My desktop wasn't talking to me this morning

[Cage]

It greeted it me on start-up with the usual black screen but decided to stay that way, all day.

First thought was the monitor had carked it, but the other monitor didn't want to play either.

A look inside the case was disturbing with all the dust and crud in there but quickly showed that the fan on the VC wasn't spinning.

I unplugged the power lead, blew some dust off the card and plugged it in again. Nothing, nada, zip!

So I'm guessing that it is either a faulty power supply (it's a Seasonic and it wasn't cheap) or the Video Card has given up the ghost. All the other fans are merrily spinning away which sort of convinces me that it's the VC.

Am I overlooking anything before I order a new card?

And AK, how is your new(ish) card going. I cant remember what you got but at the time your reasoning sounded good. I'm thinking something like a Gigabyte Radeon RX 560 Gaming OC 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 on board memory.

[nardes]

Sorry to hear the unwelcome news Kev - hope you get it fixed.

Cheers

Dennis

[Cage]

Sorry to hear the unwelcome news Kev - hope you get it fixed.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks Dennis.

The good news is that I've started to sell off my HEQ5 Pro set up to get something more manageable, and have just got a SkyWatcher Star Adventurer. And of course it's been raining and blowing a gale for the past two days.

If I can produce shots with it like Tony (BBF) I'll be delighted.

[ameerat42]

You wouldn't have a spare video card you could try, woodger?
(And don't forget video cable.)
Also, what beeping sounds does it make?

[Tannin]

Two-thirds of all major hardware failures are power supply. That said, borrow a video card first to try before you buy a new PSU.

[Mary Anne]

Sorry to read that Kev hope you find out what the problem is soon and don't cost to much.

Same thing happened to me three weeks ago one dead stick of RAM and a new Power Supply later.
And it's up and running better than it used to, and so it should be it's only 4 years old in January.

[Cage]

You wouldn't have a spare video card you could try, woodger?
(And don't forget video cable.)
Also, what beeping sounds does it make?

I do have the previous card but I can't remember why I replaced it. Maybe for the outlets to hook up another monitor.

And it has never had any beeps, maybe I disabled them.

- - - Updated - - -

Two-thirds of all major hardware failures are power supply. That said, borrow a video card first to try before you buy a new PSU.

Thanks Tony.

I also have a spare PSU so that was also on my list of things to try.

I must have been in a brief period of modest affluence when I bought the card, because to basically match it's specs I'm looking at close to $200.00. I've been building my own computers for twenty years and usually build with what was the latest and greatest for gamers 18-24 months back.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry to read that Kev hope you find out what the problem is soon and don't cost to much.

Same thing happened to me three weeks ago one dead stick of RAM and a new Power Supply later.
And it's up and running better than it used to, and so it should be it's only 4 years old in January.

Thanks Mary Anne.

Just when I didn't need it. for an easy and cheap fix.

On the positive side it will give me a nudge to clean all the dust out of the case.

[J.davis]

Did you try plugging in the on board video to check?

[ameerat42]

Did you try plugging in the on board video to check?

Of course!! (And here I was looking for video cards)

[Cage]

Did you try plugging in the on board video to check?

Thanks for the thought John.

And when I looked I remembered that the mobo I chose only had on-board sound but not graphics.

[Tannin]

I've been building my own computers for twenty years and usually build with what was the latest and greatest for gamers 18-24 months back.

Ahah! I detect a brain behind that pretty face. Right in the elbow of the price/performance curve - i.e., where the value is best. That's smart thinking.

(I've just had a weird video problem with a customer's machine. (Yes, I'm retired, but I still look after a few of my old faithfuls now and then.) I was reinstalling Windows after a virus infection. Worked fine, then, a short while after getting the basic install done, it stopped putting programs on the screen. Weird stuff. All the interface things worked fine, but start an actual program (such as a browser) and it's invisible. You can only see it on the task bar. Blank blue screen if you CAD, quite weird. And I reckoned I had neatly avoided any chance of re-infection. Could it be hardware? Nasty thought in this case as it's on-board video, making a replacement very expensive. And I haven't got time for all that mucking about ordering parts and waiting for them, I want to escape up the bush again. Well, when in doubt, follow the routine correctly is my motto, so I tried a fresh install on a spare hard drive. Exactly the same! It turned out to be the Intel graphics card driver software Windows was automatically downloading and installing. I don't recall seeing that before. Well, not since Windows 98 days anyway. Now all I have to do is finish the reinstallation and data recovery as planned, then figure out a work-around for the Intel driver software SNAFU. And whaht does this have to do with your issue? Well, nothing. Sorry. )

[Cage]

I used to use Asus boards till about six or seven years ago when I eventually got sick and tired of the continuing problems with video card drivers.

This is the first hiccup I've had since switching to Gigabyte boards and my gut feeling is that the video card has died. The fan looks like it is trying to turn but only moves about 1.5cm and stops. Maybe the fan bearing has seized? Nah, if that was the only problem it would run, but get very hot, very quickly.

[Tannin]

^ Or it hasn't been turning for some time and the card has cooked itself.

I have always liked Gigabyte stuff, though I mostly use MSI these days. Either one of those two and I'm happy. ASUS = all hat, no cattle. However, to be fair, I have never had bad warranty service from ASUS, or indeed any other sort of warranty service, unless you count sending stuff back not fixed for a few months and then losing it.

[arthurking83]

....
And AK, how is your new(ish) card going. I cant remember what you got but at the time your reasoning sounded good. I'm thinking something like a Gigabyte Radeon RX 560 Gaming OC 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 on board memory.

As I use AMD, I wanted a Radeon card, but they were out of stock of the model range I wanted, so I got a Nvidia of the same price range.
Can't remember which model .. just needed it to output 4K over it's dual Display Ports.

I used to use Asus boards till about six or seven years ago when I eventually got sick and tired of the continuing problems with video card drivers.
...

I chop and change as per supply!
Previous m/b was ASUS, current Gigabyte.

Previous video card with ASUS board was Gigabyte, but current graphics card on Gigabyte board is ASUS!

Actually, my fave PC brand is Asrock.
Built one for my sis for her business, and it wasn't meant to be fast, but it turned out much faster then my 'faster' system!
(but I do (over)bloat mine with test software and all manner of junk I never end up keeping).

As for graphics card CPUs, you'll be surprised at how quickly they get hot.. so maybe the seized fan may not be so hair brained an idea.

You could try a can of canned air on it(the heat sink).
It's a little different to using canned air on a sensor or inside a camera. Normally you don't shake the canned air for the camera, but with a heatsink you do shake it vigorously voilently and abusively .. and hold it upside down when you spray it.
The propellant comes out very cold, and will frost the heatsink up a little, so acts a a thermal cooling shot.

Used this method to figure out why my daughters laptop was randomly rebooting and unstable. Turned out that the remotely located CPU fan wasn't spinning up.
Cpu in the middle of the laptop case, fan at the outer edge and a long tubular heatsink thing connecting them.
I sprayed the entire heatsink assembly with the agitated canned air, and it ran for a good few minutes.

For fan, I pulled it out, fan off it's spindle) and greased the spindle/motor with whatever I had at the time. I think I had a can of canned grease too(I have many I use for cars/door hinges and stuff) .. sprayed lightly over spindle/motor assembly placed fan(blades) back onto spindle and bingo! .. fan working again .. till it stopped a few days later.
I ordered a new fan for it($10) .. and regreased the dying fan till the new one came in the mail.

if you do have caned air spray the fan motor/spindle area on the VC well(now propellant tho). Over time dust literally build up inside and dries out the lube. And you mentioned lots of dust.

A tip. Make sure all you fans are set reversed on the case, so as to suck air out not suck air in.
The case will have ventialtion, and most folks assume that air in is better. Usually not(unless you overclock by a fair whack). I hated getting dusty fans and heatsinks, so turned all my fans to pull air out of the case.
Air flow is still the same(for all intents and purposes) .. but you don't get the case filled with air.
The only issue is that whatever things are facing the fan where they pull air out, get covered in dust instead.
The rear of my PC case faces a window with curtains, and there are two large 140mm dust spots on the curtain that take the full force of those two main fans
PC insides are all dust free tho!

[Tannin]

Asrock is ASUS. It's just another brand they use. Asrock boards are cheaper, simpler, and considerably more reliable in my experience. I prefer MSI or Gigabyte, but an Asrock will do. Resort to ASUS only if desperate.

Edit. No, do not face all your fans out or all your fans in! Arrange your fans such that there is a sensible airflow through the system. If that happens to be ingress slots at the base and blowing fans at the top, fine. (Remember that hot air rises - use it, don't fight it.) If it happens to be sucking fans at the front and blowing fans at the back, that's fine too. Whatever helps the air flow best. If you need more than one or two fans, there is something wrong with either your system design or your brain. It is easy to tell the difference: if you have a ginormous overpowered system which cost a gazillion dollars and gets hot because you play a lot of games, it's the latter. Otherwise the former.

[Cage]

My case has 5 fans, 3 suckers and 2 blowers, one on top and one rear top.

And I haven't solved my problem yet as when I went to swap the PSU I found the 8 pin CPU power lead (?) too short and I've only just managed to pick up an extension.

I've blown all the gunk out of the case and during my fiddling around I found that there is no power to the keyboard but there is to the mouse, and the fan on the CPU will spin without the 6 pin power lead to the card plugged in, so it's obviously drawing some power from the PCI-E slot.

Too frustrated to worry about it today but I have to sort it pronto as this bloody 14" laptop screen is driving me bonkers.

[Cage]

After three PSU swaps, two Video Card swaps, and getting no positive indicators with any configuration, I was ready to take to the box with an axe.

I looked at the replacement mobo battery that had been sitting on the computer for a month or more and had a moment. The time had been requiring adjustment every day for weeks and I wondered what else might have been going on, or not going on with a discharged battery, so I put the axe down and changed the battery.

All sorted and now running as per usual. I was too annoyed with myself for being tardy in changing the battery to be in any way chuffed with sorting the problem.

Lesson learnt and will be well remembered.

PS: All is not as per usual. I've obviously swapped some SATA leads as my Disk 'C' is now my old one with no storage available. Guess I'll have to play with it some more.

[arthurking83]

.... Edit. No, do not face all your fans out or all your fans in! Arrange your fans such that there is a sensible airflow through the system. If that happens to be ingress slots at the base and blowing fans at the top, fine. ...

Yeah, I used to do that too, all the net experts say so, so you follow blindly coz that's the accepted way.
No thanks .. I hate the continual maintenance, so I'm sticking with all out.
I have the CPU fan sucking dust off the heatsink, rather than forcing it onto it like I used too.

.... a discharged battery, so I put the axe down and changed the battery.

All sorted and now running as per usual. I was too annoyed with myself for being tardy in changing the battery to be in any way chuffed with sorting the problem.

....

That's a strange one.
I've had BISOes killed, and capacitors(on the M/B) commit suicide and needed to be replaced .. but so far never a battery failure.
I just assumed they lasted 10+ years.

And I'd have thought that with power to the M/B even if the battery was dead flat, that the main power supply would be sufficient to power the M/B
At least they could have had a system where an LED to indicate a dead battery is the reason for the non booting up.

Good to hear that you're sorted too now.

[Tannin]

No, I don't "follow blindly coz that's the accepted way".

I do it that way because (a) it follows sound engineering principles, and (b) getting computers right has been my primary professional expertise these last 30-odd years and I'm good at it.

The purpose of fans is to pass cool air over the system.

The aim of the constructor is to pass as much cool air as necessary over the components which need it with the maximum of reliability and the minimum of noise and power consumption. Placing fans such that they are in opposition either to each other or to upwards thermal flow wastes power, creates extra noise, and serves no useful purpose.

[John King]

I like large tower cases. Dual fan PSU at the bottom. HDDs at the bottom. Lots of ball bearing fans. Ingress fans have filters on the outside. All fans as large as possible. I prefer on board units to have big heat sinks rather than directly fan cooled (CPU excepted).

I have a range of old toothbrushes (etc) specifically for cleaning fans, etc. IMO, one should strip and clean all components every 12-24 months, depending on the operating environment.

Currently recovering/reconstructing a friend's PC which blew its motherboard, taking out the boot drive at the same time. Fortunately almost all his data has been recoverable. Most was safe on a separate data drive and an external HDD. It's fighting hard all the way though!! Two weeks in, we finally have his Optus account back up. What a nightmare!