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Today while I was playing StarCraft II, my month old computer abruptly shut down. I tried to turn it back on - the power LED flickered, and then went back off after like .5 seconds.
Tried to turn it on again, nothing flickered.
Waited 30 minutes, tried again and the LED flickered again.
For some reason I thought it was a PSU problem in the beginning, even though I purchased a very solid (500W Earthwatts new) PSU for my computer (runs i5-2500k and a HD4850). I swapped out my PSU for my friend's PSU on a desktop he wasn't using.
Upon power up with the new PSU, I saw some vapors come out from the area around my video card. I did try to smell my computer immediately after it automatically shut down the first time, so I thought nothign burned out but maybe I was wrong?
Anyways, it went through everything fine, the screen where it says Windows Didn't shut down correctly, what would you like to do, etc.
I chose to boot up normally. Then the rotating windows logo where windows was loading came up... and after about 5 seconds (about the time it usually takes for windows to load to the login screen) the monitor lost all signal from the computer and it turned black. The video card fan revs up really loudly at this time too.
So I guess my question is: is that windows login screen teh first use of the video card? Because that's where it blacked out, so does that mean my video card is compromised?
I don't have a video card lying around I can test with... but is it safe to assume that both the video card and PSU are busted? And just out of curiosity does anyone have an idea what caused what to fail? The video card was kind of sketch (bought it for $40 after MIR, and it's actaully a mobility 4850 chipset clocked at the HD4850 desktop speeds) and the PSU supposed to be good but usually isnt it the PSU frying the parts?
Thanks in advance for the help.
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it's probably not a good idea to try and keep turning on your computer when it's releasing smoke from unknown places. the only way to check without substituting parts is physically examine the motherboard and video card to see what went.
i doubt the new psu is busted
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Don't know if this information is worth anything, but the second time I tried booting up with my friend's PSU, I didn't see smoke like I did the first time I put in my friend's PSU and initially got it to black out @ the login screen. Is there something in particular I should look for that's blown out?
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On August 20 2011 05:22 marvin. wrote:
Don't know if this information is worth anything, but the second time I tried booting up with my friend's PSU, I didn't see smoke like I did the first time I put in my friend's PSU and initially got it to black out @ the login screen. Is there something in particular I should look for that's blown out?
sounds like a video card issue. i wouldn't know what specifically to look for other than irregular looking parts, but i guess you can check the mobo for blown capacitors or black marks to make sure that's ok.
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It could be something on your video card that burned out. There may even be a shortage somewhere.
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Just wondering - If it was purely a video card issue, then why wouldnt my computer have booted up to at least the windows loading screen before I swapped out the power supplies?
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On August 20 2011 05:40 marvin. wrote:
Just wondering - If it was purely a video card issue, then why wouldnt my computer have booted up to at least the windows loading screen before I swapped out the power supplies?
Because faulty hardware can create shorts, and if the various failsafe stuff is working, when there's a short, it turns off.
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See what happens if you plug in your onboard instead of the 4850.
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I don't believe the K series pcus and p67 boards have integrated graphics, right?
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P67 does not have IGP capabilities but all Sandybridge processors have the IGP.
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On August 20 2011 04:58 marvin. wrote:
Upon power up with the new PSU, I saw some vapors come out from the area around my video card. I did try to smell my computer immediately after it automatically shut down the first time, so I thought nothign burned out but maybe I was wrong?
Sounds like a blown capacitor, either on your motherboard or your graphics card. Capacitors are full of fluid, and when they overheat that fluid expands, breaks out of the casing of the capacitor, and makes a funny smell. I would pull out the graphics card and look for something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
Your capacitors may be solid-state, which would look more like this (some of the solid-state ones are more cube-shaped, but this should give you an idea -- it pretty much just looks like it's exploded)
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1497752
Feel free to post a photo if you can't determine if it's a blown capacitor.
If your soldering skills are good you can replace the capacitor with a similar model, but it's a tricky process and I wouldn't recommend it unless you know your way around this kind of thing.
While you have the video card out, try dusting it -- it's possible that it's just overheating, and the junk you saw was just dust floating around in there.
On August 20 2011 04:58 marvin. wrote:
So I guess my question is: is that windows login screen teh first use of the video card? Because that's where it blacked out, so does that mean my video card is compromised?
PC video cards have 2 operating modes, one of which is a simple mode that is standardized amoungst all video cards, and one of which requires a specific driver for each video card. The simple mode will only allow you to have low resolution and no 3D acceleration, so it's pretty useless for a modern computer, but it is still used to boot the computer. It sounds like your failure is comming at the time where windows is trying to load your video card driver.
I've had some nvidia cards (a 6800GT, IIRC) that postpone their self-checking until their driver is loaded (to provide the appearance of a faster boot, I think), so it's possible that your card is either activating some more of its hardware (causing it to actually use the capacitor that blew) or self-checking and dying there.
A capacitor problem would explain this behavior.
On August 20 2011 04:58 marvin. wrote:
And just out of curiosity does anyone have an idea what caused what to fail? The video card was kind of sketch (bought it for $40 after MIR, and it's actaully a mobility 4850 chipset clocked at the HD4850 desktop speeds) and the PSU supposed to be good but usually isnt it the PSU frying the parts?.
If it's a bad capacitor then it's just because they used a cheap part, if you bought a sketchy video card then there is a bigger chance they used a cheap capacitor. Having a better PSU or (more importantly) better cooling may prolong the life of the bad capacitor, but it won't actually solve the problem, only replacement can.
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Thank you to everyone for the responses thus far. I really didn't expect this many responses so quickly.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, not really sure..), I could not spot a blown capacitor anywhere on the motherboard or GPU. And to clarify, when I was smelling the computer after it initially shut down it seemed pretty ordinary.
I can't test my computer without a GPU because I have no where to plug my monitor into. Would the best plan of action be to just buy a new video card, then test it with my friend's power supply? And then if it works, would it be safe to put in my old power supply?
I'm still hesitant about my old power supply because I still don't quite understand how it's not the first power supply's fault when I'm not able to power up with it and I'm able to power up with another. I understand that the power supply might have turned off because the failsafe stuff was operational, but then why would it fail to power up when I try to boot it up again after it turns off?
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And if you find bad capacitors and manage to replace them, that doesn't mean that all the other electronics are fine too. In general I'd really say it's not worth it to recap electronics unless you're sure what the problem is and have experience.
I don't think people are saying the the original power supply is fine. Most likely it's not and the video card is also suspect.
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On August 20 2011 06:29 marvin. wrote:
Unfortunately (or fortunately, not really sure..), I could not spot a blown capacitor anywhere on the motherboard or GPU. And to clarify, when I was smelling the computer after it initially shut down it seemed pretty ordinary.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood somehow. Doesn't look like a blown capacitor then, you would have been able to smell it. It's not that big of a deal, they're not usually worth fixing unless you're into electronics as a hobby (or you're a poor student  ).
On August 20 2011 06:29 marvin. wrote:
I can't test my computer without a GPU because I have no where to plug my monitor into. Would the best plan of action be to just buy a new video card, then test it with my friend's power supply? And then if it works, would it be safe to put in my old power supply?
I suppose it's still possible but quite unlikely that it's a software problem. You could always give something like
http://live.linux-gamers.net/
a shot (just burn it to a CD, boot from the CD, and try playing a 3D game like Nexuiz -- it it crashes then at least you know it's not a software problem). If you have a computer with a CD burner handy and it's too late to buy a video card at least you'll be able to do something.
An easier way might be to just go to a local store and buy a video card, if it doesn't help at least that way it's a simple return. This also has the benefit of not risking a friend's video card on a computer that may be cooking them.
On August 20 2011 06:29 marvin. wrote:
I'm still hesitant about my old power supply because I still don't quite understand how it's not the first power supply's fault when I'm not able to power up with it and I'm able to power up with another. I understand that the power supply might have turned off because the failsafe stuff was operational, but then why would it fail to power up when I try to boot it up again after it turns off?
Resetting the over-current protection circuit on a power supply can require that it is removed from power for a minute or so (this means unplugging the power supply, not just pushing the button on the front of the computer to turn the machine off). I suppose it's still possible you power supply is OK, when the video card failed it just triggered the over-current protection which was never reset.
It's quite probable, however, that more than just your video card is broken. Right now I don't see a reson to suspect anything aside from your video card and power supply, but checking for dust, which can cause overheating, is always a good thing to do, and it's pretty quick (though if you've only had the box for a month, it shouldn't have had time to collect much dust yet).
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if anyone cares, PSU was fine and graphics card was busted. put in a friend's gfx card with my old psu and it worked. thanks for all your help!
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Hhhhmmm, are you sure it's not the PSU that "helped" burn out the GPU ?? I personally think it would be a good option to replace both :/
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On September 11 2011 01:50 Rachnar wrote:
Hhhhmmm, are you sure it's not the PSU that "helped" burn out the GPU ?? I personally think it would be a good option to replace both :/
doesn't seem too likely though from what i understand... is it common for psu's to be half-working (ie, killing graphic cards while still pretending to be alright themselves)
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On September 11 2011 02:30 nttea wrote:Show nested quote +On September 11 2011 01:50 Rachnar wrote:
Hhhhmmm, are you sure it's not the PSU that "helped" burn out the GPU ?? I personally think it would be a good option to replace both :/
doesn't seem too likely though from what i understand... is it common for psu's to be half-working (ie, killing graphic cards while still pretending to be alright themselves)
No, if it's providing dangerous current on the +12v rail, stuff will stop working in a hurry. Like, one attempt to power on can easily make your CPU and/or mobo useless.
If it was providing too little, it wouldn't kill components, and wouldn't turn on anyway. PSU function is pretty much all or nothing, if it's a decent quality unit. Now, if you're using some stupid thing you got for 5 cereal box tops, yeah, it could go out of spec at a certain load or something, and then cause the damage, but if you're using a shitty PSU, you deserve whatever it does to your components.
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I don't think it's necessarily all or nothing, though that's more common. An otherwise good unit with blown capacitors or something like that (though this is less likely with the better units) may work but be harmful over time. Certainly power electronics components like transistors, diodes, and other semiconductor parts tend to fail either as a short or an open circuit, so they fail spectacularly rather than kinda work halfway.
If the computer powers on and seems to work with the old power supply, my guess would be that the power supply is okay though. A serious failure in the power supply could easily cause the original problems you noticed, but that's not the situation if it works or "works" (somewhat) now. It seems more likely that the old video card had a problem by itself.
This is a guess on my part though, and it's not like I'm actually qualified to talk about analog electronics.
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EPT
