PC doesn't get passed POST, fans working, no beeps

S

soulgolem

New Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hello, I'm having a bit of a problem here, hope you can help me find what part of the computer is behind this.

For the past month, I've seen my computer restart on its own spontaneously about once or twice a week. Then yesterday I got home to a computer with a frozen window, mouse and keyboard not responding at all so I restarted but the computer would not start, the fans were working but no beeps and no monitor response.

Tried reseating the RAM and unplugging everything but the motherboard but still nothing, so I'm thinking it's either the motherboard or the PSU, but I really can't be sure and I can't really afford to buy both of those things in order to find out who the culprit is. So any help would be much appreciated.

Here are my computer specs or at least, those I couldn't find out :

ACER Aspire M5640-E5511A

- couldn't find the motherboard model/brand name
CPU : intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
RAM : 4GB DDRII
Video : integrated graphics
PSU : no idea.

Thank you,
Francis.
 
have you overclocked?

Sound like the CPU it fried.

try with just the CPU, graphics and memory attached. if that fails try each of the DIMMS to cancel them out, if still nothing, then your CPU / MoBo is fried.

if it was your graphics card, then there would be post beeps.
 
DarrylH said:
have you overclocked?

Sound like the CPU it fried.

try with just the CPU, graphics and memory attached. if that fails try each of the DIMMS to cancel them out, if still nothing, then your CPU / MoBo is fried.

if it was your graphics card, then there would be post beeps.
Click to expand...

You can also have post beeps with faulty ram etc etc..?:confused: (because I have)
 
soulgolem, lets try some logic here, perhaps it will work, sometimes it actually does, though, I doubt it:

You said that your computer spontaneously restarted twice (that you noticed).
Did these restarts happen while the computer was idling?

If the computer was idling, then logically, the cause has to be external to the computer, like the power supply.

If you were playing heavy games or something, the the reboots could be caused by driver issues, and don't mean a thing.

Then you say that the computer hung up when you got home, so this implies that it is on all day while you are away.

Typically, a motherboard "blows" when it is:
- damaged by bending the board / scraping the board
- power surge damage takes out a few cheap capacitors
- cheap parts on the motherboard pass their sell-by-date and expire

Typically, a power supply "blows" when it is:
- power surged to death

Logically:
A. If the problem was caused by power surges, then you're looking at:
1 - A new power supply.
2 - And possibly new motherboard.

B. If the problem was caused by physical damages to the motherboard:
1 - A new motherboard.

C. If the problem was caused by expired motherboard parts:
1 - A new motherboard.

A is the most likely one because the pc is on all day, and it's on during those magnificent switches that Eskom does that causes huge spikes and dips, though these have been vastly improved now that maintenance is being done.

New Power supply = R350?
New motherboard = R1??? ?

You decide.

P.S. My motherboard goes into a "protected state" when it gets power-surged, and the only way to get it out of it's protected state is to remove all power and wait 5 minutes before powering it on again. BUT, if you don't unplug the network cable from the computer during the 5 minutes, it does not exit it's protected state, like it gets enough power from the network cable to remain in protected state. Fun!
 
P.S. My motherboard goes into a "protected state" when it gets power-surged, and the only way to get it out of it's protected state is to remove all power and wait 5 minutes before powering it on again.
Click to expand...

davemc: What brand of board is this?
 
I'd say check ram. I had the same issue and was ram.
 
Thanks you all.

Turns out it was the motherboard that fried, I changed it for an ASUS P5KPL-AM SE, and except for the front panel connections, everything went smoothly.

But since this new motherboard's been up and running the fans have been working crazy making them far from silent, does that mean any problem of some sort ?

Thanks,
Francis.
 
I did install speedfan to check the temperature readings and everything seems to be running cool, should I be worried with this speedy fan thing or can I just lower its speed with speedfan and trust the temp readings ? I get about 42 C for the CPU, is that okay for a Q6600 chip ?
 
soulgolem said:
I did install speedfan to check the temperature readings and everything seems to be running cool, should I be worried with this speedy fan thing or can I just lower its speed with speedfan and trust the temp readings ? I get about 42 C for the CPU, is that okay for a Q6600 chip ?
Click to expand...

42C idle on stock cooler and clock speeds... about right. Peak at about 60C at load.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X