Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- From: "Samantha" <none>
- Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:45:44 -0400
"w_tom"
| On Aug 16, 5:06 pm, "Samantha" <none> wrote:
| > Is there a way to troubleshoot a motherboard or cpu without
using
| > another motherboard or cpu? (Concern about frying something)
| >
| > I have another P4800-E Deluxe MB with a P43.0 chip. After about
10
| > minutes it keeps rebooting like it's overheating. I changed out
the
| > power supply but that didn't fix the problem. Had someone test
the
| > RAM and it's good. The BIOS shows that the cpu fan is running as
| > expected so the only thing left I can think of is either the
board
| > or chip. Is there something I can do to find out which one? I'm
| > concerned about putting the chip in another board if that's the
| > problem or taking a chance on frying another chip if the board
is
| > the problem. Is there a way to test one of them?
|
| Step back a minute. Due to shotgunning, then integrity of the
power
| supply 'system' is still unkonwn. For example, a swapped in power
| supply in one sysetm can appear to be defective in another -
because
| it was actually marginal in both systems. Another problem.
Assumed
| is an entire power supply 'system' is only a power supply. Also
| wrong. A power supply is only one component of a power supply
| 'system'.
|
| Without numbers and other data, then better informed posters
cannot
| answer with a useful reply. That means using a 3.5 digit
mulitmeter
| (and two minutes) to obtain numbers and establish integrity of the
| entire power supply 'system'. In your case, the relevant part of
this
| procedure is to have computer access all peripherals
simultaneously
| (multitask) and then take voltage measurements on any one of
orange,
| purple, red, and yellow wires. Entire procedure (including part
| important to you) is "When your computer dies without
warning....."
| starting 6 Feb 2007 in the newsgroup alt.windows-xp at:
| http://tinyurl.com/yvf9vh
|
| If the power 'system' is not confirmed good, then it may cause
| everything else to appear defective. That only creates even more
| confusion. A computer can work just fine for ten minutes when the
| power supply 'system' always has numbers that are defective.
Those
| numbers are most relevant when load is maximum. Therefore watch a
| movie, while reading (or writing to) a CD-Rom, while downloading
from
| the internet, while reading the disk drive, etc ... all
| simultaneously. When doing all this, only then will some
defective
| power supplies be detected by numbers. Notice all those things are
| running, but the power supply is defective - and would cause
crashes
| later. Post those numbers here (even if good) because numbers may
| also contain further useful information.
|
| Ram is tested good. Then the same test is performed again when
| computer is in a room of 100 degree F - a perfectly good computer
| temperature. Or RAM is heated with a hairdryer on highest heat.
Any
| Ram that fails a diagnostic test in the computer (must be in your
| computer - not elsewhere) is defective or motherboard
semiconductors
| talking to that memory is defective. If it also passes at
elevated
| temperatures, then move on to other suspects.
|
| Very few items can shutdown a computer. That short list is
memory,
| power supply, CPU, video card, sound card, and some motherboard
| functions. Everything else including disk drive, keyboard,
monitor,
| and mouse are not on a usual suspect list. Anything can appear
| defective if numbers from a loaded power supply are not obtained
using
| that multimeter. Not having a meter is not even an option since
| meters are sold even to K-mart shoppers.
|
| Swapping parts tells us nothing useful and sometimes makes the
| problem exponentially complex. Temperatures from the motherboard
| temperature monitor may be useful. But again, to solve a problem,
get
| numbers and other diagnostic facts. Do not speculate. First
identify
| a suspect long before trying to fix anything.
|
| Heat is a diagnostic tool. If heat creates problems, then fix
the
| defective part. Don't cure symptoms by adding fans. Problem is
solved
| first by breaking the problem down into parts. Then establish
each
| part as 'known good' or 'known bad'. Currently you don't know of
| anything in either state. Everything is still questionable -
| unknown. Start by first confirming entire power supply 'system'
| integrity. Don't shotgun - swapping parts as if that proves
| anything. Demonstrated - a defective (marginal) power supply can
| still make computer appear to be working.
You mentioned something interesting that I did not consider - the
video card. It was acting strange for a bit and it's old one Geforce
5600FX Ultra. For some reason the OS switched to a PAL setup when it
should have been NTSC. I first noticed it in Excel. The video card
worked but it didn't with tv-out, obviously. The regional settings
were set at US even though I wasn't getting '$' but Euro in Excel.
After uninstalling and reinstall new and old video drivers I finally
noticed that it was using PAL. I switched it to NTSC and it worked
for 3-4 days and then started acting up by rebooting after 10
minutes. Unfortunatly, I just busted one of the legs on the cpu fan
and I don't have an extra one to replace. Rather than possibly
wasting money on a cpu fan, I ordered a new board and chip,
upgrading to the core duo side. Now I'm concerned about the Geforce
actually might be the problem. Is it safe to use with the new parts?
As far as the power supply, the original one has been working
non-stop in another computer for 3-days without an issue. It's
handling power intensive apps like video cap, re-rendering and
gaming like a charm. I'm persuaded to believe that this is not the
problem. I still would like to salvage the P4 if possible. If (and
hopefully) the video card is not the problem... going back to my
original question, is there a way to test either the board or chip
without using a replacement?
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- From: w_tom
- Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- References:
- Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- From: Samantha
- Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- From: w_tom
- Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- Prev by Date: Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- Next by Date: Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- Previous by thread: Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- Next by thread: Re: Troubleshooting MB and CPU
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
