Biiiiig PC problem

Have a question you need to ask? Need help? Ask here!

Moderator: Core Staff

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 18th, 2009, 7:06 pm

Soo, I was on the internet and my pc shut itself off making a strange sound.
So I was gonna turn it back on, but it smelled like burned plastic.
I unplugged it, opened it up and felt if there was anything hot in there.. The graphics card was warm, but nothing special.
Tried turning the pc back on, but it immediatly shut back off giving me the smell again.
I think its a hardware issue, which has probably blown.
Now my question is. Is there a way to find out which component died, without trying with replacement parts?
Also, is it possible/ plausible that it was more then one component that broke.
P.S.V. Kampioen!

User avatar
Soviet
Core Staff
Core Staff
Posts: 7762
Joined: April 23rd, 2005, 9:12 pm

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by Soviet » October 18th, 2009, 7:25 pm

Well, if it is burnt plastic then chances are it is either your motherboard or graphics card. However, if it was your graphics card your PC would still start. I'd start by taking out your graphics card and attempting to boot up. If that doesn't work, look around on your motherboard for anything that looks out of the ordinary. If you don't see any visible issues then the only other thing I can think it might be would be RAM. Try taking out 1 stick and attempting boot up and then the other, putting the other one back in. If you have any spare RAM do that instead. If you can't find the issue doing any of that, then chances are it's something on your motherboard, which means you need a new one. That is obviously the case with the RAM or Graphics Card if it turns out they're what is dead also. I highly doubt it is your PSU, it sounds like something died.

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 18th, 2009, 7:58 pm

Hmm, I think ill take it away to a computer store, I dont have any spare parts. Ill check for strange stuff on the mobo though.
And if it was the mobo, could that affect the cpu or psu or anything?
P.S.V. Kampioen!

User avatar
Soviet
Core Staff
Core Staff
Posts: 7762
Joined: April 23rd, 2005, 9:12 pm

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by Soviet » October 18th, 2009, 8:04 pm

Anything wrong with the motherboard would pretty much incapacitate your entire computer. By weird stuff I just mean burn marks or odd discolorations on anything. Sometimes they'll be visible when something is fried, sometimes it won't be.

User avatar
Drofder2004
Core Staff
Core Staff
Posts: 13313
Joined: April 13th, 2005, 8:22 pm
Location: UK, London

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by Drofder2004 » October 18th, 2009, 8:12 pm

If you smell even the slightest of burning, then you will find something discoloured.
Image
Virgin Media 20Mb Broadband:
"Perfect for families going online at the same time, downloading movies, online gaming and more."
Borked internet since: 22-07-2010

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 18th, 2009, 8:33 pm

The pcb of the mobo is all black, so its not easy to spot something burned
P.S.V. Kampioen!

Luke
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 1774
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 12:42 am
Location: Cornwall, UK

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by Luke » October 20th, 2009, 2:42 pm

If it was the PSU you should be able to smell it quite strong from it. Harddrive electronics are also known to burn, but if it's now shutting off immediately after switching on (before it tries to boot) then it wouldn't be that.
Watch this before posting a question: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting.php

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 20th, 2009, 5:57 pm

The PSU didnt smell...
I did try to smell some components, the GPU seemed to smell a little, but it was such a little, it couldve just been the dust.
We did recently install a new hdd, but its as you say it, it shuts off as soon as the fans start spinning, doesnt even run for a second.
P.S.V. Kampioen!

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 20th, 2009, 6:45 pm

we kinda allready decided to take it to a pc fix guy.. And change the broken parts ourself.. Dont really have time to look into it now, got test week at school.
But ehh.. What would removing the ram do?
P.S.V. Kampioen!

DJKanne
CJ Fan
CJ Fan
Posts: 188
Joined: March 29th, 2008, 4:33 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by DJKanne » October 20th, 2009, 11:28 pm

maybe there is a lot of dirt in the cooler of the graphic card.
I got this problem... pc also shutdown because of over-heating... i really put my finger just short on the card for like 0,1s and i got heated (burned, dont know what is right in englisch) it hurts really strange^^... i put some passiv coolers on the backside of the graphic card and everything was ok... and i cleaned the cooler^^ there was a lot of dust in it^^

User avatar
Soviet
Core Staff
Core Staff
Posts: 7762
Joined: April 23rd, 2005, 9:12 pm

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by Soviet » October 21st, 2009, 12:09 am

...you touched your hardware while it was on? :|

JDogg
Too cool for CoDJumper
Too cool for CoDJumper
Posts: 3617
Joined: August 28th, 2007, 11:46 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by JDogg » October 21st, 2009, 6:16 am

Soviet wrote:...you touched your hardware while it was on? :|
Haha, I did that with my old pc, it was a small form factor one and it was on top of my desk, case was open for repairs, and I touched the GPU, it was pretty hot :P.
Image
Image

User avatar
aicaramba
Past/Inactive Team Member
Past/Inactive Team Member
Posts: 2720
Joined: May 31st, 2005, 3:45 pm
Location: zeeland (N-Br), Holland

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by aicaramba » October 21st, 2009, 9:29 am

I touched the gpu just after it shut down (well.. 5 min later) and it wasnt warm at all..
Also, if the GPU was overheating I shouldve seen some artifacts and stuff. Also, it shouldve blown out when my brother was playing cod4 an hour earlyer, not when I was browsing.
P.S.V. Kampioen!

DJKanne
CJ Fan
CJ Fan
Posts: 188
Joined: March 29th, 2008, 4:33 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by DJKanne » October 21st, 2009, 11:11 am

Soviet wrote:...you touched your hardware while it was on? :|
NO!!! After shut down.

JDogg
Too cool for CoDJumper
Too cool for CoDJumper
Posts: 3617
Joined: August 28th, 2007, 11:46 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Biiiiig PC problem

Post by JDogg » October 21st, 2009, 11:35 am

DJKanne wrote:
Soviet wrote:...you touched your hardware while it was on? :|
NO!!! After shut down.
OWNED!
Image
Image

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests