- Oct 15, 2009
- 6,909
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One of the older PCs in my household just went out with some strange behavior. I'd appreciate some suggestions on possible causes and diagnostics.
The system specs, inasmuch as I have them.
Processor: Intel i5 2500K
Cooler: Intel RTS2011LC (Predecessor to the BXTS13X)
Motherboard: Intel DZ68BC (BIOS levelBCZ6810H.86A.0037.2012)
RAM: G.Skill 4x4GB (specifications unknown at this time - I could pull them to look up the specs).
GPU: Radeon HD R7770
PSU: Corsair HX850W
Hard Drive: Seagate SSHD 1TB
OS. Windows 10.
The most recent activity on this machine was replacing the predecessor 500GB Hard drive with the 1TB SSHD and upgrading to Windows 10. This was sone some time ago, probably more than a month, but less than 3 months ago. I could look up the invoices, since I had to RMA the first hard drive due to it failing the SeaTools diagnostics after installation.
Symptoms: The machine would boot to the BIOS splash screen and invite to press F2, F7 or F10 for BIOS, BIOS Update or Boot selection respectively.
Pressing any key seemed not to elicit any response. My first suspicion was that the USB keyboard might not be recognized, so I went in search of a keyboard with an PS/2 port (later I realized this particular motherboard did NOT have a PS/2 port).
When I returned with the keyboard, the machine showed the BIOS menu screen. Navigation in the BIOS was painfully slow, with a few seconds passing between a key press and action on the screen. Screen draws took a few seconds, with the text visibly appearing in "blocks" on the monitor (attached to the GPU).
I have a hand-held infra-red thermometer and took some readings. Ambient was around 25C, the readings on the processor die and motherboard varied between 37C and 40C. I could feel hot air from the radiator exhaust and the coolant piped had a temperature differential.
In the BIOS I did manage eventually to get the the page with diagnostics, etc.
The event log in the BIOS was active, but clear.
BIOS reported the following temperatures.
Processor:49C
PCH: 50C
RAM: 41C
VR: 50C
Voltages as reported in BIOS.
12V: 12.23V
5V: 5.07V
3.3V: 3.1V
Standby 3.3V: 3.34V
RAM VCC: 1.5V
Processor VCC: 1.2V
PCH VCC: 1.06V
Fan speeds from BIOS:
CPU: 827
Front: 740
Rear: 727
All of these look normal, except that the temps seem excessive for something at BIOS and idling.
That lead me to suspect an issue with some hardware, possibly a high rate of hardware interrupts from a defective device.
I unplugged all USB, Ethernet, and the hard drive, to no avail.
However, as I was sitting there pondering next moves, a brief message flashed onscreen that the 95W processor was not supported in mini-ITX formats without special cooling (rather long message, I didn't get it all)
Then the processor attempted to boot from LAN, which of course failed and it asked for boot media.
So now I'm pondering that the motherboard has actually failed.
Since replacement motherboards cost around $145, I'm inviting opinions and suggestions as to further actions.
This PC is a low-use device, infrequently used as a Skype machine, homework, some years ago some architectural work, some video streaming to an attached TV, etc.
I'm loath to rebuild it and am much more inclined to get rid of it, since replacing the motherboard will also invalidate the OS license, incurring an additional $80+ to repair costs. I've been looking for an opportunity to build an Intel NUC device and attach it to the monitor VESA mount, but even that is probably more than I want to spend tight now.
I can reformat the hard drive, then sell it, the PSU, GPU, RAM and monitor for a few dollars.
Are there any additional diagnostics or steps I can take?
The system specs, inasmuch as I have them.
Processor: Intel i5 2500K
Cooler: Intel RTS2011LC (Predecessor to the BXTS13X)
Motherboard: Intel DZ68BC (BIOS levelBCZ6810H.86A.0037.2012)
RAM: G.Skill 4x4GB (specifications unknown at this time - I could pull them to look up the specs).
GPU: Radeon HD R7770
PSU: Corsair HX850W
Hard Drive: Seagate SSHD 1TB
OS. Windows 10.
The most recent activity on this machine was replacing the predecessor 500GB Hard drive with the 1TB SSHD and upgrading to Windows 10. This was sone some time ago, probably more than a month, but less than 3 months ago. I could look up the invoices, since I had to RMA the first hard drive due to it failing the SeaTools diagnostics after installation.
Symptoms: The machine would boot to the BIOS splash screen and invite to press F2, F7 or F10 for BIOS, BIOS Update or Boot selection respectively.
Pressing any key seemed not to elicit any response. My first suspicion was that the USB keyboard might not be recognized, so I went in search of a keyboard with an PS/2 port (later I realized this particular motherboard did NOT have a PS/2 port).
When I returned with the keyboard, the machine showed the BIOS menu screen. Navigation in the BIOS was painfully slow, with a few seconds passing between a key press and action on the screen. Screen draws took a few seconds, with the text visibly appearing in "blocks" on the monitor (attached to the GPU).
I have a hand-held infra-red thermometer and took some readings. Ambient was around 25C, the readings on the processor die and motherboard varied between 37C and 40C. I could feel hot air from the radiator exhaust and the coolant piped had a temperature differential.
In the BIOS I did manage eventually to get the the page with diagnostics, etc.
The event log in the BIOS was active, but clear.
BIOS reported the following temperatures.
Processor:49C
PCH: 50C
RAM: 41C
VR: 50C
Voltages as reported in BIOS.
12V: 12.23V
5V: 5.07V
3.3V: 3.1V
Standby 3.3V: 3.34V
RAM VCC: 1.5V
Processor VCC: 1.2V
PCH VCC: 1.06V
Fan speeds from BIOS:
CPU: 827
Front: 740
Rear: 727
All of these look normal, except that the temps seem excessive for something at BIOS and idling.
That lead me to suspect an issue with some hardware, possibly a high rate of hardware interrupts from a defective device.
I unplugged all USB, Ethernet, and the hard drive, to no avail.
However, as I was sitting there pondering next moves, a brief message flashed onscreen that the 95W processor was not supported in mini-ITX formats without special cooling (rather long message, I didn't get it all)
Then the processor attempted to boot from LAN, which of course failed and it asked for boot media.
So now I'm pondering that the motherboard has actually failed.
Since replacement motherboards cost around $145, I'm inviting opinions and suggestions as to further actions.
This PC is a low-use device, infrequently used as a Skype machine, homework, some years ago some architectural work, some video streaming to an attached TV, etc.
I'm loath to rebuild it and am much more inclined to get rid of it, since replacing the motherboard will also invalidate the OS license, incurring an additional $80+ to repair costs. I've been looking for an opportunity to build an Intel NUC device and attach it to the monitor VESA mount, but even that is probably more than I want to spend tight now.
I can reformat the hard drive, then sell it, the PSU, GPU, RAM and monitor for a few dollars.
Are there any additional diagnostics or steps I can take?
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