Computer death. Tech help requested

Glad to hear that it's working. I must say that the thermal compound idea was probably the worst suggested here. Thermal compound is used to draw heat from the cpu to the heatsink. Your problem was occuring way way before the cpu even had a chance to warm up. Use common sense.You need good power, good clocks, and a good bank of memory and a functioning cpu to get a beep, along with good flash rom.

You can get POST testers direct from China
on Ebay for about 5$ shipped to you.

I would say you probably had an overheating issue. Especially this time of the year. I have my computer case off and a fan blowing into the tower now. It's hard to say what the exact problem is without seeing it so I don't really want to make any suggestions, but just something to keep in mind.

Originally posted by Segador

Originally posted by brindle
My computers usually die on me when I clean them.I usually pour some palmolive dish soap on top of the whole pc and monitor,then turn the garden hose on high,and really get that sucker clean.They dont make stuff to last anymore.

There isn't a single computer on the planet that could take punishment like that.
Well, except maybe the new toughbooks which are virtually bulletproof and water resistant.

I hope you are joking

They are stronger then you think. I had a water bowl for the dog and it was next to my open computer case. My dog ran past the bowl and flipped it right into my case. I took all the parts out and let them dry and it worked fine.

Originally posted by geraldcole

Originally posted by baddmove
SFX my friend....

you might need some new silver thermal compound..

it goes between the processor and the heat sink on your MOBO...

try that first..

DO NOT do this if you don't know what you're doing. I worked at GeekSquad and people try to do work on their computers like building their own and you'd be surprised how many people bend the pins on the cpu.

Well it does not matter cause he does not have to take the CPU out of the motherboard so he cant bend any pins. All he has to do is squeezes some thermal grees on it and spread out it evenly then put the heatsink on, not that complicated.

Originally posted by SaturnFX
Somewhat resolved.

The motherboard was fine after all. The issue was, during my switching around of power supplies, I dusted everything off...during which I also removed the cpu. mounting back bent a pin.
A bit of tweezer action and a magnifying glass and things seem alright...need to glue the heatsink back on the processor (have it sitting on it now and latched on.).

Also I dusted everything (my god these things get dusty) and sacrificed a chicken for good measure.

The video card is not working currently, but going to have some tech look at it later to see if its fried or if I simply sacrificed the wrong chicken sort of thing..but ya mom is working good now thank goodness. (even typing on said computer now...using stupid on-board video..bleh)

Thanks for all the responses.

Incidently, Best Buy wanted to charge 500 bucks to install a new motherboard. lol...I asked if they would just give me a screwdriver and let me install it personally in store...(in which they said they no longer carry motherboards in store anyhow). 500 bucks to install a motherboard...wtf!!! its screws...you screw things down and slot crap in...

I now hate candyland! bunch of thieves..

I have allot of experience with video cards not working properly after you replaced a piece of hardware or take the card out. You just have to play with it for a little bit. This is what I do and what any tech will do. Take the card out. Their is a battery on your motherboard, take that out, (MAKE SURE THE POWER CORD IS OUT OF THE PC) after you take the battery out hold the power switch for 3 seconds or more to make sure all the power gets out of the mother board. Leave it out for 30seconds. Then put the batter and the card back in and power it up. This does not all ways work right away, some times you have to fiddle with it. SOME graphics cards require you to plug in a power connector because the motherboard cant supply all of the power the card needs. Maybe you just forgot to connect your card to your power supply.

reply to post by sabbathcrazy


Ya, thanks for the reply
Naa, the card was fried out...had it confirmed. both power supply and video card blanked out at the same time actually.

Even tried the baked potato thing to try and get it working again once it was pronounced dead...no joy sadly, but was sort of fun baking my video card anyhow.

Not sure, I know the geforce gts and some x models have issues with being super overclocked that tends to give them a fast life...I just wish I sent away the warranty (lifetime replacement). oh well.