Big PC problems lately...

[ArjenVdv 190]

Hello everyone,

 

I spent over $150 on add-ons lately, only to find out my PC isn't working how it should anymore. Today, my PC screen went blank (black) during FSX, but also during browsing the internet, but it didn't shut down at all. In the mean time, when I had my sound on, I heard this scary vibrating sound which you normally hear during an overclock crash. Before the screen went black, there was no BSOD, nothing, it just went blank and it didn't shut down either. I waited a minute and shut it down manually. This issue has happenend a total of 4 times today.

 

Just to clear up: during any basic activity like web browsing, gaming, or FSX, the screen goes blank without a warning combined with a crashing sound. No BSOD, and PC doesn't shut off by itself. When power button is pressed once, it shuts down immediately, which is indicating Windows is not running anymore because that requires a push and hold of the power button.

 

But here's the thing: this 4.7 GHz overclocking I'm running, has been rock solid for nearly a year. But for some reason I just decided to a Prime95 test for 12 hours a few days ago. It passed without a single hiccup. Then, I decided to do a IBT test which I've never done before. In Prime95 my max core temp is 70C, and in IBT it's about 85-90C, but I only ran these ultra high temps in IBT for like 15 minutes. Do you think it still could have hurt something?

 

My videocard is not overclocked, as far as I know, it's not overheating either, max temp is usually 60C.

 

I also did a virus scan and registry clean, also checked my BIOS settings. Windows is up to date. Didn't up date my BIOS in a while but why would it matter if it's been running stable. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

I am suspecting a few things, but I'm not going to influence anyone here. I hope I will be able to identify the problem very soon.

 

Thanks.

[Emerson67 248]

I would start by replacing the video card to see what happens.

 

Today, my PC screen went blank (black) during FSX, but also during browsing the internet, but it didn't shut down at all. In the mean time, when I had my sound on, I heard this scary vibrating sound which you normally hear during an overclock crash.

[ArjenVdv 190]

I did a 15 minute GPU stress test in EVGA OC Scanner and it passes with 1197 FPS, 0 artifacts and a max temp of 72C. PC did not shutoff.

 

Later on - I told this PC problem to my mum, and as the "wizkid" as she is, she said: "Maybe a cable is loose?", and of course I laughed hard. Then I started checking my PC internally and guess what?! I quickly noticed that my CPU power cable was hanging half out of its connector!

 

OK, I'm glad I might have found the problem but I'm not going to be happy so early already. Before I will try reseating the cable and retry my computer, I am just curious if this half loose CPU cable could actually be causing this random blank screen behaviour and Windows shutting down with the PC still running?

[Crewecut 1]

If it works you'll be glad to know, that your country holds an inexhaustable supply of flowers... :wink:

[mosteen 111]

Great stuff Arjen!

[martin-w 3,235]

Loose or defective cables can most definitely cause an issue.

 

Not long back, with my old system, I had all kinds of issues with crashes. I suspected my overclock too. After a great deal of investigation, suspecting all manner of components it turned out to be a faulty ATX extender cable. The contacts were charred. No doubt it had been arcing out for some time.

 

Chucked the damn thing in the bin, and all was well.

 

I wouldn't use one of them again, these days if I need them longer, I extend the cables myself with my soldering iron and heat shrink tubing.

[ArjenVdv 190]

Loose or defective cables can most definitely cause an issue.

 

Not long back, with my old system, I had all kinds of issues with crashes. I suspected my overclock too. After a great deal of investigation, suspecting all manner of components it turned out to be a faulty ATX extender cable. The contacts were charred. No doubt it had been arcing out for some time.

 

Chucked the damn thing in the bin, and all was well.

 

I wouldn't use one of them again, these days if I need them longer, I extend the cables myself with my soldering iron and heat shrink tubing.

 

Yeah I think you're right. I just tried to reproduce the problem this morning by manually pulling out the cable. My screen went black, but this time my PC also fully shut down. On startup, Windows decided it wanted to do a disk scan. The difference with my original problem was that my PC actually shut down on simulating it. Also, with the orignal problem, hitting the power button once would cause it to go off which was an indicator that Windows wasn't running anymore either. (because in Windows you need to press AND HOLD to shut it down). Perhaps a few pins were not connected and a few were, which caused it to shut down partially.

 

Anyway, I just did a 2:30 minute flight from LGMK to LOWI and everything was fine, not a single hiccup. Have been running my computer since early morning, so think I fixed the problem. *knock on wood* Of course, it could turn out not be fixed, but we'll see.

 

About the ATX cable, I also have sort of a problem with it. I have a 20+4 pin ATX cable. In total, it's fairly short, so it's kinda hard to pull it behind your case, twist it, and plugging it into your motherboard. It only long enough by a small margin. But the problem is, only the 20 pin part of the cable can lock into the motherboard's connector, the 4 pin part just has to be plugged in but doesn't lock in. And because the ATX cable in total is kinda short, the 4 pin part is leaning a bit to the right relative to the 20 pin part, so it's not entirely straight on the connector. I hope this won't turn out to be the culprit.

[RWFeldman 159]

ATX cable in total is kinda short, the 4 pin part is leaning a bit to the right relative to the 20 pin part, so it's not entirely straight on the connector

 

Probably not good to "side load" the connector. Not only are the pins not making an optimum connection its also pulling on the solder connections on the MB.

[ArjenVdv 190]

Here's an image of it.

 

Maybe I can solve it by an all in one 24 pin ATX extender cable that doesn't consist of two seperate parts. It must be a really short one, because if any longer, I wouldn't be able to stow the extra length of the cable behind my motherboard.

[martin-w 3,235]

Don't route it behind the motherboard then.

 

Route it in the most direct way you can.

 

One ATX cable won't disrupt air flow much. Better that than strain your cables.

 

Thats what i did when i ditched my faulty ATX extender.

[ron6468 1]

Based on your problem description I would say that cable is exactly your problem and as Martin said - take the shortest route regardless.

[ArjenVdv 190]

Routing it front is gonna be a big hassle as I have to take all my cables out, they go through the same hole and otherwise the ATX connector wouldn't fit through it. Also my videocard is sort of in my way and so are all my other SATA cables. The mid and bottom section of my case is just full of cables because I can't route many of them behind my motherboard, for example, my SATA ports do not line up with the hole they are supposed to line up with so all SATA cables are going either up or down. Everything is just in my way. Antec cases are good at airflow and such, but horrible at cable managament and they are not ergonomically designed. Next case is surely going to be a Corsair 900d.

 

I just tried pulling the ATX cable out of my mobo, and pulled the 4-pin part a bit to extend it relative to the 20-pin part. Now I've got more margin and both cables are now pretty much lined up with eachother and nearly straight on the ATX connector on my mobo.