member Avatar for Chrismander

Hi...I built a machine about a year ago, my first build. Asus P4P800E, Pentium 3.0, 1 gig kingston, a few HD's, DVD ROM and DVD R, ATI AIW 9800 video card, and just put in a Sound Blaster Platinum something or other a few weeks ago. No real problems recently except that I kept getting voltage drops on the 3.3 lead when I played certain games, so I was planning to order a new power supply soon or later.

A few days ago my computer just died when I was surfing the web. Nothing intensive, maybe had 4 or 5 browser windows open, no other applications. It just sort of went dead, made that popping sound it makes when it shuts down--i thought either i had kicked the surge protector off at first, but nothing else was off. I figured my power supply had just blown, since it had been giving me problems, and it was a cheapo supply that came with the case. So I just went ahead and ordered a new one. Put it in today, fully expecting the machine to just come back on..and, nothing. Feeling like a total douche, I shorted the old power supply with a paper clip and viola, it still works. Oh well, I would have needed a new power supply eventually anyhow, just to play my games.

But where now? I really want to avoid taking it to a scuzzy repair shop and getting hit with some mammoth labor bill. But I can't afford to just keep buying new components off newegg if i have no idea what's the trouble. Anyone have a good middle path here that'd help me diagnose what's wrong cheaply? Any chance it's something really cheap like the switch, or are we definitely looking at a major component?

Thanks!!
Chris

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 171 Views
  • 1 Year Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Carebare47
Member Avatar for rhrinkrat

i am haveing the same problem. my machine just randomly turned off on me the other day and i thought the power supply was shot. Put a new one in and it started for 2 seconds then just turned right off. I also noticed the fan on the CPU wasn't doing anything so i figured the cpu was over heating and it shut down as a protection. So i changed my heat sink and fan, because for some reason you cannot but a plain cpu fan in compusa. And that didn't work either. Unfortunatly, i think the problem might be the cpu burned out or motherboard shorted, one of those two. I think you might have the same problem, i haven't purchased a new board and cpu yet, avoiding high upgrade costs, but hope to get a new one soon and find out if thats the problem.

Member Avatar for Carebare47

It sounds to me like your CPU has burned out. How old was your CPU cooler, and did you accedently ( or on purpouse ) change any of the dip switch settings, the little blue box with the white switches on it.

Getting a new CPU might fix the problemb, but it might just burn out again, so i wouldent do that just yet.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.