My computer just shit itself

[Cless]

It restarts every 3-10 minutes no matter what. And if I can't figure it out, I could be without a computer for quite a long time.

I hate the PS3 web browser. I wrote something longer here, but the whole message was blanked out for some inexplicable reason. Twice.

[Cless]

It got to the point of restarting before Windows could even load. And now, the system won't even POST.

The information in my motherboard's manual seems to pointing fingers at the graphics card. I wouldn't say it's impossible. Since someone I know will be bringing one over tomorrow, I should know then.

[dragurd]

Were there any corruptions in graphics? Graphics card issues are usually pretty obvious due to corruption.

[Cless]

Nope. This started happening RIGHT after I updated my video card drivers and started running the folding@home GPU client (for the first time). I didn't think the card was running TOO hot (around 50C), which is what makes this weird.

[KM]

If it's restarting before it even reaches windows it is definitely not a video card drivers problem. Your computer shouldn't restart even if the graphics card was over heating before Windows opens, and should only be running normally unless you set the BIOS to overclock the PCIe bus (It's a PCIe card, right?) A few things you can try is, see if you can get into the BIOS, if you can, check to see what temperature the CPU and what not are running at as BIOS will usually have a set heat limit before it will shut your computer right down without notice. If you can't get into the BIOS, what you want to do is reset the BIOS via either using the jumper to reset the CMOS or pulling out the battery on the mobo it's self and leaving it for 1 minute without the power cord plugged in. You'd be surprised how many non-boot issues this fixes.

It also could be a fried video card, but the computer shouldn't be restarting even if it is pooched. Also could be RAM that may have come loose via chip creep or one of your RAM sticks is fried, either could cause a computer to not boot to POST.

If that doesn't work, I would start pulling out non-essential parts and hopefully it'll boot because one was affecting the system.

[Cless]

So, shift+backspace is what clears the entire box. And the PS3 browser doesn't recognize CTRL+Z. Thanks, Sony.

[Cless]

So, anyway. My CPU does run hot and needs a new heatsink, but when I ran it through a heavy stress test a month ago (constant video encoding), there weren't any problems. Plus, I recall hearing that modern processors underclock themselves automatically to prevent them from getting dangerously hot.

The thing will actually POST after about ~10 minutes of an odd pattern of restarts. The monitor does kick on after that but, it lasts less than a minute before the next restart.

I tried nearly everything I can at this point. Pulled out all expansion cards; pulled out all but one RAM stick. Jumpered CLR_CMOS. Same result.

Later today I'll have the chance to try a different graphics card and RAM. I'm really hoping it's the graphics card at this point because mine's still under warranty and I can replace it temporarily with a cheap low-end one. I can NOT afford a new processor/motherboard/RAM combo right now.

[starmage2006]

We're all here for you, Cless. I'm sure the community will help you out if you need new hardware components. Keep us posted.

[Cless]

We can rule out the GPU and RAM now.

All that's left is the board and CPU.

Buying a Core i5, compatible board, and a decent amount of DDR3 RAM is probably going to cost north of $500

[Kajitani-Eizan]

is there a way of testing each one individually? because buying a new processor, motherboard, and RAM when you know it's not the RAM and it's probably only one of the processor or motherboard is probably not the most cost-effective solution.

[DeadlyAnGeL91792]

well are you at least back up and running cless?

[Cless]

is there a way of testing each one individually?

I have my mom's PC right now, and though I'm sure my board supports the processor in it, it's just too huge of a pain in the ass. The heatsink I have installed is a nightmare and a half to deal with.

This is what I'm looking at as a replacement:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=21178548

This would be replacing a Core 2 Duo E8400 with a mid-high end board also with 8GB of (DDR2) RAM. If anyone's willing to pitch in, I'd be very, very appreciative.

EDIT: Well, it's ordered. I charged it to a newegg preferred account which at least grants me 0% interest for 12 months. Eases the pain a little, but this still sucks.

[Cless]

Well, this is looking a little suspect, I think:
http://i.imgur.com/z66nv.jpg

Some of the surface mount fuses in the CPU space are looking pretty crooked. I'm not sure how normal that is. Could it have gotten hot enough to loosen the solder?

[KM]

In a case of CPU vs Motherboard frying 90% of the time it's the motherboard. Also you might what to try them outside of the computer case and/or with a new PSU for shits and giggles mostly. I have seen PSUs turn on but not properly boot a computer before, a single swap and bam and it works. But it could also just be the mobo. Removing it from the case negates any possibility there may be a short of some kind. 

I do this kind of fixing for a living so I have all the spare test parts, but I imagine you probably don't have everything needed to really test it out. If it turns out to be something small, you could replace it and have a second decent computer.

[starmage2006]

I agree. The motherboard is usually the culprit. Glad to see you're up and running to some extent though.

[Cless]

Yeah, I'm fairly certain it's the motherboard. More points of potential failure and all that. I still can't help but think that the timing of all this is a little odd, but, well...coincidences do happen.

It's pretty frustrating though that I can't just go sell the E8400 to make back some of the money I just had charged, since I don't have any way of proving it's still good. I've got enough debt as it is.