My pc is dying....

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14 Feb 2010
Posts
135
What's going on here? I used to have a rock solid PC that could run Prime95 and memtest 24 hours no problem. It was always perfectly stable and reliable. Now it's a different story. Nevermind overclocking, this thing is all of a sudden unstable at stock with BIOS "fail safe defaults" all set.

I first noticed some weird behaviour while using windows, programs not responding, services failing (superfetch in particular) double-clicks being missed and thigs like that. So I decided to run memtest and within 30 seconds loads of errors. Same with Prime95. Uhhh! It was late so I just shut it down and thought I'd take a look next day....

Well next day it won't even boot. Weird - it got as far as the green loader bar thing (Vista 64) and just hung there for ever. So I try booting off the Vista DVD - same thing!?! Well that can't be corrupt so I figure it's a hardware issue.

Eventually I end up unplugging bits hardware to see if I can get it to boot from the DVD. Eventiually I found it does when 1 particular disk drive is unplugged - it'll boot from the DVD then. If I plug that 1 drive (which happens to be my OS drive) into any of the sata sockets, then it can't seem to load an OS from the DVD or HD. So a bit miffed I decide it's knackered, take it out and install Windows to another drive. It boots Windows again no problem from the DVD or HD but the instabilities are still with me. They didn't used to be.

I've also noticed that my fancontroller has started to cut out sometimes. The LCD goes blank and the fans all stop, like it's been cut from the power. It hasn't though. Funny thing is if I tip the machine on it's side, that often brings the fan controller back online. Like me you're probably thinking loose connection but it's not, I checked all the wiring it's fine.

So those are the symptoms from last night. Just started out of the blue, no warnings or anything. I'm thinking my PSU is playing up but wanted to run this by you fellas to see what you think. PSU?

Cheers!
 
Whats your system spec and PSU make and power spec, when etc.

That does sound like a PSU issue to me. Have you got another one to test?
 
Hi mate - here's the main bits of my system:

Jeantech Storm 700W PSU
Gigabyte GA-790XT-USB3 790X Socket AM3
AMD Phenom II X3 720BE (3.2GHz core, 2.2GHz NB, all stock volts)
Scythe Ninja II with 120mm fan
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel (running @ 1333MHz)
Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5 (Stock)
3 x Western Digital WD6400AARS 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 64MB Cache (Down to 2 now)
5 x 120mm system fans
Aero Cool III fan controller
Samsung SH-S202J 20X DVD±RW

The only other PSU I've got is an old 300w mATX CIT thing which I thought would be a bit on the weak side for this system?

Just checked, looks like the Jeantech is about 4 years old now. It's probably due for a change but I wish it didn't have to kill what was a very good disk drive!
 
Just ordered a Seasonic X-750 Modular :) (and a new disk drive!) so I hope this will sort it out. Just hope this Jeantech doesn't kill anything else in the meantime!
 
Ok, I'm resurrecting this in the belief it might help somebody else.

I've got my new PSU fitted and my system is once again rock solid stable. Everything is great.... except that two of my three original HDDs are screwed as a result of the failing Jeantech. Contrary to popular belief, PSUs do not always go "POP!" and die suddenly. That would be too convenient. Mine thought it would hang around as long as it could and *silently* screw bits of hardware. I'm probably lucky that 2HDDS are all it took out TBH.

So without sounding too preachy:

1) Investing in a decent quality PSU (that hopefully dies gracefully, eventually) is vital if you have data you want to keep and
2) In any case, always backup data to an external device with it's own PSU.

In all honesty, if your PSU goes flaky and you don't notice, it's a nightmare. System instabilities and general weird behaviour are the least of your problems!
 
I had a problem with my uncles pc which turned out to the PSU, coursing instability and blue screens. Installed a new Enermax and all is well.

I used the 620w Enermax which went pop whilst in use, made me jump!! but no failures on components.
 
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