I think its dead :(

[darkfa8]

So, I have my computer on a UPS, the power goes out, computer is still on fine, I shut it down normally, then power down the UPS to conserve battery power since I have no idea how long the huge blackout will last.

3 hours later I power the UPS back up. The next morning I power up the computer and the screen is blank, there is signal just no screen information, no bios post, nada.

I disconnect the PSU A/C cable ad plug it back in, the machine now posts to default bios values, I reset them to what they were before, the machine now boots into WinXP and then self-reboots.

I wind up opening the machine, cleaning out the loads of dust - its been several months since its last cleaning , restart and it has the same problem - self rebooting whenever it loads WinXP.

So, on a hunch, I remove 1 stick on memory from Channel 2, the machine boots normally into XP. I pull the other stick and put the 1st stick into Channel 1, boots normally - OK, so the sticks of memory seem OK. However, whenever I have BOTH sticks installed either on the same channel or separately the machine self reboots.

I then reflashed the bios, the machine would self-reboot with both sticks installed, but not with 1 installed.

So I ran the machine for several hours yesterday with 1 stick of RAM in Channel 1. Well, this morning it loads up and I get the BLUE SCREEN indicating there has been a memory dump. I reboot, same problem.

Is this indicative of the Northbridge going dead?

Ironically, and somewhat sad and frustrating, I was laid off last month, so money is tight. Fortunately my girl has a laptop that I can use, but all my files are on my computer, including my resumes.

I know I'm due for a upgrade, my machine is 5 years old! I've checked out Tom's $625 build, and wonder how or if I could "fix" my computer with a mild upgrade that would reuse as much of my old components as possible, but give me the building blocks to finish it off when income starts to come in again.

Any suggestions? Anyone looking for any of these components? I'll make you a great deal!!

MSI Neo-2-LS Bios V2.5
P4 2.4 Northwood PGA478 800MHz FSB OC'ed to 3.0ghz (250mhz x 12)
Swiftech MCX4000/Panaflow 80mm
(2) Corsair CMX512-4400C25PT = 1gig
BFG nVida GeForce 6600GT AGP
WD400JD 40gig SATA
Enermax EG465P-VE 431W

 

[o1die]

Computer geeks has 3 478 boards for sale; haven't checked newegg. Your old msi board might have some bad caps (buldging or discolored capacitors) which could cause the reboots. Or you might have something overheating. If you get a new motherboard, be sure it supports 800 fsb p4's. Check the cpu support section on the manufacturer's website before ordering. You might want to register and post your components in the "for sale" or classified sections of this and other forums, such as anandtech. I've bought used stuff for less, and most of it has worked fine. Fry's had an amd 2350 dual core cpu closeout for $25, and an ecs board for am2 for $19.99 (in store only) when I was browsing the other day.

 

[mythor20]

Just be sure and test the PSu or replace it with a friends one just to see if the PSU is at fault. You could try to increase the VDimm voltage slightly and see if things improve.

 

[ainarssems]

my best guess-
1. Cmos battery low- this is why it went to defaults after a while unplugged
2. Your memory was on the higher voltage before going to defaults. now it's gone to defaults and not getting enough power to riun both sticks.

Troubleshooting:
1. check each stick individually with memtest to rule out faulty stick
2. check each slot induvidually to rule out faulty stick
3. bump up the voltage to see if it helps

 

[darkfa8]

I failed to mention that I did check the CMOS battery, it was at 3.129v. I replaced it anyway wth a new one (3.2v).

I have run several passes of MemTest on each stick individually with no errors reported.

Despite bumping DIMM voltage from 2.5 to 2.7 for 1 stick, I am getting multiple pop-up XP system errors on the desktop.

 

[will_chellam]

To me it sounds like a motherboard problem - you seem to have developed a number of problems all at the same time, which is never good....

Id check the simple stuff like the psu etc as mentioned above, and once you know your hardware is stable doing a clean OS install and seeing how you go....

In my experience that windows startup/reboot issue has been due to a corrupt startup file on the HDD....

 

[vrgboxy]

Do my favourite one.
Linux Live CD or even DSL on a USB.
Tests all your Hardware and then you will see if its OS or Hardware related.

 

[darkfa8]

PSU is reporting stable readings through my Bios Status screen

i finished running several passes of MemTest on both sticks together and no errors. I restarted and then ran chkdsk, it rebooted and now appears to be running ok...

something wierd is going on =\

 

[caamsa]

Here is a replacement for you. Dirt cheap!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883108197&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL121108&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL121108-_-DesktopPCs-_-L0C-_-83108197

 

[bobwya]

Hi

Nobody seems to have picked up (except me!!) that your machine has had quite a big overclock and no doubt for quite a few years -right? Perhaps/probably this has aged your MB components / CPU. I have noticed this with a Prescott I was overclocking. The system gradually became less stable over a period of time OC from 3.2Ghz to 3.6Ghz. That even was without altering Vcore at all and on a very good Gigabyte hybrid-server board.

An overclock as high as you have will strain the chipset on your motherboard... Have a decent 3rd party cooler on the northbridge chip?? What about cooling the MB MosFET power regulators for the CPU?? Overclocking carries risks and will lower the gap between system stability and instability overtime (capacitor aging, over-volting components, etc.).

There is further risk with using a side facing CPU cooler if your case doesn't have a side-vent port and decent exhaust capacity that you have hot air circulating over your motherboard all the time... Not saying you have this problem but that could also aggravate the strain of your OC.

Sounds like the switch to UPS power was not smooth enough and glitched something in the MB bad enough to cause a permanent problem. Likely you won't see anything - bulging caps., etc. are unlikely unless you have a really **** MB.

Check out this old skool thread for problems with that MB model...
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/103956-12-dead-experience
This should remind you that it's time to get back on the work treadmill and get a P31/P35 board with all solid capacitors,etc - heck that thread was posted 5 years ago!!

Good luck!! I feel for you - we've all been there!! :lol:

Bob