Desktop Died

Err · Post by **Err** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:07 pm

My Quad Core died this evening. I was visiting my normal forums when I got a blue screen. I'm like WTF but not too worried at this point. It reboots and I select to "boot at normal in the recovery screen. Windows 7 starts and then freezes. I power down and reboot. At this point I can't get passed the bios. All I get are the header, memory test, and CPU ID. None of the drives will initialize. I decide to unplug all the hard drives and see what happens. Same thing. I check all the power connections, make sure all the fans are turning, etc. I tried clearing the CMOS and now I can't even get video out. There are no lights on the keyboard or mouse. All the capacitors look okay. I'm guessing I have a dead board.

I'm sick of building computers. I'm thinking of parting this thing out (minus the MB of course) and buying new. What do I buy? I want a gaming PC. My desktop specs were as follows:

Intel Quad Core CPU 2.4 GHz
EVGA 680i LT Motherboard (may have .357 hole in it before night's out)
4 GB Patriot Memory
EVGA GTX 275 Video Card
Auzen Prelude 7.1 Sound Card
Corsair TX850W PS

I'm just not motivated to build anymore. Thanks in advance.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:38 pm

What happens if you disconnect the drives completely? Does it still freeze? Pop the Ram out and reseat it. Could be dirty contacts.

Could also be a bad memory stick. Try one and then the other by itself.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:44 pm

What about a power supply failure (if what FP suggested does not solve it)?

Err · Post by **Err** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:20 pm

After my first post, I went to the gym for an hour. After reading FP's suggestions, I figured I had nothing to lose and needed to strip the drives out anyway. I I removed all the drives and powered on. I got the same screen, or lack there of, as before. I next removed all 4 sticks of RAM and tried each on in slot 0: 1st stick posted, 2nd stick posted, 3rd stick posted, 4th not so much. I cleaned all the contact and tried the 4th stick again. Still nothing. next I installed sticks 1 and 2 int slots 0 and 3 for dual channel mode and Windows booted fine. I ran the system assessment and my Memory scored 5.5. I powered down and replaced the stick in slot 0 with the bad memory. The computer wouldn't post. I put the good stick back in and in addition put the 3rd stick in. I was curious how 3G would perform in single channel mode. Windows says it's better at 5.9.

In short I need to order RAM. I'm going to replace the 4G I have now with 8G. Does Crucial still make good Ram or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks FP and Exec. I've noticed that as I get older, my patience for fixing my own stuff grows less and less. I don't mind fixing other's computers but I hate having to fix my own; especially after just getting home from work.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:29 pm

I hear ya brother. I hate fixing my own PCs.

Yeah, the fact that it's a bad RAM stick does not surprise me. I have seen a LOT of bad RAM lately. I think the quality control is getting questionable, and there's too many counterfeit products in the pipeline.

I still like Crucial. Motherboards can be fussy about minor timing issues, but when you look up some RAM in Crucial's database you can be assured that it WILL work on that mobo without messing with the timing.

If you have the money to blow on 8Gb go for it (I assume you are running a 64bit OS? Otherwise you can only go up to 4Gb), but 4Gb really is adequate unless you're working on some outrageously large images in Photoshop.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:12 am

Yup, went through the same scenario a few weeks ago. Still waiting for my RMA (thanks for reminding me to check though).

Err · Post by **Err** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:58 am

I just ordered 8G (4 x 2G) Crucial Ballistix 6400. I'll have it in a couple of days. It's tough choosing memory now a days. The reviews look mixed on about all brands right now. This backs up what FP was saying about Quality.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:32 am

About the only brands that I've consistently heard good things about are Adata & Gskill. I personally have had good experience with Geil as well.

Like you, Patriot failed me. Crucial's Ballistix has also failed me, but they were very quick to get me my RMA.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:52 am

Unless you're overclocking (and there's really no good reason to overclock anymore), you don't need to spend the money on the Ballistix. Also, the Ballistix (like other performance brands: OCZ, Corsair, etc) tend to be finicky on timing.

The plain jane Crucial RAM is all I ever buy, and it's going to be the most compatible out of the box.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:42 pm

i've seen ~12 sticks of Ballistix fail over the past year. we used it in many systems at work and they would drop like flies. i had two 2GB sticks die in my work pc as well. never had an issue with standard Crucial ram though.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:47 am

Just got my new sticks of Patriot back, 2 week turnaround. Not too bad (I sent first class). Glad to be back to 8gb.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:57 am

good timing on this...two more sticks of Ballistix just failed on my pc today. game. set. match.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:37 pm

Be sure it's the sticks (usually is) but it can also be a touch of corrosion on those tiny contact pads.

Spray the RAM sockets with CRC contact cleaner ideally (available at any hardware store) or WD40 if nothing else. Although WD40 leaves a residue which contact cleaner doesn't. Those pocket WD40 oilers are ideal.

Clean the RAM stick contacts with a NEW CLEAN rubber pencil eraser and then blow off the rubber residue with canned air and then spray them with contact cleaner.