My PC died!

[the Medic™]

i need some information on what i can do fix this little (big)
broblem.

see, i was playing a game and suddenly my computer shut down. that has happend a few times before but it was just unplug the cable and put it back in and the PC will work, well it doenst work anymore. i cant get it started, ive opend it, checked the "box that suplys the power" not shure if its allright, and i checked the start button to see if anythign was wrong with that and i guess it was allright, so finally i came up with that the PC aint getting any power at all. well the monitor and all other components work just not inside of the PC

please help / leave any thoughts on what it might depend on.

tnx - med.

[SilentTrigger]

Did you take the PSU (power supply) out and check if a fuse is busted or if something is burnt? If you have a multimeter you can take the PSU out of the computer (with the cover still on) and check if theres any voltage out from the PSU, if not then its busted

[Steve]

most likely psu, do u have a spare one to test?

swap the monitor and psu cables around to see if one is faulty.

just to clarify: the machine doesnt start up at all? no fans / hdd / mobo lights?

[the Medic™]

completley dead. evrything that is connected to the pc wont work. except the monitor.

and i dont have a multimeter at home, could prolly borrow one from school ? (well see about that)

so .... i guess its dead??

[Hellfighter]

i think if there a computer center repair shop you could take out the PSU and have them test it out for you, be like maybe USD-5.00 or 10.00 for them to test it, some case they do it free of charge.

what type is it anyways? 300wat or 450wat supply.

most people buy up to 550wat PSU i know of, 350 work is basic ok.

but like steve said check see if there a fuse in it, could have burn out.

i have a extra PSU it 350wat but it mostly out dated for the power cable's on it. think you need to right one to match your MOB

by the way do you connect it to a backup power supply unit like a battier for power goes out you have a chance to turn the PC off before it dies/crash on you?

i have one my dog step on the kill switch! it kill all power to the tower totally......so if you do hook it up to a backup power supply unit so it don't crash when the elec goes off on the house check it.

[Scott]

your power supply is dead..

[Scattergun]

PSU is dead odnt worry they die if they are producint to mich power sometimes

Link for a 550 W psu (not sure how much you needed)

Rosewill (Decent)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182017

Again i dont know you mobo and other specs to give you a link to one that would work but that one runs 2 6600Gt's in SLI

[SilentTrigger]

Originally posted by Scott
your power supply is dead..

I have no idea, never opened a modern PSU, but shouldnt there be a fuse in a nver one atleast, i know they rarley used it on older once or is it the same with never once missing a fuse (idiotic)?

[the Medic™]

i guess it was time, i had this PC what for like 2 years, i got a lot of updates to my pc but i never replaced the PCU box.
never really knew much about it.

i will sort this out. Now that i know what to do, tnx guys, apprichiate the help.

[SilentTrigger]

Was most likely overloaded.

Thats why there should be fuses in those things, which I have yet to see (only seen older PSUs though heh)!

Did you check if there was a fuse in there? If so you can bring a multimeter (they are great when you want to know what failed in your equipment! Use them daily in work and they're a time saver! (A little more advanced then the ordinary cheaper models though but a cheap one will do the job too, I use a cheaper one at home )) Just a tip, never mesure amps unless you have something of resistance in your circut (if you have used one of these before, you should know this, but just say it as a reminder )

Put the multimeter to ohm and mesure the resitance in the fuse, if its O.L (which stands for Over Limit if im not misstaking) its broken, you might already know this but i bet theres 10 000 that dont know it and will read this, so i'm givng the heads up, its a good thing to do before you throw things away, as it might not actually be broken.

[Scattergun]

if there were fuses they would blow 24/7 though normal fuse can hold upto about 20-40amps psu's produce up to 36-45 amps total

P.S. if there were fuses you would see the price sky rockt for them

[SilentTrigger]

You can get a fuse over 80A (normal electronic tube fuse) for a dollar, and thats with goldplated contact area

[Steve]

the cable / plug has a fuse in it, so if a electric spike hit the socket, the fuse in the cable will blow first. hence no need for a fuse in the PSU itself.

if the cable works fine, then the PSU has just died of its own accord, probably a dead capacitor or something similar.

[Scattergun]

Originally posted by Steve
the cable / plug has a fuse in it, so if a electric spike hit the socket, the fuse in the cable will blow first. hence no need for a fuse in the PSU itself.

if the cable works fine, then the PSU has just died of its own accord, probably a dead capacitor or something similar.

Itsn't ther one in a Power Surge Protector also??

[the Medic™]

got it all fixed now. tnx guys
just needeed a new one ´cost me $50
was worth it

[~MOUSE~]

On sunday I was reading this, thinking how lucky I was not to have any problems with my computer.

Suddenly my screen goes black and my computer shuts down.

At first I thought it was just a devious trick someone had managed to pull on this thread but the unmistakable smell of toasted components, slowly fought it's way though the ever present aroma of spilt beer, 3 day old curry and sweaty socks.

My nose led me to the display board.

One of the clips which held the heatsink & fan onto the board had come off, causing the second clip to lever the heatsink & fan away from the display chip.

I must have dislodged it the last time I vacuumed the PC out.

Despite all my attempts, I could not get the display card to work again.

I quickly shot off to the local PCworld and hunted around there clearance section.

Fortunately I found a GeForce 6600 with 20% knocked off because it had a damaged box.
When I opened the box I thought someone had put the wrong item inside.
Compared to my previous GeForce cards this is tiny.

Now my PC is running happily and I have vowed never to read any posts about dead PC's again.

[SilentTrigger]

Originally posted by Steve
the cable / plug has a fuse in it, so if a electric spike hit the socket, the fuse in the cable will blow first. hence no need for a fuse in the PSU itself.

if the cable works fine, then the PSU has just died of its own accord, probably a dead capacitor or something similar.

Yeah but having one in the PSU could save the psu

Do see your point in what you wrote though.

I guess companies want their PSUs to go "boom" as you will have to buy a new one and they go "whoooo!"

[Hellfighter]

Originally posted by ~MOUSE~
On sunday I was reading this, thinking how lucky I was not to have any problems with my computer.

Suddenly my screen goes black and my computer shuts down.

At first I thought it was just a devious trick someone had managed to pull on this thread but the unmistakable smell of toasted components, slowly fought it's way though the ever present aroma of spilt beer, 3 day old curry and sweaty socks.

My nose led me to the display board.

One of the clips which held the heatsink & fan onto the board had come off, causing the second clip to lever the heatsink & fan away from the display chip.

I must have dislodged it the last time I vacuumed the PC out.

Despite all my attempts, I could not get the display card to work again.

I quickly shot off to the local PCworld and hunted around there clearance section.

Fortunately I found a GeForce 6600 with 20% knocked off because it had a damaged box.
When I opened the box I thought someone had put the wrong item inside.
Compared to my previous GeForce cards this is tiny.

Now my PC is running happily and I have vowed never to read any posts about dead PC's again.

i use a air compressor set to 90psi i blow all the dust/dirt off, be careful around fans best wipe them off with a clean dry rag, or the barring it can go off balance. i do this every 60-90 days.

don't do; A-Drive floppy, DVD/CD drives, Zip-drives.

anything other you can blow them off, if it really bad wait till its really nice out side and take it outside to blow off or your house may get really dusty.

all my inlets air ways in to the tower have a filter covering them up. a air duct filter will work really good cut them to size and use a tape or make a frame to hold it in place. filter must be really easy for air to go into the tower not a heavy duty type ether were it block most free air flow going.

i use:
WEB Vent Filter
Electrostatic register filtration 12ea pack, good for 90 days.
4"x12"x1/4in
easy to cut to size

info:
· vent filter are made of a self-charging electrostatic material that act as a dust magnet for your vents.

· when air flows through the filter, dirt, dust, smoke and pollen size particles are trapped. filter air then passes back into the house or computer inlet is more cleaner and fresh.

they are white in color but to see they need changing any hold a light up to the vent and look at them to see if they turn brown in color if so change them.

i use this for none air way filter inlets into the tower, my side panel has a open airway it not cover only the front inlet fan into tower it has a filter.

no change in temperature in tower still the same without them so it not hurting any.

best way get a small package a cheap brand buy it should be under USD-5.00 hold it to your lips blow into it see if air is free flowing into it and out. if so tape it to the area or make a frame to hold it in place. for CPU Fan if there a tube letting air go to it (tube mounted side panel, not CPU fan), replace the studs holden it in place with small screws.

Manager MFG of computer system like gateway or dell any other sell you what they can for a cheap price, most may not even come with fans for the tower and some don't even use filter at all. its up to you to bring it up to state so it last longer. dust/dirt trap heat in the system MOB or power supply can drag the system down.

never use a vacuume clean to remove dust from your tower at all. they only pick up what is lose and don't do a great job use a can of air compress can. you can buy at your local store they are like 60psi and they do a better job, i use a elec-air compress 140psi oil/water free type. it get into things were a vacuume clean can't get to. take it out of the builden when blowing it off