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6444
March 20th, 2008 21:00
Repeated power problems
My system seems to have some strange problems recently. I'm pretty sure its a power supply problem but i'd like a confirmation.
Firstly, i'm running a dimension 8300, but i've made a few additions to my hardware since it was bought. There are 2x 1GB ram sticks added along with the original 2x 256MB ones, a 320GB hard drive along with the 120GB one, and a nvidia 6600 instead of the 5200 that came with it. I have however removed the modem that was in it.
When on, the screen flickers on and off sometimes, and the sound card cuts out and won't produce sound until the machine is restarted. At other times, the computer runs fine for about 30 minutes and then suddenly shuts off, well the screen turns off and the hard drives spin down but the power remains on. The problems disappear when i open the case and check if theres anything wrong inside, but will repeat about 5 days after.
Also, the problems disappear if i turn off graphics and audio acceleration for the same amount of time, and the problems disappeared when i unplugged the floppy disk's power for about 2 months. As i've said, i'm pretty sure its a power supply problem, if this is the case, what should i do to proceed from this.
The power supply is the 305Watt one that came with it, i tried replacing it with an older one i had laying about, but the pins are different.
RoHe
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March 20th, 2008 23:00
The problems disappear when i open the case and check if theres anything wrong inside, but will repeat about 5 days after.
What color is the power button on the tower when it shuts down by itself? Green/amber, solid/blinking?
Have you thought about possible overheating problems? Check to make sure that the fans (CPU, PSU, video card) are all working and spin smoothly, and that fan blades and case vents are free of dust bunnies.
Check that all cables are firmly attached at both ends too.
After rebooting from a forced shutdown, open XP Event Viewer and click System. Look in the right panel for any warning messages like "thermal event" etc.
Also remove and reseat RAM modules and PCI cards in their slots.
Ron
SleweD
8 Posts
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March 21st, 2008 12:00
green, it behaves as if it were on standby, except pressing the power button doesn't resume the operation like standby does. I have to hold the power button to force shutdown and then restart. The problem may be due to overheating, i remember removing dust each time i've opened the case up, but doing this SO often isn't really practical either.
All the cables are attached, and XP event viewer hasn't got anything related to the shutdowns, just a series of messages warning that services and programs unexpectedly shut down at the time. I can't tell if the video fan spins smoothly, but the cpu and psu fans spin fine, and make the same amount of noise as they used to. However i've noticed that the system does seem to heat up more nowdays.
As i've said before, when i open up the case, the problems disappear for a few days and then reoccur. This might be because of the dust, but not that much accumulates over 5 days.
RoHe
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March 21st, 2008 15:00
when i open up the case, the problems disappear for a few days and then reoccur.
That's why I think it could be either a heat problem or possibly there's a loose connection somewhere. Opening the case vents the heat and/or may be moving (flexing) something that's loose/broken, allowing it to work again.
Check the power supply connectors for discoloration or signs of melting. You may have to remove the video card from it's slot to check the fan, and then carefully reseat the card in the slot. Look for bulging/leaking capacitors (they look like little blue or black cans) on the motherboard. They should be perfectly round with perfectly flat tops.
Check that the heatsink is securely attached to the Pentium. You may have to remove the heatsink, clean off the old thermal paste and apply a thin fresh coat of Arctic Silver thermal paste.
You could try this, if you're careful. Leave the case partially open for a few days while you run the PC. If it doesn't crash, then I go back to a heating problem causing something to fail.
Ron
SleweD
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March 24th, 2008 18:00
ok so its started again, its been 4 days since i opened that case now. I checked earlier for any loose connections and even closed it properly, so i doubt its that.
Also, the temperature reported by the graphics card is 49°C, its working temp is 57 and its idling is 48, so its within the bounds, i'm not sure how to check the cpu temp, but i'm pretty sure its not overheating. The thermal paste had to be broken to allow it to refit earlier, but its been this way for over 2 years so i'm sure its not that.
edit: i sent it to a computer repair shop, who concluded the power supply and the graphics card were both fried, i had to replace both but its running fine now