Requiring pc vista help.

[grumbler]

Alright, I replaced gfx card with an old one I still have. I alao put in the power supply from my old system which had tided me over when the previous one had died. No fucking change. The only things I could still replace are the case and cpu. I have to presume that it's a combination of factors of two or more faulty pieces.

I give up. I will dissect the machine, keep the HDs with data for future retrieval and get me a notebook or netbook when my xmas bonus comes around. My contemporary gaming days are over for now. I'll have to cancel my preorder for Age of Dragons and see if I can sell some of my recent non-drm games.

Thanks for your help, everyone, but this is the suckiest birthday ever.

Dunno why you don't ask for an RMA on the CPU.  This thing has a warranty which hasn't expired, right?

[Syt]

Friend picked up the computer to check it more thoroughly at home.

[Syt]

Alright, I replaced gfx card with an old one I still have. I alao put in the power supply from my old system which had tided me over when the previous one had died. No fucking change. The only things I could still replace are the case and cpu. I have to presume that it's a combination of factors of two or more faulty pieces.

I give up. I will dissect the machine, keep the HDs with data for future retrieval and get me a notebook or netbook when my xmas bonus comes around. My contemporary gaming days are over for now. I'll have to cancel my preorder for Age of Dragons and see if I can sell some of my recent non-drm games.

Thanks for your help, everyone, but this is the suckiest birthday ever.

Dunno why you don't ask for an RMA on the CPU.  This thing has a warranty which hasn't expired, right?

Have to check Intel's terms for Austria. I'll want to make sure if it really is the problem.

[grumbler]

Have to check Intel's terms for Austria. I'll want to make sure if it really is the problem.

If you ask for an RMA, they generally will tell you what troubleshooting you need to do to demonstrate that it is the CPU.

[Caliga]

I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something.  Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? 

[DontSayBanana]

I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something.  Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? 

Well, you've got 2-300-some-odd pins, each of which can burn out.  I'd wager a lot would depend on the shielding, too- thermal glue and a heat sink wouldn't offer the same level of corrosion protection as, say, a sealed CPU fan.

[grumbler]

I have never heard of a CPU failing in this way, only if it burns out or something.  Is this sort of a 'partial' failure even possible, especially as something that develops over time rather than something that was immediately apparent on the first build? 

Dunno.  I have never seen it or heard of such a case, but I don't know enough to say that it isn't possible, and the troubleshooting to date sure points that way.

[Caliga]

Yeah, agree... not saying it's impossible.

[Syt]

Alright, friend looked things over during the weekend, taking single components from my faulty machine and putting them into a compatible, known to work system. It turns out that the CPU, board, RAM are in a freak way shot. He presumes that either it was some odd domino effect, an exotic virus he never heard about or (implied) I messed things up (most likely). It also appears the gfx card has a glitch. The HDs are ok and the data can be salvaged.

Anyways, I dusted off my Asus EEE for home, and am now in the market for a replacement.

I think I will keep the current gaming to XBox360 from now on (action games).

I'll go checking for a mobile solution that I can't mess up too badly.

Requirements:
- must run my old Matrix wargames or AGEOD games or OOTP
- must run Campaign Cartographer (CAD-style mapping program)
- Office
- video playback
- music playback
- internet
- being able to connect external HDs of 1 TB or more.
- hook up to am external screen with 1600+ resolution

I'll also need an external docking station for SATA drives so I can still use data from my old drives.

[Caliga]

Hmm... oh well.  If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated.  The virus explanation is impossible as a virus cannot damage a CPU, or any hardware for that matter anymore (years ago, there was a virus that was capable of damaging some CRT monitors... forget the exact details).

[Darth Wagtaros]

I didn't realize virii could fuck a CPU. 

Least you know what's wrong. 

[Syt]

Hmm... oh well.  If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated.

Also a likely cause. I'd been playing Risen at full details on 1920x1200 for a couple hours when the thing gave up its ghost.

[DontSayBanana]

Hmm... oh well.  If there are multiple damaged components I would guess you overheated.  The virus explanation is impossible as a virus cannot damage a CPU, or any hardware for that matter anymore (years ago, there was a virus that was capable of damaging some CRT monitors... forget the exact details).

This is a pet peeve of mine.  Keep in mind that the computer can take "conscious" control of the CPU's cooling fan.  Override that on a hot system, and you can slag the CPU, so it's possible, but really, really unlikely.  Maybe I'll give one of the junkers in the office a send-off by demonstrating and posting either some pics or video.

Syt, that sounds like overheating to me as well... what type of video card was in there? Aside from the CPU, the video card is the hottest component and most likely to overheat- also if it was overheating by a lot, it could explain the damage to the other components, since video cards are usually located right by the RAM and CPU sockets.

[Caliga]

The far, far more likely scenario is that he overheated, which is a common problem.

Whatever BIOS that ASUS usually uses (AMIBIOS) will shut the computer down automatically if the CPU fan stops and return an error screen to let you know.  If you boot with the fan not running it'll do the same.  The last time I did a build I actually saw this screen because the fan connector wires somehow got into the fan and jammed it up.    It was cool once I pulled the wires out and bundled them with electrical tape though.

[Syt]

Syt, that sounds like overheating to me as well... what type of video card was in there? Aside from the CPU, the video card is the hottest component and most likely to overheat- also if it was overheating by a lot, it could explain the damage to the other components, since video cards are usually located right by the RAM and CPU sockets.

A Gigabyte (that's the brand) GTX285 w/ 1GB. Also a QuadCore (2.83 GHz), 4x 2GB DDR RAM sticks. Two HDs (with a cooler right in front of them just for them).

All that in this case:
Armor Thermaltake MX


It may be, though, that the power supply (Corsair HX 1000W) might have run a little hot (sitting right over cpu/ram):