It's been awhile since I was here. About a month ago, I came home from trying to help
a relative with her computer, only to find that my own would no longer work. After a lot
of trying different things, I finally decided the CPU and/or motherboard had died. I'd let it run overly
warm for several months. Finally after I got it to run cooler it quit. I wound up
having to order a new CPU and motherboard and wait on those, only for my video card
to also fail a couple of days later. I've just now over the last few days got the machine
in what I hope is good working order.

That was the second motherboard and CPU I've lost in the last 5 years.

Several years ago, I had a Gateway (at the time it was bought, Gateway 2000) Pentium 75.
If I remember correctly, it lasted at least 4 years before the CD-ROM quit, then the
rest of the machine went another 2. Except for the HDD, the core of the system
(Motherboard, CPU and RAM) was still good when I got rid of it.

That machine would just now be a little over 11 years old. To the right of me in the
giant tower I have now is installed its factory original floppy drive. It still seems to do
ok.


I wonder why that machine was so much more reliable than these newer ones.

Anyway, now I'm on an AMD Athlon 64, and running a 32-bit OS, oddly enough. I hope
maybe it'll hold together now.

Anyone else had problems getting a PC to hold together for more than a couple of
years?

not me unfortunately. i've never owned a cpu of my own to say either, but i've witnessed many mishaps and malfunctions during my time as a assistant lab techie from college.

i don't think i'll ever trust computers outside of their purpose.

Yeah, I only expect my computers to last 2-3 years when I buy them. Even when their top of the line kinda stuff. Cant count on them. Seems like the motherboards always go first too.

granted, when a company release a brand new computer, it is obsolete because they are already working on a better version. but my current computer is going strong 4 years running. its gonna be 5 in summer.

if it lasts to my hardware class in school, i can try to upgrade it and take better care of it. till then, it should stay strong.


usually PCs would start going bad after 3 (my guess) years. but if you upgrade and replace parts every once in awhile (most of my classmates use newegg), you should be fine.

im curious, but what caused the components to fail? a short for example? in your first paragraph, it sounded like your processor got fried or couldn't stay cool. a more new model shouldn't since they have bigger fans and will keep cooler more. also, check the airflow in your computer case. if you feel warm spots, you might want a new fan or another fan.



newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/?CMP=KNC-overturesmx&ATT=hp

We've had ours for a few years now(and we bought it used from an Aaron's rent-a-center) and it's going fine. Something I read about that might have an effect, how often do you flip your comp on and off? Supposedly, every time you do, it takes a day off of your PC's lifespan.

As far as the first motherboard goes, I'm not quite sure. Right before I threw it away,
I removed the north bridge heatsink/fan assembly (it had an actively cooled north
bridge, from what I could tell.) The chip and thermal gum smelled a bit burnt. It was
an nVIDIA nForce 2 Ultra 333 IGP chipset, which means it had GeForce (4 I believe)
integrated video. I think having the VGA integrated might have caused an additional
heat issue. I'm not 100% sure. Seems like that motherboard lasted just over a year.
AMD warrantied the CPU that time. (I had no way of knowing if the CPU was still good).

The second time, I let the processor run near 70 degrees C (according to the BIOS)
for several months. When I finally realized what a mistake that was, I went to
the heatsink (which was full of dust) and cleaned it out as best I could. The BIOS
then showed the CPU around 50. Well it continued to work for another few weeks,
then one day I came home, and the monitor wouldn't wake up from low power. That
motherboard/CPU combo (Via KT600 chipset) never booted again. It lasted a little
over 2 years, I believe.

I was told that motherboards from that time were bad about blowing capacitors. At
first I didn't notice that when I looked the board over, but a bit later it was obvious
several had failed and were leaking. That board probably could have been fixed
with the right capacitors, but I was already pretty sure the CPU had died, and by
then AMD had discontinued the Socket A Athlon XP's. So I tossed it and bought a
new board and CPU. I noticed the aftermarket heatsink I bought for the
Athlon 64 is considerably larger than the Athlon XP, so hopefully it will hold up
longer.

I've learned I have to clean the heatsink out every once in awhile too.

The Socket A CPU I was using when the second board quit was an AMD Athlon XP
3000+ 333 2.167 GHz. The one I'm using now is an Athlon 64 3200+ 400 2.2 GHz,
so it's about the same. It's on a Via K8T800 based board.

I turn it off every night before I go to bed. Right now I don't trust it enough to leave
it on. I've heard of power supplies catching fire. I'm not saying I believe my PSU is a
fire risk, I just don't want to take the chance that some electrical problem-anywhere
in the machine-that I don't know about could become a fire hazard while I'm asleep
and unable to turn the machine off.

I usually leave it on during the day. If it continues to operate well, I may start
leaving it on at night.

sounds like a possible short happened there. how that happened, i cant say because a short can be caused by a myriad of ways. but i would assume the transistors in the chip got too hot.
yes, the VGA could be a factor. its an extra component. that means it makes more heat. there are video cards that have their own fans and processors (a friend of mines has one), so it keeps itself cool and uses its own resources. this keeps the card in check and overall your system is cooled more.

70°C=158°F, 50°C=122°
i dont know if these are some pretty high temperatures. now, i have no idea how high temperatures the insulation can take, but it could have melted and thats all i can connect. i feel that something got burned out and became an open in your circuit. compared to tons of other possibilities, i might be wrong.

larger heatsinks hold more heat, so it depends on the input. there could be more heat involved, so a bigger heatsink was required. the capacitors, i would need accurate descriptions or pictures to tell what happened to them, capacitors area tad bit fickle..

a very good idea on that first part. the second flew by my head @_@ i am not a hardware expert yet; i am just learning.

can you tell me more about these fire stories? link me or email me the stories please. and by leaving it on, do you mean just finish what your doing and go to bed? or do you let it go on stand by or sleep mode??

my computer of my life lasted 4 years. probably would have lasted longer if i cleaned the hardware once in a while. i have a new one now and gave my old one away. i better learn all these cleaning methods.

I just read where a PSU caught fire, that's all.

One thing about store bought computers, you expect them to be safe because they're
sold whole. When you put one together, as I have, you may not be sure of the quality
of components you're getting.

I have a theory on how the second motherboard failed. You see, I have a Turtle Beach
Montego II Sound Card, and attached to its WaveBlaster connector is a Yamaha
DB50XG MIDI daughterboard. The daughterboard came about because I like a lot
of the music from Final Fantasy VII (though I didn't care for the game), and I was
impressed with what I'd heard about wavetable synths. (The PC version of FFVII
used Yamaha XG as one of the formats for its BGM).

Anyway, this daughterboard setup was really designed for the days when PC's were
primarily a Desktop configuration. The expansion cards all stood vertical, and this
daughterboard would have been clipped onto the Sound card by way of spacers.

In a Tower though, the daughterboard hangs upside down from the card. The spacers
were not enough to hold it firmly to the card, so it started to sag on the side away
from the connector. one of the USB headers on the motherboard sits below
the PCI slots. My theory is that the daughterboard touched this header while the PC
was on, shorting out some of the pins and by extension at least part of the
motherboard.

Upon examining the daughterboard after that second failure, I noticed what looked
like a burnt area near one of the chips and also at the WaveBlaster connector.

Did the daughterboard short out the motherboard? I don't know, but it seems to have
been damaged somewhere along the way. I did not have either the sound card or
the DB50XG until after the first motherboard died.

I took the daughterboard/sound card combo and tested it in my other PC. They both
worked so I reinstalled them into this machine. This time though, I used fishing line
type stuff to tie the daughterboard into place so maybe it won't sag so.

Sometimes I don't get sound from the daughterboard when I playback a MIDI, but
that may be a software issue. I've had stuck notes and odd things happen before I
remember there being any physical damage on the board.

I'm having some comp troubles as well, though not as bad. The sound jack has broke off inside of the comp lol. We can't get it out with anything, so I have to find a cheap PCI Soundcard. Urgh, cheapest is $30.

ummm, if you wanna wait till when i take my hardware class, i could tell you. that would be about 2 or 3 college quarters (10 weeks) and i can get professional advice and teachings. plus i could scan my book or notes or something

0.o you know what? lemme ask a friend how to get that out. tweezers sound like they wont work

sounds like the board is damaged, but not completely ruined. the board might need replacing since you say it looks burnt. in my classes, we are told to not use damaged stuff, so in my semi-professional opinion, get a new one.
can you take pictured of it? i could show it to a friend who builds computers for help

The story of the daughterboard is almost enough to start a new thread.

It began in the late 90's. I partly wanted one because I'd hoped I could learn to
compose music some day. While not perfect, wavetable MIDI synthesis is an easy
way to get different types of sounds, even though they might not be overly realistic.


By the time I was trying to get one, it had been discontinued by Yamaha.

The first time I tried to get it, the company I was trying to buy it from
claimed to have it in stock, but they never shipped it. Finally I had them send my
money back. That company is no longer in business.

The second time, I ordered from a company that was selling an ISA card that other
than using a card slot was basically the same as the daughterboard. I made the
mistake of asking other people online if the price was right. Anyway, the company
managed to tie up my order longer than I felt was reasonable.

They only claimed to have 7 of this card left in stock at the time I ordered and of
course by the time they were ready to ship, there were no more left. That card had
also been discontinued.

I would later realize this was a blessing in disguise. While I had a shot of finding
a PCI card with the right connector for the daughterboard, the ISA card I just
mentioned would have no chance of working in a newer machine without ISA slots.

After that, I basically gave up for several years. Then about a year or so ago, I was
browsing through a music store's web site, when low an behold they were getting rid
of the daughterboard. I basically stumbled upon it, and was stunned when I realized
what it was. I didn't really believe they had it, but I decided to take a chance
anyway.

I located a PCI card that had the right connector, and ordered the daughterboard. I
was sure I was going to get burned again. I was inclined to believe so up until the
day FedEx delivered the daughterboard.

The box was in shrink wrap, and appeared to be brand new. If it was indeed brand
new, it could easily have been the last new DB50XG on the planet, over a decade
after Yamaha put the first one on the market.

I'm afraid there is no "get a new one." In fact, even used ones are hard to find on
eBay.

As you can imagine, I'm heartbroken that the board was damaged. I wanted it so
bad, and had so much trouble getting it.


I don't have any easy way to take a picture of the card. I have a scanner, but if I
were to try to take the board out I might accidentally finish it off. I'm not sure putting
it on a scanner is a good idea anyway. I appreciate the offer though.

If worst comes to worst, I have a Yamaha keyboard that would do the same thing,
though I don't have the space to sit it by my computer.