Deskop Overheated - Screen freezing - Identify failing component

rafabr4

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Jul 28, 2013
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10,510
Hello and thanks in advance!

I've been running a PC build over 3 years that worked just fine. It usually runs at 50°C maximum, but yesterday the weather temperature was too hot and I *guess* the PC went over 55°C (or more). The screen froze and went to blue screen (Windows death screen).

Now, whenever I try to boot the PC it manages to boot into windows/linux but after a few seconds-minutes the screen freezes again. Sometimes the screen shows some "random dots or lines". Tried switching monitors and problem persists. Even if I go into the BIOS setup after a few seconds the screen freezes, so I'm guessing the motherboard is the one failing, or maybe a power failure.

So my question: is there any way I can be sure the motherboard or the PSU is the part that must be replaced? I mean, how can I identify the failing component? I don't have any more parts to test and switch. Maybe I'll need to go to a repair center and have it examined.

Specs:
Dell micro ATX case
ASUS M4A78LT-M LE motherboard
AMD Athlon II x4 640 with stock heatsink/fan
2x2GB A-DATA 1333 RAM
Dell suplied PSU (never could find the W amount)
Windows 7 32 bit
Integrated graphic card
 
Solution


motherboards don't generate static. It was the PSU just like I thought :)

Glad it worked out for the better.

side note: bad sectors on a hard disk will be remapped to spare good sectors either by the hard disk controller itself, or by the file system when it detects them. After...
55 degrees is definitely not too hot. That's actually incredibly cool for most electronic components.

Certain really crummy PSUs may have a hard time handling temperatures above 50 degrees, but I don't think that the Dell OEM ones are included here.

If your PC is particularly old then it may just be failing due to natural wear and tear, which would make it rather hard to peg down a particular failing component. However, a failing PSU will usually cause the PC to power off rather than freeze.
 

rafabr4

Honorable
Jul 28, 2013
5
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10,510


Thanks for the fast response. I actually just found that the PSU is of 305W and it is more than 10 years old. But you are saying that if the PSU were the problem then it would power off, which is not happening. So it is all pointing to the motherboard which I think it might be the problem because in the past 8 months every time I tried to boot the pc (yes, every time) it got stucked, the LED wouldn't turn on and at this point there was nothing on the screen, I mean, before POST and BIOS loading. It wasn't until I shaked a bit the case that the LED turned on and it loaded BIOS.
 


If the PSU is 10 years old then it's most likely failing from old age. If power delivery is poor it may cause some components to malfunction.
 

rafabr4

Honorable
Jul 28, 2013
5
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10,510
I went to a repair center and had the PC examined, component by component. It was pretty strange, they found the HDD had an error in some blocks but the freezing persisted even with it being disconnected. Then they cleaned the motherboard (with air and a liquid) and placed it on another case, problem solved. Seems the mobo was generating static. So bought new case with new PSU and it is running fine again, even the "HDD error" is gone.

Thank you all!
 


motherboards don't generate static. It was the PSU just like I thought :)

Glad it worked out for the better.

side note: bad sectors on a hard disk will be remapped to spare good sectors either by the hard disk controller itself, or by the file system when it detects them. After having been detected once, they shouldn't show up again until the hard disk runs out of spare sectors for remapping. I highly recommend that you replace that drive as soon as you can.
 
Solution

rafabr4

Honorable
Jul 28, 2013
5
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10,510


Thanks, however they even tested the PC with the Mobo in the case (original) with another PSU (out of the case) and it didn't work. It wasn't until they took out the Mobo and put it over a non-conducting surface that it stopped crashing/freezing.
 


That's an electrical fault, not static. Most likely the result of a loose wire coming into contact with something that it shouldn't have, or a wire not coming into contact with something that it should have (common with old compression connectors). The process of testing the components outside of the case is colloquially called bread boarding. I would have done the exact same thing when testing it, just glad it worked out.