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DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
edited June 2009 in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">computer problem thread!</div>So I leave my computer on for an hour or two and come back to it. Machine is frozen, screen blank, nothing is waking it up, etc. I power it down, wait half a minute or so and reboot. Nothing. Try this a couple more times. Once, it booted with a long beep followed by 3 short beeps. Tried to google the beep code, with mixed results - sounds like it can be memory failure or video card failure, depending on the bios? anyway, went through the process of switching around my DIMMs, and it seemed like it wasn't booting no matter what stick(s) I had in there. Eventually it posted with 1 stick in there, and gave me an "overclocking failure" error... now, I don't overclock (at least not to the best of my knowledge - I'm no hardware expert and I usually leave the BIOS settings on the safest possible. I'm not the type to meddle with dark forces and risk burning out my hardware for like 1 more fps.) I went into the BIOS, poked around, everything seemed fine to me, CPU temp at 44c... got out of the BIOS and the thing booted OK, though it's hella slow with just 1 gig of memory.

anyway, I almost hope it's a video card problem because it might be nice to have an excuse to upgrade my video card. I didn't leave it on during a graphics-intensive game that would have stressed the vid card though. It was just on the desktop. The computer has actually been freezing like this occasionally, going to a black screen out of nowhere, but it has always rebooted with no problem... this is the first time it's refused to boot after freezing.

Anyway, gonna switch it off again and see if I can get it to work with more memory... any thoughts are appreciated though =p

primary specs:

Asus P5B Deluxe mobo
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS vid card
Intel Core2 6600 processor @ 2.4GHz
6 gigs of Corsair XMS2 RAM, 2x1024 and 2x2048
Enermax 500W psu
Windows XP pro service pack 3
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Comments

  • SpoogeSpooge Thunderbolt missile in your cheerios Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 67Members
    What is the brand and wattage of your PSU?
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  • DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1710993:date=Jun 7 2009, 07:20 PM:name=Spooge)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Spooge @ Jun 7 2009, 07:20 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1710993"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What is the brand and wattage of your PSU?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Good question. Enermax 500W. Too low?
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  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Join Date: 2008-06-17 Member: 64467Members
    So no blue screen of death right?
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  • SpoogeSpooge Thunderbolt missile in your cheerios Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 67Members
    500 seems like it should be enough but you might be pushing the limit. That could explain the erratic behavior. Enermax makes quality units so no worries there. If you can get your hands on a larger version, that's the first thing I'd try.
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  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Join Date: 2008-06-17 Member: 64467Members
    looking at his specs 500 should be more then enough. maybe you have something that was overclocked at the store?
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  • DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
    It's possible... no blue screen of death, yep. I put 4 gigs out of my 6 back in the machine, dusted it out, and it's been running fine all night playing WoW, so I'll consider this case closed unless it starts acting up again. Maybe it was just dusty or something was loose. Thanks for the suggestions guys :>
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  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    Run a memtest using a linux livecd or otherwise to be sure.

    Overclocking failure could point to some BIOS problem.
    Ever tried resetting or updating the BIOS?
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  • douchebagatrondouchebagatron Custom member title Join Date: 2003-12-20 Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    reseat your video card. i had a huge problem where my computer wouldn't even turn on, and when it did it would beep like that then crash, and reseating my video card fixed it completely. if that doesn't help, try reseating everything you can. well except the processor, that most likely wouldn't help, and would just mess up your heat putty
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited June 2009
    One long beep followed by three short beeps, if the P5B is running either Award or AMI bios, suggests a memory problem. I have the same motherboard, but I don't feel like checking what Bios it is running <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />


    -> Could range from memory not seated problem (or dust as you found) or not enough power (faulty powersupply) to run it properly.
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  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Join Date: 2008-06-17 Member: 64467Members
    Ever thought of taking the case off and letting it be like that? Would let you know if it was a heating issue.
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