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[Nerevar]

OK, I've built my own computer and used it for a couple years now. Recently, the thing has been falling apart. Occasionally it doesn't boot-up. When I turn the power on, all the fans and lights turn on, but the moniter stays in power-save mode. I usually have to press the "reset" button 4 or 5 times before the system fully boots (I know when it starts to boot becuase the PC speaker makes the boot-up "beep"). Furthermore, the system occasionally just cuts off. I've done a lot of testing on it, so here's what I know:

I ran memtest86 for 3 hours or so, no failures.

I ran burn-in-test on the CPU for an hour, no failures

I ran a test on my hard drive which didn't record any failures.

I ran burn-in-test for all system components (DVD-drive, graphics card, CPU, RAM, floppy disk, video playback, network) - no failures.

I know it's not the power supply because I just replaced that a couple weeks ago, and the crashing was happening before that as well.

The thing is, the system still crashes doing normal things. It randomly shuts down when I'm ripping CDs or DVDs, when I'm burning a disk, when I'm running games, and even while running 3dmark. So does anyone have a clue as to what is wrong with my system? At this point, I can only think it's either a motherboard failure or a bad cable. But I would think these system tests would determine that. Can anyone help me out here?

 

[Gattsu25]

Motherboard

 

[Nerevar]

Motherboard

How come none of the software stress tests have caused an error or even caused the system to crash then? I'm just curious, it's what I suspected anyway.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Have you updated the mobo drivers?

 

[Nerevar]

Have you updated the mobo drivers?

you mean flash the BIOS? Why would I need to update the mobo drivers (or flash the BIOS) if it worked properly for over a year, and then only recently started failing on me?

 

[jenov4]

Sounds like your CPU is overheating. I had the exact same problem with my P3 and I had to get a new fan. Solved everything.

 

[NohWun]

Look carefully at the capacitors on the motherboard. Capacitors are the tall cylindrical parts with a plastic cover and an aluminum lid. See if the lids on any of the bulge upwards. If so, that's your problem.

A few years ago, there was a company that made bad capacitors and sold them to electronics manufacturers all over. (In fact, the formula they used for the liquid in the capacitors was stolen from another company, except that they got the formula wrong, resulting in unstable capacitors.) The result is that over time, lots of equipment just started going bad.

If you've got some good soldering skills, you can replace the capacitors easily enough. You can get replacements at RadioShack or Digikey.com or other electronics supply house. Just remember that the voltage and farad ratings need to be equal or larger than that of the caps you're replacing.

Otherwise, you're looking at a motherboard replacement, and perhaps a power supply replacement too. I suppose you might try the latter first, assuming the motherboard capacitors look okay.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

you mean flash the BIOS? Why would I need to update the mobo drivers (or flash the BIOS) if it worked properly for over a year, and then only recently started failing on me?

No, although you may want to try that as well. But in addition, your OS needs drivers for the chipset. But I doubt that's it either.

What are your CPU temps saying in the BIOS?

 

[pestul]

I ran a test on my hard drive which didn't record any failures.

I know it doesn't sound like a hard disk failure (they usually don't result in system shutdowns), but was your 'failure assessment test' S.M.A.R.T. based? I mean, was it reading the attributes that potentially lead to HDD failure? (look up ActiveSmart).

I hate to say it, but it really does sound like a cpu/mobo/power supply issue. I've heard of people who have terrible luck with power supplies.. they replace them, which obviously makes them assume they should be in the clear from that standpoint, and then in the end, it's a PSU failure again. :X

 

[Nerevar]

No, although you may want to try that as well. But in addition, your OS needs drivers for the chipset. But I doubt that's it either.

What are your CPU temps saying in the BIOS?

CPU temps are fine. As I said, I ran two different CPU stress tests and never got an error or crash, and temps never went above "dangerous" levels.

The HDD test was only partly smart-based. It read the SMART data, but then ran through all the sectors of the drive and checked them for data corruption (I believe). It was dos-based.

I think it's a mobo issue as that's the only component I can't test, and everything else tests out just fine. I'll try looking at the capcitors, thanks nohwun.