Computer problem: motherboard or power supply

[Daniel Prince]

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency are: lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

 

[Ken]

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency are: lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

Have you opened the case to observe whether the processor and case fan
are operating and that dust has not accumulated in mass?? You could
have a problem as simple as poor ventilation due to dirt.

 

[[email protected]]

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency are: lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

PlainBill

 

[Baron]

The motherboard and power supply of my computer are about 6.5 years
old. I have been having problems with it lately. It has been
locking up and rebooting itself frequently. The most common problem
is lockups with a blank screen. The other problems in decreasing
order of frequency are: lockups with a frozen screen, lockups with
slanted horizontal lines on the screen and spontaneous reboots.

These problems occurred more often at higher room temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes. I
cleaned the dust out of my computer case. My computer stopped
locking up for about 36 hours and then it started locking up again.
I changed the FSB speed from 166 to 133. I still got lockups so I
changed it to 100.

With the FSB at 100 the lockups stopped. A few weeks ago, the
weather got cooler so I increased the FSB back up to 166. This
worked until today. Now my computer is locking up frequently again
and the room temperature is less than 70 degrees F. I decreased the
FSB to 133 and my computer has been running for 3 hours and 43
minutes.

What is more likely to be the problem, the motherboard or the power
supply? Is there any kind of test I could run to figure out what
the problem is? Thank you in advance for all replies.

Have a look at "Badcaps" I think its "<badcaps.com>" Classic
symptoms !

 

[Baron]

I'll bet you could pick up a similar working computer for peanuts, if
not
for free. You could then swap parts around and establish where the
problem is, and have loads of spares left over.



Gareth.

Depending where he is I could give him one to play with.

 

[D Yuniskis]

It could very well be both. 6.5 years places it in the era where bad
capacitors were common. I'd suggest first checking teh CPU fan spins
freely. Next, look at the capacitors on the motherboard and look for
any that have bulging tops. If they look good, try replacing the
power supply. If all else fails, the holidays are coming; treat
yourself to a new computer.

www.badcaps.net/forum

Caps don't need to "bulge" to be "bad". I check the names
of the manufacturers. Also, I've seen "good" motherboards
have issues when there were bad caps in the *power supply*!

If you think caps are the problem, just replace the machine
(including power supply). They are cheap enough...

 

[Daniel Prince]

I'll bet you could pick up a similar working computer for peanuts, if not
for free. You could then swap parts around and establish where the problem
is, and have loads of spares left over.

I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

I have a home built PC with an Epox 8RGA+ motherboard. It has an AMD
Barton 2500+, and a gig of ram. I use the onboard video and sound.
My power supply is an Antec TruePower 420. Where would I look for a
similar working system?

Here in Israel, you can buy a dual core system that would be faster, two
Intel cores of 1.6gHz (if you want low power ATOM processors), 160g hard drive,
1g RAM (no optical drive), with ethernet, GMA 950 video and sound for $250,
including 16.5% VAT.

If you crank that up to $330 (inluding VAT), you get a 1.8gHz dual core regular
processor. 2G ram, 320gb hard drive, a 20x DVD burner, and a better graphics
chip. Another $20 gets you a 2.gHz processor.

As for the power supply, the one included is a cheap generic that probably
be tossed in a couple of years when the fan goes, however really good ones
are not that expensive.

Geoff.

 

[Baron]

The problem is neither the m/b or the powers supply. The clue that
defines the problem is the "CPU is used at 100 percent".

Start by looking at the task manager ( control alt delete) and see
what
process is hogging the CPU. Then learn how to stop it from running.
It
could be malware or a valid application run amok. When you have
identified the culprit do a Google search for ideas on eliminating the
problem,

When it runs for a long time it is generating enough heat to force
shut down.

Charlie

Even with the CPU at 100% it shouldn't generate enough heat to shut
down. I do agree that the heatsink should be clean and properly
mounted also the fan on it should also be clean and running properly.
But didn't the OP say that he was changing the buss clocking. Slowing
that down improved the situation, which is typical of a noisy CPU
voltage supply. This is the one on the mainboard and the one most
likely to suffer bad caps.

 

[George Jetson]

Even with the CPU at 100% it shouldn't generate enough heat to shut
down. I do agree that the heatsink should be clean and properly
mounted also the fan on it should also be clean and running properly.
But didn't the OP say that he was changing the buss clocking. Slowing
that down improved the situation, which is typical of a noisy CPU
voltage supply. This is the one on the mainboard and the one most
likely to suffer bad caps.

I had an Amd Duron mb that did the same thing under heavy loads, it was
caused by bad mb caps. I replaced one cap that was bulged out and it worked
for about 6 months till the other caps bulged. Binned the board when ran
out of donor parts and it wasn't worth wasting any more money on it.

 

[Charlie]

If the system can't run at 100% cpu, then it is broken.



There will always be tasks thad will run cpu usage to 100%,
for example decompressing files. If the cpu crashes at 100% then you
can't even install software or open a medium sized pdf.

Why not spend the $60 and replace the motherboard/cpu with someting made
in the last 7 years?

Why piss away $60 without trying the free s/w fix first?

 

[Ken]

CapXon caps

http://tekniken.se/docs/image/example/m2-atx_cap_c28.jpg
http://tekniken.se/docs/image/example/m2-atx_cap_c47.jpg
http://tekniken.se/docs/image/example/m2-atx_cap_c48.jpg

 

[Charlie]

The system being replaced is four generations old. PC133 is from the
Pentium 3 generation. A combo motherboard/cpu/memory can easily be
had for $60 that'll blow the old one away.

If you don't have spare components, you can easily waste that amount
of money of postage trying the shotgun approach.

In anycase, the idea of never letting the system use 100% cpu
utilization is idiotic and won't work, unless of course, you never
install software, or use any software more complex than wordpad.

It wasn't a case of never letting the system use 100% cpu utilization.

From the original post: "These problems occurred more often at higher room
temperatures and
when the CPU is used at 100 percent for more than 20 minutes"

You've got to keep your eye on the original symptoms. Go back and read what
the OP said.

 

[Daniel Prince]

A $2 digital voltage meter should be more than good enough to tell
whether the PSU or the motherboard is bad

I just used a program called Motherboard Monitor. It says that my
3.3 volt supply is around 2.67 volts.

I am wondering if Motherboard Monitor could be correct. Could a
computer run at all if the 3.3 volt supply is that low?

Am I correct in thinking that the 3.3 volt supply comes from the
power supply and not from the motherboard?