CPU related problems- Help!

[rorus]

Long time reader of THG, first time poster.

I was playing WoW Burning Crusade and noticed my computer would freeze after a few hours of play. It would do so with a checkered graphic pattern and completely lock up the computer. Only way to reset was by the switch.

Yesterday that turned into my computer unable to stay on for more then 10 seconds. At first I figured it was a heat issue so I cleaned out all the fans. All of them are working. I then let the comp cool over night for approx. 9 hours. Tried to turn it on this morning and same thing. I could barely get to the splash screen of the MoBo for POST before the thing turned off.

So I ask: Is this a CPU issue? Or is it more likely a bad power supply? Or something else completely?

Thanks

 

[Newf]

It would be helpful to know more about your rig and whether you have overclocked it, have had heat issues, etc.

In general IF you don't see issues with:
overheat
overvolt
overclock,

Then a cheap power supply is always suspect.
Please provide specs and habits.



"My car won't start, can you tell me what it is?"

 

[rorus]

Antec True 550 Power Supply
Pentium 4 3.4 GHZ
EVga Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra
Asus P4P 800 MoBo

All stock settings. Never overclocked. I had one issue approximately 6 months ago where the computer shut off after several hours of running due to dust in the heat sink on the CPU. Cleaned out fans and no problems after that.

Pretty good with computers, been building my own for 10+ years. Obviously not the best at troubleshooting a technical issue such as this

Any help is appreciated thanks.

 

[djplanet]

Do you have spare parts to try swapping out to try to isolate the problem?

 

[ajfink]

Antec True 550 Power Supply
Pentium 4 3.4 GHZ
EVga Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra
Asus P4P 800 MoBo

All stock settings. Never overclocked. I had one issue approximately 6 months ago where the computer shut off after several hours of running due to dust in the heat sink on the CPU. Cleaned out fans and no problems after that.

Pretty good with computers, been building my own for 10+ years. Obviously not the best at troubleshooting a technical issue such as this

Any help is appreciated thanks.

Sounds like a power supply problem to me, typically when the CPU starts to overheat it throttles, in some cases shuts down. But after 10 seconds or so... it sound like your PSU is likely going belly up.

Jack

Agreed. You should be able to find a replacement on Newegg or somewhere for relatively cheap.

 

[rorus]

So I unplugged all cards and drives (hard drives, cd-rom, dvd-rom) and threw in a brand new cheap video card in case it was the graphics card....Didn't help. Basically its either the mobo, power supply or cpu. Guess its to the store for a power supply.

 

[Newf]

It's often hard to know whether it's the mobo or psu. CPU failure is very rare and when it happens it's catastrophic. As Jack said, this is not a throttling issue. You don't have a cheap power supply, but I guess even good ones can sometimes go bad...