Hi, (first post, sorry)

I've read a few posts on this forum about periodic overheating problems. I've also read a few posts about general troubleshooting.

Anyway, I couldn't see anything that was similar to my problem, although I did get my PC to come alive after disconnecting my DVD and CD-burner.

OK, enough blabbering, here is what happened.

I have my machine in a non-AC room at home. The weather has been rather warm, high 80's (F not C, http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif). My wife was using the machine when all of a sudden the PC just died. She claims there may have been a slight power surge and claims the monitor lost power as well. (however the monitor's LED was on when I walked into the room 30 seconds later) I did not notice any power surge in the house. We have old crappy wiring and a matching breaker board. (2 circuits for the whole house) Anyway, I couldn't get the PC to restart. It been on for about an hour or so before it died. I tried to power up the PC and it didn't work at all. I suspected possible overheating, so I took the sides of the casing off and pointed a deskfan at it for a few hours. I tried powering it up again. No success. I killed the power using the switch on the back and left it till the next day. I switched the power on at the back and pressed the power button on the front. The red LED flashed on for about a second, the CPU fan started and then everything died. (I forgot to say, I'd also tried clearing the CMOS after unplugging the machine.)

OK, that was the state of affairs until today (5 days later). I was looking at a few posts, as I said and I was reading the general troubleshooting tips. I was too lazy to strip the machine down to memory, motherboard, HD, video card, so I thought I'd wing it and remove the power from the DVD and the CD-burner. I turned the power back on and it worked. I reconnected power to the DVD and it restarted. I reconnected the CD-RW and it didn't restart. So I thought it was the CD-RW. Well, I just got it to start up again with all both devices reconnected. The one difference is that the AC unit is on in the living room where I am working.

I guess my question is, does this sound typical of an overheating situation?
If so, I only have two fans in the PC, the CPU and the power fan. Would getting a system fan make any difference? My thinking is that all I would be doing would be moving more hot air around in the system, rather than removing heat from the case. I remember reading about water cooling systems when I was building the PC, would it be worth investing in a case with one of these devices? (based on the assumption that I'm determined to keep the PC in the non-AC'd back room)

Sorry for the length of this post.

A few system specs(I'll probably miss out the important specs, just shout at me and let me know if I need to supply more info http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif ):

Power: 300W
CPU: 1.2 GHz T-Bird
Mem: micron 256 mb

Thanks

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<b><font color = green>Mark O'Brien</font><b>

Head over to Motherboard Monitor (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/).
That will tell you the temperatures of the CPU and chipset.
Run the program with the case open and closed.

After that, we'll go from there. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

Hi Mark:

This sounds a lot like a power supply issue - if voltage is too low won't boot or if not enough Watts won't boot etc

Heat may be exaberating situation but I would check it out - Power supply could be undersized(300W PS is boarderline for the little you give of your system) or PS getting tired - intermittent starts/shutdowns etc would be symptoms of this.

Heat would probably(note I said probably) manifest itself first with weird errors, freezeups, crashes, funky thinks like that - going dead, like yours does, would lead me to look at power first.

If you can get a Multimeter - check the P1 connector(P8/P9 on AT system) and check voltage between black and yellow wires - you should get 12V +- 20% or 11-15 volts - if under 11 volts system not likely to boot(you may have to wait for the non-booting scenario as the problem sounds intermittent at this point)

Good luck

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

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Good Judgement comes from Experience - Experience comes from Bad Judgement - but bad judgement is more fun!!

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies. After I posted last night I set up my desktop again and the first thing I checked was the CPU temp. After only a few seconds the CPU was running at 44C/111F and the system temp was running at 30C/86F. I believe I read for a T-Bird that the max recommended temp was around about 20-25C(68-77F). Anyway, I this confirms that overheating is a factor. I'd appreciate advice on cooling.

old_kid, I appreciate your advice. I will check the voltage as soon as I get a chance. I will report back later today. The 300W supply has been concerning me for quite sometime, but I didn't know how to check it.

Again, thanks for the pointers.

Mark

Welcome to pcguide http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

1:
How long have you been able to use your system (with all attached accessories) as is before all this all happened?

2:
Have you cleaned the pcu fan yet if needed?

Things are still a little fuzzy but we can find the error more times than not (I hope). Of course three specs is a little short of complete description... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif BUT, the obvious is, what (flavor of Windows, I presume,) is the operating system are you on? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/redface.gifops!: Hard-drive and number and type of other peripheral specs useful too.

Firsthand, find a stable workbench type of place to test your pc. Strip it of all non essential peripherals. If it works there but not where it was, well, you can figure, a good, grounded electrical supply with surge protection is always nice...

It seems if too many appliances are on one circuit, even though the breaker doesn't trip, the power supply may have a hard time receiving enough amperage to power the pc correctly. Hence problems you encounter power related.

Rather than test your pc on a non 'Surge Protected' outlet strip, try a drill and/or a toaster on the outlet in question AND through the strip as well. You're statement of only 2 circuits in the entire house has me worried about your safety let alone problems with your pc. Try your pc without anything like dish/clotheswashers and dryers running. If this helps, you may need house wiring improvements. If not, then we'll look deeper into your pc and try as the others have suggested.



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George Carlin quote
"You don't learn to swear 'till you learn to drive..."
(pc's included IMO)

FTT

Sorry, I didn't refresh before submitting my reply and missed your's until now.


I believe I read for a T-Bird that the max recommended temp was around about 20-25C(68-77F).

I wish I could live as comfortably. No a T-Bird can run much hotter and 111 degrees F is very safe.




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----------------------
George Carlin quote
"You don't learn to swear 'till you learn to drive..."
(pc's included IMO)

FTT

Nope, the temps you quoted are way off base, that is ambient temperature in most places and a T-bird will run much higher than that! without some sort of exotic active chilling it will not mb possible to cool a CPU to lower than ambient temperature, let alone expect that to the max it can run at.

Your temps in the mid-40s C are about normal, without resorting to "monster" heatsink/fan combos.

I would also look to the power source as being one of, if not your only problems. In all likelyhood your house only has 60A service (maybe even 40)...when you throw in today's normal appliance load your have very little left for things like a computer. If you are now running room fans or some sort of air conditioning then there is even less left. In many newly constucted houses 200A service is very common these days.

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mjc
Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.


Please Post Questions in the forums, not my email. Thanks

Thanks for the welcome.


1:
How long have you been able to use your system (with all attached accessories) as is before all this all happened?


About ten months now, since early September. It's only been hot recently.


2:
Have you cleaned the pcu fan yet if needed?


I knocked a little bit of dust from the fan, but it was barely visible. I'm pretty good at moaking sure there's not much dust around the PC. However, my mother in law's PC was caked in dust last month when I went to "fix" her PC. (4 smokers in the house) She couldn't believe that smoke dust could stop her computer functioning properly. (duh)

I will honestly post back what my machine specs are, once I pull it apart. I knew I hadn't given a very good specification.

Off the top of my head again:

OS: Win ME
HD: 40 gb 5400 rpm, Western Digital (will get serial number later)

OK, I've gone blank again. I will post later, perhaps not tonight I'm afraid.

Thanks again for your time, I really do appreciate it.


Side Note: I've had a bit more of a look around this site and I really appreciate the positive attitude from the solution providers here. I think you guys are going to appreciate the upgraded BBCode capabilities that I saw mentioned in the anouncements section. I've actually referred a few people to this site. I post on a similar forum for MS Excel called MrExcel.com and we enjoy the Private Message facilities, html etc (hence my signature in the original post http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif )