Motherboard problem?

Mephisto_Helix

Mephisto_Helix

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Ok, so linked to my thread yesterday about funny stuttering sound, last night it got worse. The PC froze and when I restarted, my 2nd 200gig didn't get picked up. I stressed, shouted, swore but went on with it. Then, while backing stuff up to my external, the PC froze again and this time, nothing got picked up and it just stayed blackscreen. More swearing (along with a tear or two) at the loss of my PC.
So anyway, I opened it up, wiggled the sata cables (they weren't loose), restarted, nothing ............ restarted again and went into the bios and wouldn't you know, both HDD's showed up again :confused:

My question therefore is - is my mobo fritzed or what? It's kinda hard to get a problem fixed if I don't know what the problem actually is. I'd hate to buy a new mobo and it wasn't the mobo at fault.


Thanks in advance for any light shed :o
 
Can't maybe be the processor too? It seems to now freeze more when I'm doing something like unrar or copying across a lot of files ..... cpu intensive stuffs like (that little red light just comes on and stays).
 
The little red light indicates HDD usage not cpu usage.


Run prime95 torture test for an hour or so to test the cpu and ram
 
can't even copy something, so don't think that will work. The minute I try anything, cpu usage jumps to over 50%. The whole debacle involving the spare 200gb not being picked up by system also made me think the HDD's are not at fault.
 
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I'd go with that except there was no lightning and surely if something gets fried, it's fried proper. It's just frustrating trying to explain the problem when I don't even know wtf it is myself. Someone needs to tell me - "it's your gfx card, replace" or "it's your mobo, replace" or "Do a format and it'll be good" .....
 
Check in the bios is your CPU getting hot?
Open the case, check if the HSF isn't clogged with dust etc.
 
This morning the CPU was 44 degrees when I went in there but I have no idea what that means. HSF, no idea what that is but there is fair bit of crud in the case (hasn't been opened ever before ok :o).
 
44 degrees is actually well within normal range for a CPU... so its not overheating.

Hmmmm..... mobo MIGHT be on the fritz...
 
Heat Sink Fan..

Maybe give it a clean out.

44C is about average.
Noises would be from something mechanical like a fan or HD.
Are your USB devices working? If not that's a sign the southbridge on the mobo has popped and safely assume to get a new one.
 
Another thing, unplug some drives from both mobo & power, could be the PSU farking you around.
 
Yeah...

Actually the first thign I would do is strip the PC entirely and rebuild it.... It might just be a loose connection somewhere
 
What would be the best way to do something like cleaning out the innards? A cold blowing hairdryer?


Usb ports are fine and I've pinpointed the noise to the gfx card fan .... also dusty. I'll give the unplugging drives thing a go tomorrow when I have someone technically inclined here to point out how.

Appreciate all the feedback so far ..... plus some of you are in Debbin so I can always bribe you with cheesecake or something in exchange for a helping hand :p:D
 
Go to CNA and buy a book called "PCs for dummies" :p

It's really easy stuff, just google how to build a pc and work back on that to dismantle it...
 
vaccum/fan it out to get the dust out, could be shorting it.

otherwise yeah, strip, re-build (the pc that is) and see what happens.
 
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