Help needed with pc!

joe123

A few months ago I put a pc together for the first time and never had a problem...untill now.

I was playing morrwind on the comp and then went to exit the game and as i clicked exit the whole come shut down. I try turning it back on and it does turn on but only as far as showing what kind of graphics card i have and then nothing else and then just switches off...it doesnt make it to anything else after that....PLEASE help me, im seriously worried!

Ruu_Old

Strip down the computer to the barebones and elimate each device one by one until you find the problem device.

joe123

How will I recognise the problem? What should i look for? I dont have a clue what it could be or what i should look for?

Ruu_Old

Well a pc turning on, then off would lead me to believe something is overheating. Check that the fans are spinning properly for a start and connections are tight.

joe123

Ok I left the pc for a while and have tried starting it again. I got as far as putting in my admin password but it conked soon after. If i leave the pc for a while and turn it on it gets to about the loading windows xp logo and then I hear the pc rev and then it conks....i looked at the back of the pc and i think the psu fan isnt moving. I have 3 fans in it but one small fan i put in never worked from the beginning which i dont know why but now it seems only the large fan in the middle is working....is it looking like the psu is finished or just needs adjusting???

8T8

Before replacing the PSU test the system with memtest+ and see how long it runs for (let it go for at least a few hours) and if it reports any errors (if it does then your RAM is faulty).

joe123

It doesnt go as far as the desktop keeps just turing off...???

riptide

joe123 wrote:

It doesnt go as far as the desktop keeps just turing off...???

Hmmm sounds like an overheating or very likely a PSU prob. What PSU is it? Most are set to cut out if overheat. Borrow a mates and see what happens

Edit: oh and by the way, do it sooner than later. A PSU can die just like a star... a Super Nova that can take the hard drives and evrything with it to the grave.

Ruu_Old

PSUs arent really repairable, so toss it in the scrap heap and get a new one if it turns out thats the problem. They arent expensive to replace.

riptide

Ruu wrote:

PSUs arent really repairable, so toss it in the scrap heap and get a new one if it turns out thats the problem. They arent expensive to replace.

Yes... I believe Gline had a generic 350W for sale for 10 lids I think. Search his posts in FS.

_CreeD_

Have you checked the CPU fan at all?

democrates

Could be the hard drive, as you say it cuts when it begins to rev. It was working until you exited a game, at which point I'm guessing it fooked up a write to the hard drive.

Also you said it gets as far as the xp logo, that means the bios program (stored on a rom chip on the motherboard) has run and set up the basic environment, but when it tells the cpu to load xp from the hard drive and the drive spins up it bombs.

To eliminate the cpu overheating possibility, go into the boot setup menu (F1 F2 or F8 usually) as soon as the option appears on boot, and leave it like that for a while. If it goes off again cpu overheating could be it, but if it stays on with the menu open, the cpu is likely fine. If you have a win cd you could try booting from that, you can usually set it to be checked for an os before the hard drive from the bios menu.

8T8

joe123 wrote:

It doesnt go as far as the desktop keeps just turing off...???

Memtest+ is not a windows application you boot it and it tests the system under its own environment.

joe123

Im thinking its the psu supply. I left the pc for a day and i tried turning it on again the next day and it got to the desktop. I have a utility which measures cpu temp, system temp etc,went into it and it came up "power fan exceeded limit" and ive already noticed 99% sure the fan where the psu is has stopped working....anyways I decided to bring it in to my local computer shop ( dont want to take any risks he should get back to me by monday ).

So if i still can get to the desktop ( only if i leave the pc after a day ( to cool down??) it means that is has to be an overheating problem?

And thoughts again would be great ( need some peace of mind )

btw the psu i have already came with the case...its an antec 500w...and if i have to get a new psu it has to be over 500w as its a pretty high end system 7800gt graphics card too...

8T8

No it doesnt a good quality 350-400W PSU will handle a 7800GT just fine. Unless you have the system loaded with quite a few HD and DVD drives plus expansion cards only then would you need a beefier PSU.

I would recommend PSU's from Tagen, Zalman and OCZ which are good quality parts [never given me any trouble either].

This Tagen 430W will do the job and comes with a great cable management system so you can remove power cables not needed.