Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > General Homebuilt > Did I just break my computer?
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So, I was going to move my computer to my moms house today since I am going there for Christmas to new-years and I put my computer in my car. I call up my mom and she says she can not come today to pick me up and she will call back in 2 hours to confirm. I wait, she calls me back and says she can still not come. So I bring my computer back inside (after being in the car for 3 hours) hook it up and it doesn't turn on correctly.

The computer boots up for a little bit, then shuts off, waits 2-3 seconds, and boots up again. It repeats the process until I manually un-plug the power.

**** ********! Did I break it again? It was 33 F today outside and snowy.
Here is my setup:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131276
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161242
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6815100020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817159067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115041
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6899888207
I already had a keyboard, monitor (built in speakers), and headphones (the Medusas), Mouse, and Mousepad

I am thinking that because the computer is still cold, it doesn't want to boot up. As far as I can tell, everything is a little cold and the PSU is very cold. Also, there are no bios post and nothing to display on the screen or system beep.

Someone please help!

Edit: I have reassembled the whole thing and reset the CMOS. No luck.

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My guess is that something shifted while moving the box. The cold would not inhibit the machine from booting unless it was quite a bit colder, at least in my experience.
My computer workshop is located in the garage, non heated and separated from the house. I work in there year round (In Colorado) and have never encountered a machine that wouldn't boot due to cold. It is about 10 outside now and I have a machine in there that will boot right now. So forget about the cold for now.
You say you "Reassembled" but it sounds like you mean you hooked all your cables and peripherals up. I would recommend you check the seating on your memory, and other components first. I think something prolly came loose and you should be back up and running in no time.
My guess, you need to reseat the ram.
gl

Reply to buzznut

well mine sits in a cold room all the time and starts with no problems, however its currently consistently cold, you took it from a cold car to a warm house condensation could form from that......however it is also possible you jarred something while moving it.

My temps currently
http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/2813/tempsqi9.jpg

------------------------------ Intel Xeon E3110@3.4ghz/GA-P35-DS3L/4gigs DDR2-800(@756)/EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 55nm
/2xSeagate 320 1x160/Corsair 850 TX/21" Dell P1130 & M781s/ Vista Ult. 64 SP1

 

Reply to cliffro

buzznut wrote :

My guess is that something shifted while moving the box. The cold would not inhibit the machine from booting unless it was quite a bit colder, at least in my experience.
My computer workshop is located in the garage, non heated and separated from the house. I work in there year round (In Colorado) and have never encountered a machine that wouldn't boot due to cold. It is about 10 outside now and I have a machine in there that will boot right now. So forget about the cold for now.
You say you "Reassembled" but it sounds like you mean you hooked all your cables and peripherals up. I would recommend you check the seating on your memory, and other components first. I think something prolly came loose and you should be back up and running in no time.
My guess, you need to reseat the ram.
gl



It all sounds good except for the ram part....i think its one of the least possible unseatings.
And like I said while the cold itself wont hurt it, the going from cold to warm can and will cause condensation. which COULD(not will) cause problems possibly very bad ones.

------------------------------ Intel Xeon E3110@3.4ghz/GA-P35-DS3L/4gigs DDR2-800(@756)/EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 55nm
/2xSeagate 320 1x160/Corsair 850 TX/21" Dell P1130 & M781s/ Vista Ult. 64 SP1

 

Reply to cliffro

When I say that I reassembled it, I mean that I took the ram, graphics card, and other PCI cards out and put them back in along with all the cables and HDDs and Optical Drives. I HAVE NOT tried re-seating the CPU or heatsink. I will try that next.

Reply to chozandrias76

perhaps if someone was dicking around in there and didn't seat the ram properly in the first place...I've seen it happen plenty of times. And the boot sequence stopping each time, sounds like a ram check failure to me. Or cpu. or another dislodged component (sata cable, etc)

In all the times I've moved pc's from the warm house to the cold garage and vice-versa I've never had a condensation problem.

I suppose he could wait until the morning and try to reboot then. Stranger things have happened. But when moving a pc it seems more likely something got bumped loose rather than condensation, in my opinion.

Reply to buzznut

So I dislodged CPU could account for it? I am almost 100% sure that everything else is seated properly. I built it all myself and I have never had this problem. I always check for seating when I build computers now because I fried my last computer when I didn't seat the power cables properly.

So far what the possible problems are:
Unseated ram
Unseated CPU
Unseated cables

Anything else that are at high probability.

Reply to chozandrias76

Well, I think the locking mechanism on cpus keeps them in place pretty well but its possible. I had a cpu pull out once when I was trying to remove the heatsink, freaked me out but it didn't seem to be damaged. That was some sticky-ass thermal paste :P

Did you do anything before moving the pc? Update drivers or change hardware? Are you getting any error messages or beeps?

Starting to look like condensation is not such a long shot after all. Do you live in a humid region? If that's really it I am going to feel quite humbled..

I would eliminate all things mechanical first though. It sounds like the power supply is working. Any way to get into the bios?

Reply to buzznut

cliffro, You gotta tell us all a little more about that "overclocking" room you got there!!! :D

Reply to Akebono 98

I didn't do anything before moving. I live in washington state and I brought the computer outside where there was 1ft of snow on the ground. If condensation did mess something up how would I know what? I can't get into the bios.

I put the computer in the car immediately after bringing it outside and left it there for 3 hours.


Message edited by chozandrias76 on 12-23-2008 at 04:55:34 AM
Reply to chozandrias76

Akebono 98 wrote :

cliffro, You gotta tell us all a little more about that "overclocking" room you got there!!! :D

 

I don't like it one bit......I'm looking for a bigger heater now that's safe to use inside a house. (don't want a reddy heater since I like my house not being burnt down, but they are effective.)

 

Anyway I currently heat via electric heaters and with such low temps they aren't doing the job(i like cool temps for my computer but not at the cost of being uncomfortable) which is why i am looking for a better one


Message edited by cliffro on 12-23-2008 at 10:55:20 AM
------------------------------ Intel Xeon E3110@3.4ghz/GA-P35-DS3L/4gigs DDR2-800(@756)/EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 55nm
/2xSeagate 320 1x160/Corsair 850 TX/21" Dell P1130 & M781s/ Vista Ult. 64 SP1

 

Reply to cliffro

Know what you mean, cliffro. It's real cold where I'm at right now and my computer room is great for OC too 'cause the house heater can barely keep up... :lol:

Back to the thread, and I've got a theory. Noticing the current weather in Washington State, I would think that if you left that computer out in your car for 3 hours, it would be the same temperature as the ambient--way below freezing. So if you brought it back into the house and tried to power it on right away, then my guess would be that some delicate circuit somewhere just snapped from the sudden expansion / contraction--where that would be is anyone's guess.

One of the likeliest culprits could also be somewhere around the CPU. I noticed that you've got a tower style heatsink, and in bringing it back to the house, that big weight could have cracked something on the mobo or maybe even damaged the CPU itself (as a result of the extreme cold making all the parts more brittle).

Unfortunately, me thinks you're toast.

Reply to Akebono 98

Is 33 F really that extreme? I didn't stick a heater up to it when I brought it inside and it was still cold while inside.

Reply to chozandrias76

OK, I take back that part about you being toast... ;)

That was just a theory that came to mind when I read this thread. The others are probably more correct than me, but look at it this way too. My CPU idles in the low 70s and other key parts (mobo, GPU and HDD) idle at higher temps. Powering on jolts the circuitry from 33F to 70 minimum, which is about a 40 degree difference--could be enough to snap something delicate.

Just a thought...

Reply to Akebono 98
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