Hi,

I came back from the weekend to find a dead computer. Had been hearning
the CPU fan and meaning to check it out (replaced it a couple years
back). In any case, opened it up, found the CPU fan pretty much locked
up, and the PC wouldn't power up (hit power switch, lights would come
on for about 1/2 second). Put on a spare one, which still spun OK, was
just noisy and on it's way out. Still nothing. Went and bought a
cheap Dynex power supply (300 watt, matched what was in there before).
Now it powers up, but one of the Cd drive lights stays on, and the HDD
light stays on. Really odd thing (to me, anyway) is that the thing
surges, sounds like it's a car that someone's revving up and down.
Plus - the CD and HDD lights brighten up when it revs up, along with
the optical mouse light and (!!) the room lights! Husband thinks the
motherboard is causing the problem, something shorting out and causing
the revving. I'm wondering if I got a bad new power supply? Can a
motherboard or processor cause the revving/surging?

Things seemed OK until now except - sometimes I would get a reboot when
not expecting it. But I was usually experiencing some software problem
at the time, too.

Any help would be appreciated! Since my laptop doesn't have newsgroups
(yet) I'll have to wait for Google groups to catch up.

TIA,

Pat

<miapjp (AT) chartermi (DOT) net> wrote

Do the room lights normally dim and brighten only when the pc is on?
If so, it may be that the HDD or one of the CD drives is drawing too much power.
Try disconnecting the CD drives and see what happens.

If not, then that circuit is probably overloaded and the PC should be connected
to another circuit.

If you get your PC running fairly stable, download the HDD mfg's diagnostic
program and check your HDD.
A 300w PSU on a K7S5a is really pushing the lower limit.

If you feel comfortable, look for bulging (usually domed tops rather than flat
tops) or leaking capacitors on your motherboard.
They are the little cylinder like tubes on your MB. If you find one or more,
either have them replaced or do it yourself or ??

Since your cpu fan was not working, the cpu probably got really hot and maybe
messed up the thermal pad or heatsink compound between the cpu heatsink and the
cpu, thereby causing the cpu too run very hot. I would suggest that you remove
the cpu heatsink and clean the contact surfaces on it and the cpu (use Google
for help in doing this) and reinstall it with some heatsink compound.

Thanks, I think we're just going with a new MB and processor. I tried
a different circuit and still no go. Thanks for the PSU advice, I was
just replacing what was originally in the system (bare bones). I may
bump that up.....

Pat

Hi,

It's kind of "funny" but my current K7S5A-Pro is one of the most
reliable and last longer (knock on wood) than any my other previous MBs
(MSI, Asus). I guess it's hit & miss when it come to cheapo MB.

Mine still going strong 24/7 (double knock on wood) with a 1.4 thunderbird
and geforce 3 ti200.Actualy plays Half-life 2 pretty nice.But not as nice as
my 9700 pro system.That card just goes and goes.Plays Doom 3 on medium
1024x768 just fine.Don't think I'll upgrade until the next generation comes
out.Amazing for a three year old card.

"Victor" <v25hall (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

You're saying that your geforce 3 ti200 with a 1.4GHz Tbird plays Doom3 on
medium @1024x768 just fine?

Buffalo (nospam) wrote:

No the 9700pro Athlon 2500+ 1gig plays Doom3 at Medium just fine.Learn
to read.

"Victor" <v25hall (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Perhaps you should be able to better express yourself.
You didn't indicate that you had a faster cpu (if you did) or the amount of ram
You just stated that your 9700 pro system played HL2 better.
My reading ability is limited to what is printed.
Please learn to express yourself.
It just sounds like you are happy with your 9700Pro card.