Associate
- Joined
- 13 May 2011
- Posts
- 7
Hi folks,
Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place, I wasn't too sure.
I've recently been having issues with my system and hopefully some of you experts might be able to shed some light on them.
Here are my specs:
• 2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 1536MB GDDR5
• Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
• OCZ ZX Series 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
• MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
• Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
• DVD±RW Drive
• 2 x HDDs and 1 x SSD
The system is a little over 2 and a half years old.
Over the last month, my computer has been struggling to boot. Some days when I would try to turn it on in the morning, it would turn on for a split second (fans spin up, lights come on etc.) then turn off. The system would continue to do this until some random, unknown factor occurs when it suddenly decides to work again.
This issue was also coupled with the fact that my computer would lockup, with a solid colour screen and would need to be restarted to solve the issue. When it had locked up, the system would not power down with the power button on the case or the motherboard, especially when held in for a period of time. It’s also worth noting that this freezing never really seemed to occur when the system as under load such as during games, but more frequently when the system was sitting idle or I was browsing the web.
I tried removing parts, swapping out parts and bread boarding etc. But there was no conclusive evidence to be drawn from this. Like I said it would just randomly start working. Because of this I stupidly therefore decided just to ignore the issue as it would eventually start to work again.
However this week it seems to have stopped working at all. It will not fix itself anymore and is again struggling to boot. Tonight I decided to completely remove all the components from the case in order to get a closer inspection of them. During this I discovered that the one of the 12v pins on the motherboard end of the PSU’s ATX connector is slightly melted as well as the corresponding pin on the motherboard being a slightly brown tint.
Photos: http://imgur.com/a/hTPoA
(Bit hard to tell but there is a definite but slight colour difference on this pin. I've inspected the soldering on the rear of the motherboard and all seems to be well, they only damage appears to be this slight discoloration.)
This is quite worrying although it is the most promising lead towards finding a solution to the issues I've been having. I've done some investigation on Google and I'm faced with a tough choice of knowing whether or not to replace my motherboard or PSU. I've a feeling the dual power hungry GTX480s might have caused the problem, though I had done research before I doubled up and went SLI and was told that 1000W was enough. I'm considering buying a new, single GTX 760 to possibly help the situation.
I was hoping that one of you guys might be able to assist me in narrowing down the culprit. I mean I have the money to buy a new PSU and motherboard if necessary, I just don’t want to unnecessarily spend money on parts I don’t need, especially when it might now fix the problem.
So the question or, PSU or motherboard and more to the point, why might that have happened? Is it something I did wrong? I purchased a multimeter today (however I don’t have a paperclip to short the PSU to test it) and am hoping to test the outputs on the PSU to determine if it is the cause. However if it is and I order a new one, is it possible that my motherboard is fried or damaged? And if so could I potentially end up creating more problems for myself.
Sorry this is so longwinded and there are so many questions. I’m just trying to be as detailed and thorough as possible to make it easier for you guys to assist me.
I look forward to hearing from you, let me know if you need any more information.
Thanks in advance,
Barry
Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place, I wasn't too sure.
I've recently been having issues with my system and hopefully some of you experts might be able to shed some light on them.
Here are my specs:
• 2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 1536MB GDDR5
• Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
• OCZ ZX Series 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
• MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
• Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
• DVD±RW Drive
• 2 x HDDs and 1 x SSD
The system is a little over 2 and a half years old.
Over the last month, my computer has been struggling to boot. Some days when I would try to turn it on in the morning, it would turn on for a split second (fans spin up, lights come on etc.) then turn off. The system would continue to do this until some random, unknown factor occurs when it suddenly decides to work again.
This issue was also coupled with the fact that my computer would lockup, with a solid colour screen and would need to be restarted to solve the issue. When it had locked up, the system would not power down with the power button on the case or the motherboard, especially when held in for a period of time. It’s also worth noting that this freezing never really seemed to occur when the system as under load such as during games, but more frequently when the system was sitting idle or I was browsing the web.
I tried removing parts, swapping out parts and bread boarding etc. But there was no conclusive evidence to be drawn from this. Like I said it would just randomly start working. Because of this I stupidly therefore decided just to ignore the issue as it would eventually start to work again.
However this week it seems to have stopped working at all. It will not fix itself anymore and is again struggling to boot. Tonight I decided to completely remove all the components from the case in order to get a closer inspection of them. During this I discovered that the one of the 12v pins on the motherboard end of the PSU’s ATX connector is slightly melted as well as the corresponding pin on the motherboard being a slightly brown tint.
Photos: http://imgur.com/a/hTPoA
(Bit hard to tell but there is a definite but slight colour difference on this pin. I've inspected the soldering on the rear of the motherboard and all seems to be well, they only damage appears to be this slight discoloration.)
This is quite worrying although it is the most promising lead towards finding a solution to the issues I've been having. I've done some investigation on Google and I'm faced with a tough choice of knowing whether or not to replace my motherboard or PSU. I've a feeling the dual power hungry GTX480s might have caused the problem, though I had done research before I doubled up and went SLI and was told that 1000W was enough. I'm considering buying a new, single GTX 760 to possibly help the situation.
I was hoping that one of you guys might be able to assist me in narrowing down the culprit. I mean I have the money to buy a new PSU and motherboard if necessary, I just don’t want to unnecessarily spend money on parts I don’t need, especially when it might now fix the problem.
So the question or, PSU or motherboard and more to the point, why might that have happened? Is it something I did wrong? I purchased a multimeter today (however I don’t have a paperclip to short the PSU to test it) and am hoping to test the outputs on the PSU to determine if it is the cause. However if it is and I order a new one, is it possible that my motherboard is fried or damaged? And if so could I potentially end up creating more problems for myself.
Sorry this is so longwinded and there are so many questions. I’m just trying to be as detailed and thorough as possible to make it easier for you guys to assist me.
I look forward to hearing from you, let me know if you need any more information.
Thanks in advance,
Barry
