Pc died- graphics card or....?

Falcor · 20 Aug 2010 at 16:36

Hi, just need a quick bit of help, my pc has died on me. Self built.

This morning switching it on it got power for a splt second then wouldnt come on, tonight it stayed on for about 5 seconds power went off it, then it came back to life, but there was a slight burning smell so im assuming something has died.

Its an E8400 on a Asus P5q-e with a bfg gtx 260 mc. And has been fine upto now.

Currently it seems to be booting, i get no display on the screens,but there is power going to the G card as the fan is spinning. Given theres power to the mobo and g card im assuming the psu is ok. But ive got no way to check the PCI-e card or a spare pci-e card to test with the mobo. So what do ppl think is wrong? So i can check my warranties and get it sorted. All the mobo fans re working, as is the cpu one, the ram lights are on. And the light up power an reset buttons on the mobo are on fine.

Atm thinking graphics card, seems these gtx 260 do seem to run like a pheonix.

thanks

Redmint · 20 Aug 2010 at 16:50

Do you get the normal single startup beep from the motherboard? Could be a number of things wrong with it. One of the usual things is to test 1 RAM stick at a time in different slots. Also do any of your friends have a PC you could test the graphics card in?

Tealc · 20 Aug 2010 at 16:57

The burning smell doesn't sound good. Any idea where it came from? You might be able to guesstimate by shoving your head in your case and sniffing for traces of the smell.

When my PSU failed to power my graphics card a few weeks ago it entered a random time reboot loop but I had the display up everytime it booted. It just rebooted again.

Considering you now have no video I would have to be looking towards that at the moment.

With such an important component in a system the only way to prove it is faulty is to install it in a known working machine or fit a known working card into yours to at least rule it out of your investigation. Same goes for the PSU.

Running a PC without graphics would just fail to POST? Hmm is the machine POSTing even without the display being active? Do you have a Speaker attached to the motherboard header?

honosuseri · 20 Aug 2010 at 17:19

To be honest fella i'd check the psu first. If you can borrow one that would be preferable.

It would also be advisable to remove the mobo from the case, have a lil spring clean, then reseat the mobo and the gfx card.

If you can definately rule out the psu, we can go from there to help you. Unfortunately in troubleshooting pcs it's very easy to jump to wrong conclusions.

Good luck

Falcor · 20 Aug 2010 at 17:31

I cleaned it all about 3 weeks ago, so its still relitively clean, I dont really know of anyone who has a pci-e able machine to test with unfortunately.

Ive tried using a windows cd,(to see if the autorun off that kicked in and it didnt) Also im getting no power on my G15 keyboard, but i cant remember if u get power on a G15 before or after boot.(no flash of lights on boot either)

So it might not be the graphics if its not booting, could be a single voltage on the psu, i know it cant be the ram voltage as the leds on the ram sticks are on, cant be the fan voltage on the motherboard or the graphics card as the fans are on.

I do have a habit of killing psu's this one is a Corsair HX 620w. In my 12 years or so of building pcs ive killed 5

The worst being an enermax which blew up spectaculary.Always keep my pc dust free and tidy so no idea why.

honosuseri · 21 Aug 2010 at 20:45

Do you use a surge protected power outlet?

If you can't borrow a psu are there any local independant pc repair stores (no fix no fee!)? You could ask them to try swapping out the psu, failing that you'll have to buy one. Trouble being if the psu is ok you can't use that money spent to replace what it faulty.

Falcor · 21 Aug 2010 at 21:18

So i tested the psu voltages was still having issues with the graphics card out with it shutting down and starting up on startup as described above, so i tried the ram. Changed the 2 sticks to different combinations and started getting a beep!

So i put the ram back in its origional slots, reset the cmos, and i got BIOS!

I have no idea what actually went wrong, gonna be very careful putting h disks back. There was a definate smell. but according to bios the cpu is showing fine, as is both sticks of ram.

Falcor · 21 Aug 2010 at 21:57

Ok so from testing it seems my windows installation hard disk a 160gb sata has died on me. Whenever i try and plug it in, i get the black screen with no bios and havto reset the cmos again. Which is a bit of blow, but it only has main programs and windows installed on it, andsome other bits and pieces which werent important. so could be worse.