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Computer stopped working and need help to fix and possibly upgrade

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  • Computers
  • Graphics Cards
  • HP Pavilion
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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April 1, 2014 6:18:27 PM

Hello all, I joined up on here to ask this because you've seemed so helpful to others. I have an HP Pavilion 9400f desktop from 2008 (I think, or 2009), bought on black friday. It has an ATI Radeon 3650 Pro graphics card, and an AMD Phenom X4 9750(2.4GHz) processor. we had a bit of a power flicker during the aftermath of a storm and it shut off while I was browsing webcomics on chrome. when booted up again it claimed there were errors and tried to perform system repair (it has vista home premium) but that didnt work, another boot went to blue screen of death, and yet another went to a checking disk for errors startup. then anytime after that I noticed a dying "revving" noise coming from inside and after popping the case open I found the graphics card's little built in fan would spin a little, make the noise, stop, spin again, make the noise, then stop for good. inside the case is riddled with dust too, blowing in there made a cloud come out. Assuming the graphics cards fan is dying or dead, is there any way to replace the whole card, and while I'm at it maybe upgrade the graphics card and processor with more modern replacements so i can play my games easier? (like league) I don't know too much about computers so some recommendations on upgrade parts would be nice, and if I'm too inexperienced to replace such sensitive equipment I can just buy the parts and have a pro do it. Thanks in advance and sorry for the book of text lol.

UPDATE: Thank you all for your help. Maarkr, I'm sorry to end up sounding like a naive kid, I'm 21 and should probably know better, but this has been an eye-opening experience and I will clean and maintain my electronics regularly from here on out. I will clean everything out first, check performance, and give an update, thanks again for the speedy response you guys. :) 

Newegg's page on the computer with specs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Other specs:
http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAG...

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April 1, 2014 7:33:05 PM

you sound like one of my kids... they never clean out their machine until it starts going haywire.
Get a can of compressed air, a stiff pait brush, some rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. With the air, clean out your power supply, the system fan, the CPU fan, pull the GPU and clean out the fan. Remove the front of the case and find the air filter and clean that out. Use the brush and get ALL dust, dirt, and dead mice off all components, including the ram and drives... you may need to follow up with the swabs dipped in alcohol... do not douse the components.
After all that, see if the system runs OK. It's 6 yrs old, so if it doesn't work well, I'd bite the bullet and get a new system. try to add your old drive to the new machine so you can copy your files over to it.
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April 1, 2014 7:37:38 PM

Follow maarkr's advice before buying anything. If it doesn't work, the only upgrade you can do without a fairly large budget is a new video card. A GTX 750 would work well in it and should give you a huge performance increase.
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April 1, 2014 7:41:12 PM

League of Legends relies mainly on your processor. Any PCI-E graphics card should replace your dead one, an HD 6450 is about the cheapest equivalent replacement that is still being sold new, but you can spend more and get a better card (just make sure your power supply is up to it). The X4 9750 is about the best processor that your motherboard is listed to accept, BUT, people with the same motherboard have said that they have used 95 watt Phenom X4 945 and X4 955 with no problems. Any processor that you purchase will likely be used since they have not been made for a few years, and the Phenom x4's go for around $70 USD on Ebay. The graphics card is easy to replace, the CPU just slightly more difficult. Watch some UTube videos on replacing CPU's and if it looks too difficult then you can take it to a professional if you choose to replace it.

I would just replace the graphics card for now and see if your computer works, since you may have other issues related to the power surge. If it still doesn't work now would be a good time to consider purchasing a new computer rather than putting more money into old hardware.
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