Need help, PC died.

[Jersans]

Hello guys,

Well after nearly 8 years of more or less loyal service it finally happened. She died. A beast in her better and younger days she's now kicked the bucket and quit smoking. 

The question is, now what do I do? She still starts up and purrs like a kitten, but doesn't seem to boot. So what's wrong with her? The motherboard? The processor? The graphics card? 

Do I order a new motherboard and / or processor and / or graphics card from this website https://www.alza.cz/EN/components/18852654.htm and try to fix her? 

Do I buy a new one? If so do you guys have any hints or tips on a good configuration for someone that basically only plays Project Reality. And a good price of course.

Do I buy a laptop? But if I do what is the minimum I would need to spend to have a decent working machine able to play games but not a gaming monster.

All and every advice is kindly appreciated. I'm a little in tears but I saw it coming she was having weird issues lately like stop working with the mouse or keyboard my gut feeling tells me the motherboard is F-ed. 

What do you guys think? 

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

Don't call it dead yet...

A lot of troubleshooting steps to see what can be saved.  Since so much of a PC can be re-used throughout future builds, saving money for you to afford better CPU/GPU, you should keep a majority of your PC if you have interest in continuing the hobby.

1. Does the screen light up when you power up? Do you get visuals like POST or BOOT screens?  Can you get to the BIOS?

2. Are all fans visibly turning when you power up the PC? Especially want to check the CPU cooler fans...

3. Have you tried disconnecting everything but the essential items plugged into the computer, then powering it on?  (Only Mouse/Keyboard/Main Monitor)

Hard to know which questions to ask without knowing the answers to a few first.   Like, do you run your graphics / monitor off of the motherboard, or do you have a graphics card?

[Jersans]

Hi Sem, weird thing I can't see my own post on the forums so I reposted it under 'all other things'. Not sure what I did wrong. Anyways. 

11 minutes ago, =VG= SemlerPDX said:

Don't call it dead yet...

A lot of troubleshooting steps to see what can be saved.  Since so much of a PC can be re-used throughout future builds, saving money for you to afford better CPU/GPU, you should keep a majority of your PC if you have interest in continuing the hobby.

1. Does the screen light up when you power up? Do you get visuals like POST or BOOT screens?  Can you get to the BIOS?

2. Are all fans visibly turning when you power up the PC? Especially want to check the CPU cooler fans...

3. Have you tried disconnecting everything but the essential items plugged into the computer, then powering it on?  (Only Mouse/Keyboard/Main Monitor)

Hard to know which questions to ask without knowing the answers to a few first.   Like, do you run your graphics / monitor off of the motherboard, or do you have a graphics card?

1. a.) No screen doesn't do anything, keyboard flashes though. b.) Did the first time after she 'died' even booted windows 10 but then simply switched herself off. c.) No it doesn't seem to boot at all anymore. It's on, the mouse is on. She buzzes. 

2. All fans are working like a charm. No issues there at all.

3. Just tried to boot without anything connected. Then only with monitor. Which always says no signal detected. 

I have a graphics card. My first idea was perhaps that it gave up. I wish I could hook up my monitor to the motherboard to be sure. But I don't know how. Also there's some red light on the motherboard I never noticed before. That's usually not good right?

Cheers man... 

Good to know perhaps not all is lost yet. 

[CobaltUK]

All what Semler said. Something as simple as a connected usb device can stop normal boot with (in my own experience) no visual errors.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

When you say your keyboard is flashing, do you mean it flashes on boot, then lights are steady like normal?  Or do you mean lights keep flashing on and off without end?

12 minutes ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

I have a graphics card. My first idea was perhaps that it gave up. I wish I could hook up my monitor to the motherboard to be sure. But I don't know how.

That would be the route I'd try -- I would assume my GFX card died.  To test, you turn off the computer and remove it from all power sources.  Wait 15-30 seconds for the remaining electric charge to discharge.  Then you can remove the cables from the GFX card on the back of your PC, and then open the PC, and remove the graphics card and place it somewhere safe (don't touch exposed metal parts on circuit boards!).  Next, you plug the monitor cable into the matching port on the back of your PC, plug it all in, and try to turn it on.  If nothing happens, turn it off, unplug the power, wait again for 15-30 seconds, then plug it all back in and power on one more time (a second boot attempt can rule out a finicky motherboard not recognizing a monitor switch-a-roo like we've just done)

Try that, and report back

[Jersans]

The keyboard just flashes once then it's dead after that. I tried the thing with the graphics card but can't find a connector for the monitor so I guess it doesn't have one. It's an Asus TurboV EVO I think.  

[Jersans]

3 hours ago, CobaltUK said:

All what Semler said. Something as simple as a connected usb device can stop normal boot with (in my own experience) no visual errors.

It's weird... It had its handicaps already but it just went 'off' first the monitor went off but the sound still worked. The a few seconds later the whole thing switched off. Tried to reboot it and it actually did boot windows 10 but only to give up and switch itself off again after the load screen. 

[=VG= Nyther]

I had that problem long time ago, try removing all your RAM cards clean the contacts with a bit of alchool in a up-down motion, let it dry and then put them back on, make sure they are firmly placed

[Xenalite]

Brace yourself for a flood of random useless advice. 8 years PC? Forget it. Get a new one.

[Vanillapop]

Could be the storage and ram, had something similar you could also just take it to a reapair place depending on where you live, you could save a lot of money instead of getting a new one, and trouble shoot each piece of hardware switch out ram from any old pc u have or borrow start it without the graphics card switch storage etc.

[Jersans]

Thanks for the advice guys. Basically I think I am going to disassemble the whole PC. Clean it. Put it back together and see if it works if it doesn't I will probably buy a new motherboard, graphics card and processor and rebuild it with that. That's probably my cheapest option. 

You have any tips what I should buy that is decent quality for the right price via this website? https://www.alza.cz/EN/components/18852654.htm

Alternatively I can consider a laptop. I guess. 

Buying a whole new rig seems a bit over the top because everything else appears to be working.

[=VG= 0100011000101]

11 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

It's weird... It had its handicaps already but it just went 'off' first the monitor went off but the sound still worked. The a few seconds later the whole thing switched off. Tried to reboot it and it actually did boot windows 10 but only to give up and switch itself off again after the load screen. 

then try to boot in safe mode. if in your bios "restart at bluescreen" is activated, then you may not even see him ...
If you can start it in safe mode, you should look in the Event Viewer what happened and what he currently has for errors.

(Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer )

[ranger_12]

this was made to die anyway. so they can sell you new one. Just buy new one Jersans. o h i forgot. don't spend less than 800$ or will have a no capable PC for 2018  

[=VG= 0100011000101]

57 minutes ago, ranger_12 said:

this was made to die anyway. so they can sell you new one. Just buy new one Jersans. o h i forgot. don't spend less than 800$ or will have a no capable PC for 2018  

^^you mean something like this:

ASRock X399 Taichi/64GB G.Skill Trident DDR4-3600/AMD Ryzen TR 1950X/960GB Kingston KC1000 NVMe M.2/512GB ADATA XPG GAMMIX M.2/2x 6000GB WD Red/11GB Asus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

thats my new computer... the stupid thing is that it is only for work ;(

but just for PR and some multimedia, the computer can also be cheaper than $ 800 I think ...unless it has to be a laptop.

[Jersans]

Nope. She's dead. Also when I tried to remove the cooler from the processor I noticed a black spot. So I guess it burned up. 

So here we go... Advices guys. 

I can pretty much only order here: https://www.alza.cz/EN/components/18852654.htm 

I guess there is no other choice but to buy a new motherboard, new processor and new graphics card. 

I guess the best is to start with the motherboard because that clearly doesn't work then check for the processor, then check the graphics card. Anything I don't open I can return within 14 days for a full refund.

Or buy a laptop... 

I don't really know what I should do. Thing is my data is all on my 3 harddrives. So it does make sense to just replace the core PC right?

What decent priced motherboard do I get?

What decent priced graphics card do I get? 

What decent priced Intel processor do I get? 

Man this is so not my neck of the woods.

[Jersans]

26 minutes ago, 0100011000101 said:

^^you mean something like this:

ASRock X399 Taichi/64GB G.Skill Trident DDR4-3600/AMD Ryzen TR 1950X/960GB Kingston KC1000 NVMe M.2/512GB ADATA XPG GAMMIX M.2/2x 6000GB WD Red/11GB Asus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

thats my new computer... the stupid thing is that it is only for work ;(

but just for PR and some multimedia, the computer can also be cheaper than $ 800 I think ...unless it has to be a laptop.

You're going to have to talk 'dumb idiot knows nothing about PC components' here my friend. I'm a complete idiot with these things.

So my power source works fine. Harddrives are purring like a kitten. So unless I'm mistaken I need to replace the motherboard and CPU and probably graphics card. 

I can only use this website: https://www.alza.cz/EN/components/18852654.htm

What should I order? And remember I'm on a budget here trying to spend far less than 800$ (20 CZK is roughly 1$) so I want to try to be done with less than 500$.

Ideas? 

PS. All my data is on my hard drives. If I buy a laptop I cannot transfer this data can I?

[=VG= 0100011000101]

First look for a CPU and then for the associated mobo and the graphics card. if you take an intel the graphics would be onboard. with an i5, that would also be enough for pr. if you take an amd (which are cheaper) you still have to plan a graphics card.

since the cpu, graphics and memory are barely set limits you should call an approximate buget before you can say something. with an 8-year-old computer you would also have to check if the power supply, memory and hard disks are still usable.
If you put your old memory into a new computer, it will probably slow it down. the power supply could be too weak ...

it makes sense to see exactly what you have on components and what is still usable and think about what you want to do your new computer. then you can start to put something together.
or you buy a complete system, which is sometimes cheaper.

[Jersans]

So like this for example? 

https://www.alza.cz/EN/intel-core-i5-8400-d5116997.htm

https://www.alza.cz/EN/asus-cerberus-geforce-gtx-1050ti-a4g-d5259912.htm

https://www.alza.cz/EN/asus-expedition-b250m-v7-d5256739.htm

Can I do better/cheaper? This is roughly my budget. 

Is it good/bad? Over the top or under the minimum requirements?

I have no idea what to do. Frankly I'm fairly certain I can built it but what to put in there I do not know.

 

[Jersans]

26 minutes ago, 0100011000101 said:

First look for a CPU and then for the associated mobo and the graphics card. if you take an intel the graphics would be onboard. with an i5, that would also be enough for pr. if you take an amd (which are cheaper) you still have to plan a graphics card.

since the cpu, graphics and memory are barely set limits you should call an approximate buget before you can say something. with an 8-year-old computer you would also have to check if the power supply, memory and hard disks are still usable.
If you put your old memory into a new computer, it will probably slow it down. the power supply could be too weak ...

it makes sense to see exactly what you have on components and what is still usable and think about what you want to do your new computer. then you can start to put something together.
or you buy a complete system, which is sometimes cheaper.

Well my power source is a Seasonic 100-240VAC. My hard drives are 3x500GB Western Digital Caviar Green. my CPU cooler is a Cooler Master 'something' - Also these were all replaced about 3-4 years ago so basically should be fine right? 

[=VG= 0100011000101]

You have to think about whether you want more clockrate or more cores.
For old programs like pr, it does not matter how many "cores" a processor has because pr can only use one. if you want to do different things at the same time (internet, multimedia, at the same time a bluray rip and skype eg) you need more cores so that the individual programs can be distributed. are you mainly doing something with one program and that is not designed for multi-core technology then  only a higher frequency will give you a speed boost.
At home I have an i3 with 3.3 or 3.8 ghz but only 2 cores and 4 threats. my laptop has an i7 processor with 4 cores and 8 threats but 2.4 ghz. For PR, HD movies, rendering in c4d and normal operation, my i3 is faster. with after effects and cubase my i7 is advantageous because these programs can use several cores for themselves...

 

2 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

Can I do better/cheaper? This is roughly my budget. 

amd is much cheaper than intel.

but many people do not like amd and swear on intel, which in my opinion is groundless. since you do not want to do any video editing, rendering or animations, you should not care.

 

 

4 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

https://www.alza.cz/EN/asus-cerberus-geforce-gtx-1050ti-a4g-d5259912.htm

I have a 1050ti. It can not do any miracles but it is oversized for normal operation. since this video card I can play pr with full details without lags.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

5 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

I can only use this website: https://www.alza.cz/EN/components/18852654.htm

Ouch... that place is a bit expensive... My GFX card there (2 year old GTX 970) is more than $100 over what I paid 2 years ago!!!  Yikes!  Good luck to you and your wallet!

4 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

Well my power source is a Seasonic 100-240VAC. My hard drives are 3x500GB Western Digital Caviar Green. my CPU cooler is a Cooler Master 'something' - Also these were all replaced about 3-4 years ago so basically should be fine right?

 

Yes, definitely. *unless that cooler doesn't fit the form factor of the new CPU you might get, but many have adapter kits if you still have anything like that lying around from when you bought it.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

4 hours ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

So like this for example? 

https://www.alza.cz/EN/intel-core-i5-8400-d5116997.htm

https://www.alza.cz/EN/asus-cerberus-geforce-gtx-1050ti-a4g-d5259912.htm

https://www.alza.cz/EN/asus-expedition-b250m-v7-d5256739.htm

Can I do better/cheaper? This is roughly my budget. 

Is it good/bad? Over the top or under the minimum requirements?

I have no idea what to do. Frankly I'm fairly certain I can built it but what to put in there I do not know.

 

Those are some decent prices compared to what I saw on that site.  This setup will give you a little future proofing, you'll be able to play current modern games at med-high (if not ultra-high) with that CPU/GFX card combo, and that is a very decent MoBo but it is a model designed for multiple graphics cards as opposed to other configurations that may have more options (but less GFX card slots) such as NVMe (which that board lacks).  As it sits, this is a very affordable, very capable setup and good for the money.  You'll have PR at max settings easily getting 100+ FPS, that much is for sure.  Probably 40-60+ FPS in something like GTA:V depending on gfx settings in-game; same with Arma titles.

[Jersans]

10 minutes ago, 0100011000101 said:

You have to think about whether you want more clockrate or more cores.
For old programs like pr, it does not matter how many "cores" a processor has because pr can only use one. if you want to do different things at the same time (internet, multimedia, at the same time a bluray rip and skype eg) you need more cores so that the individual programs can be distributed. are you mainly doing something with one program and that is not designed for multi-core technology then  only a higher frequency will give you a speed boost.
At home I have an i3 with 3.3 or 3.8 ghz but only 2 cores and 4 threats. my laptop has an i7 processor with 4 cores and 8 threats but 2.4 ghz. For PR, HD movies, rendering in c4d and normal operation, my i3 is faster. with after effects and cubase my i7 is advantageous because these programs can use several cores for themselves...

 

amd is much cheaper than intel.

but many people do not like amd and swear on intel, which in my opinion is groundless. since you do not want to do any video editing, rendering or animations, you should not care.

 

 

I have a 1050ti. It can not do any miracles but it is oversized for normal operation. since this video card I can play pr with full details without lags.

Well that's where I am a total dumbass. Effectively I use my PC for playing PR and a few older games like Rome Total War and things like that. I basically don't have any need for a high end Gaming monster because well, I'm not that much of a gamer. I play PR and some strategy games. With that in mind what motherboard, graphics card and processor would you choose? The idea is to have a machine that can last another 8 years but not too expensive. 

[Jersans]

11 minutes ago, =VG= SemlerPDX said:

Ouch... that place is a bit expensive... My GFX card there (2 year old GTX 970) is more than $100 over what I paid 2 years ago!!!  Yikes!  Good luck to you and your wallet!

 

Yes, definitely. *unless that cooler doesn't fit the form factor of the new CPU you might get, but many have adapter kits if you still have anything like that lying around from when you bought it.

Well the new processor comes with a new cooler so I guess that's not that much of an issue.

I got a step by step built your own PC guide and it seems pretty straightforward except for placing the CPU that looks hard. So I think that I can order today and have it by tomorrow and build it. 

Same question for you Sem if you you don't mind. If you had maximum 500$ to spend and wanted to keep your old drives and things what set-up would you choose motherboard, grafics card and processor wise? Not a gaming beast but a fast decent PC.

I basically just looked up what is popular. I am actually not even sure if those items I chose are compatible. Yep I am that PC illiterate.

 

[=VG= 0100011000101]

 

10 minutes ago, =Wolf= Jersans said:

I am actually not even sure if those items I chose are compatible.

therefore you should look what you have for a ram and how much it is ... if your pc was 8 years old, the memory will not fit into a new computer or be so slow that he will slow down the entire computer.
in the picture is on the sticker a line that contains "2gb pc2-6400u-666".
a similar line would have to be on your memory.

When I am at home I can look for a computer but I usually leave something like this for a few weeks and compare because otherwise you automatically make mistakes somewhere or spend too much money.