weird PC problem - someone wanna take a stab at it?

[rkjunior303]

So, I am in the process of building a new PC from a barebones... I have everything in and I go to boot up for the first time to install a boot partition in my hard drive..

bios boots up properly, recognizes the P4 3.0 and the 1 gb dual channel ddr.. then it shuts off.

almost like i pushed the power button.

[Triangle]

Are the tubes clogged?

[geekwarrior]

did you get a sufficient power supply?

/doesn't know much about building computers

[kosmo]

First problem is youre using junk. Throw it away and start over. Second, try resetting the cmos, that does the trick sometimes. Third, go into the bios and make sure that its auto setting the voltages for memory and cpu to what theyre supposed to be at. More ideas to follow if none of those work.

[Eagle]

I had a computer that used to shut down spontaniously due to overheating, but it seems odd that it would happen so quickly. Best guess is a power issue of some sort.

[rkjunior303]

it was overheating.. the thermal paste didnt spread around the processor so i spread it around and reseated the heat sink/fan. all good now.

it was booting up at 100* C.. way to hot.. now its at 35.

[kosmo]

Ahh, I was trying to remember where I had run into that before. That jogged my mind. I told one of my idiot friends one time to spread the compound all around the top of his processor, and his stupid self spread it only around the outside edges. Wound up with that same problem.

[iambored]

heat's bad but it could have been worse
like a dropper's dream: Before you get your first start-up it has injected the code into the system and booted it
or the famous deep-fried processor!

[thecavemankevin]

I had a computer that used to shut down spontaniously due to overheating, but it seems odd that it would happen so quickly. Best guess is a power issue of some sort.


damn, beat me too it. I've seen it shut down after boot like that many times. Like if you're testing a system and haven't put the heat sync in yet.

glad to hear you fixed it.

[SeeK]

I've also seen this with computers over 3 years old.

CPU fans were usually the cheapest ones that either got dirty or grease dried up. You can tell right away by cleaning it with a Q-Tip and powering up. If it still doesn't spin then push it and see if it starts spinning. If it does you MAY be able to remove the label in the middle and then remove the rubber cap. Drop in your favorite oil and put the rubber cap back on.

This type of problem and fix will become more common with video cards with their fans.

[rkjunior303]

So far so good on the machine. I'm able to run Half Life 2 and Doom 3 at full FPS with no lag really.. I was able to find a tool to override my video card fan RPMs, as well.

Not bad at all for $300.

P4 3.0 Duo
Ultra ATX Case with 350w PS (going to upgrade to 500 I think)
Gigabyte 945GZ Motherboard with 10/100/1000LAN, PCIe, and 7.1HD Audio
1 GB DDR2 Dual Channel RAM
ATI Radeon 512MB DDR2
250GB Seagate that's soon to be replaced witha 350 Seagate SATA


The thing runs pretty well considering I put most of it together half drunk after I got home from the bar at 12:30 the other night. Considering I haven't built a computer in over 10 years, it was a shock when I couldn't find the processor jumpers on the MB :)

[Kyle.Kimber]

So, I am in the process of building a new PC from a barebones... I have everything in and I go to boot up for the first time to install a boot partition in my hard drive..

bios boots up properly, recognizes the P4 3.0 and the 1 gb dual channel ddr.. then it shuts off.

almost like i pushed the power button.

If you can't get it yourself, try taking it to a place to get fixxed. DON'T GO TO BEST BUY or CIRCUIT CITY; try looking for small computer repair companies.

[rkjunior303]

umm.. did you read the rest of the thread?

[behemoth]

umm.. did you read the rest of the thread?

apparently not.