Filth Broke Unclean's Computer?

[Unclean]

Something kinda strange started happening on Wednesday. Whenever I would hop into Aion to play for a bit, my computer would shut off. It seemed like someone yanked the cord out. I updated to the latest videocard drivers, watched the temperatures of the videocard, ran MemTest86, and all seemed ok. Still the issue persisted.

 

I opened up the case to make sure there wasn't any dust in there, and it seemed alright. Until I noticed the heatsink on the CPU. 2/3 of it was completely blocked by dust:

 

So I cleaned it and reattached the fan:

 

When I powered it on, the surge protector went click-click-click-click really fast until I shut the power off.

 

I figured I didn't hook up something right, so I disassembled/reassembled everything and tried it again. Same clicks, no video. So I have some questions for the hardware guys here:

 

1. Does this sound like a bad power supply to you? It was working fine until I cleaned the CPU heatsink.

2. Did that series of clicks possibly fry my motherboard, processor, ram, etc?

3. Let's say hypothetically speaking that I used this as an excuse to upgrade to an all-new i7 950 system, and the parts arrive tomorrow. Is it worth it to hook up the power supply to the old system to see if that was the issue, or is it possible that the motherboard (if fried) can then damage the new power supply?

[samurai nightling]

I dont think a damaged mobo would really harm a new power supply, but I dont know all the workings of the electrical side of computing. I would prolly do exactly that also. Have you also tried a new surge protector?

Edited December 20, 2010 by samurai nightling

[mookie]

Based on the symptoms (computer shuts off suddenly) and the dust caked on your heatsink, heat seems like the obvious guess. That would lead me to think that, if the computer won't start back up, it's either the GPU or CPU. CPUs usually have a thermal shut off, which would cause your first problem. Not so sure about the clicking noise. I don't really see how a cooked mobo would damage a PSU, since usually PSUs will go from being overworked and not much else that could be affected by the computer's components.

 

When you reattached the heatsink, did you clean off the old thermal paste and replace it (not an issue if you didn't actually remove the heatsink from the CPU)?

 

Possibly try a new surge protector before worrying about buying a new computer.

[Unclean]

I did try another surge protector, still not enough power. I think the click-click-click noises were from the "smart" surge protector - the main computer is hooked up to the master power outlet, and once power is off, the surge protector turns off all the other devices on the strip.

 

The case is a mid-tower case. There isn't a lot of room for the 230gtx, it's really wall-to-wall in there. I think I might have an old graphics card lying around somewhere, I'll see if that's the culprit (maybe it's drawing too much power, even for a 700W power supply). Thanks for the tip. I ordered a new power supply too, so if the problem still persists, it's gotta be the processor (or motherboard?).

 

About the thermal paste: I removed the old bird crap with an Arctic 5 2 step cleaning process (cleaner/purifier), then put new paste on.

[boiler]

I would scrap everything and go with a new i7 set up.

 

You know, just to be safe and stuff.

[Preacher]

I would scrap everything and go with a new i7 set up.

 

You know, just to be safe and stuff.

 

yeah and you best go with that i7 six-core just to be safe

[samurai nightling]

I would scrap everything and go with a new i7 set up.

 

You know, just to be safe and stuff.

 

yeah and you best go with that i7 six-core just to be safe

 

Yeah and im thinking like 16GB of ram and sli 3 of nvidias fastest cards right now, just to make sure your set for at least a year or so.

[Unclean]

Ok, I ordered three of these ($529 x 3):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130589&cm_re=gtx_580-_-14-130-589-_-Product

 

And that 6 core i7 you recommended ($999):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=i7+6+core&x=0&y=0

 

This motherboard ($599):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128446&cm_re=intel_x58-_-13-128-446-_-Product

 

24GB memory ($674):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220497&cm_re=ddr3-_-20-220-497-_-Product

 

1200W power supply ($500):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703012&cm_re=power_supply-_-17-703-012-_-Product

 

2x Blu Ray Burners ($170 x 2):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827145014&cm_re=blu_ray_burner-_-27-145-014-_-Product

 

And this mouse ($3):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826129050

 

Overnight shipping, delivered by an exotic dancer = $340

 

Total = $5042.

[samurai nightling]

Hey and of all that, the most reliable piece of equipment there is probably that mouse, good choice!

[Unclean]

Hey and of all that, the most reliable piece of equipment there is probably that mouse, good choice!

So just what are you saying about the exotic dancer delivery service?

 

 

 

I got the power supply yesterday. That was the culprit. The computer is running like a champ again. I put it through the Prime95 ringer yesterday, and there were no errors.

 

So dust may have killed it, but a new power supply brought it back.

[boiler]

Hey and of all that, the most reliable piece of equipment there is probably that mouse, good choice!

So just what are you saying about the exotic dancer delivery service?

 

 

 

I got the power supply yesterday. That was the culprit. The computer is running like a champ again. I put it through the Prime95 ringer yesterday, and there were no errors.

 

So dust may have killed it, but a new power supply brought it back.

Did that power supply come with a new i7 setup? If not, then I think you failed this exercise.

[mookie]

He's just holding out until the 8-core 32nm processors move over from Xeon.

[NOFX]

It's your floppy drive. Replace that and the power strip will no longer click. Also you might want to contact your hardware vendor and update your ROM.

[Preacher]

It is catastrophic when your rom can't date