Daughter's computer has died - help needed to diagnose please if possible

Terminel · 28 Feb 2021 at 17:07

mickyflinn said:
It could well be the psu run the 570 for a while see if the systems stable.

will do, thanks everyone for the help

adrichardson81 · 1 Mar 2021 at 10:33

Just going back to the pop - can your daughter remember if there was a smell like burning hair?

I'm leaning towards the psu as its unlikely a bad gpu would cause that level of instability during recovery/installation.

Terminel · 1 Mar 2021 at 10:51

adrichardson81 said:
Just going back to the pop - can your daughter remember if there was a smell like burning hair?

I'm leaning towards the psu as its unlikely a bad gpu would cause that level of instability during recovery/installation.

I would normally ask her but one of the other challenges she has is that she has no sense of smell. However, the 'pop' had been on numerous occasions I believe but will check.

mickyflinn · 1 Mar 2021 at 11:04

Terminel said:
I would normally ask her but one of the other challenges she has is that she has no sense of smell. However, the 'pop' had been on numerous occasions I believe but will check.

Any further progress with diagnosis ?

Terminel · 1 Mar 2021 at 16:44

I'm tied up with work at the moment but will have another go at the weekend. I'm desperate to get it solved for her plus the RMA clock is ticking which is less urgent as I should have at least a years warranty.

Dave Burton · 1 Mar 2021 at 17:08

That popping noise is the likely indicator, and as others have said this is probably going to be the PSU that's failed. Popping noises are caused by "arcing" whereby electrical current makes it's way places it shouldn't because of faulty component or a break down in the isolation in the PSU itrself, to back up what others have said the first thing to try is a new PSU. Good luck to you!

adrichardson81 · 2 Mar 2021 at 09:47

It's also risky doing too much testing on a potentially failing PSU.

Terminel · 2 Mar 2021 at 21:12

adrichardson81 said:
It's also risky doing too much testing on a potentially failing PSU.

That's a good point.

I'm going to take the PSU from my son's computer this weekend and fit it to my daughters. Slot the potentially suspect graphics card back in and see how we get on. My sons computer is only about a year old but I'll check the wattage on his PSU to make sure its not under powered for hers.

Benass · 2 Mar 2021 at 23:19

my money is on psu. gpu and ssd was tested.

MissChief · 2 Mar 2021 at 23:47

It's possible there's a fried or bulging capacitor on the motherboard as well. I'd remove it from the case and try a bare bones install, 1 memory stick, GPU and PSU connected with just the SSD and see what happens.

ExoMale · 3 Mar 2021 at 12:23

dont know if this has been solved and what other replies are, but could be a psu or hard drive option. even a fresh install of windows can't fix a failing drive.

edit: just seen the link to the spec. corsair are usually very good.

the only other thing i can think of is a file/download or whatever is on the computer might have been corrupted or caused a virus.

Terminel · 6 Mar 2021 at 10:32

Good morning all,

Let me firstly say thanks for the advice so far.

So I've been doing some further diagnosis this morning and can report the following:

Swapped out the PSU for a known good one and the fault remained.
Put the good graphics card in without removing the known good PSU and the fault disappeared and completed a full install of W10 with no issues.
Put the old graphics card back in and the fault immediately returns.
Good card back in and W10 loads fine - actually typing this from her computer.

Its got to be the graphics card right?

Many thanks.

mickyflinn · 6 Mar 2021 at 10:37

Terminel said:
Good morning all,

Let me firstly say thanks for the advice so far.

So I've been doing some further diagnosis this morning and can report the following:

Swapped out the PSU for a known good one and the fault remained.

Put the good graphics card in without removing the known good PSU and the fault disappeared and completed a full install of W10 with no issues.

Put the old graphics card back in and the fault immediately returns.

Good card back in and W10 loads fine - actually typing this from her computer.

Its got to be the graphics card right?

Many thanks.

Yep it looks like the gpu.

Terminel · 6 Mar 2021 at 10:41

mickyflinn said:
Yep it looks like the gpu.

I suppose the only thing to do is put it all back together but with only the new card changed and test the life out of it.

Terminel · 7 Mar 2021 at 16:15

Looks like that has solved it. She's been playing Minecraft on and off since yesterday with no issues.

RMA raised with Overclockers for a replacement.

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it.

mickyflinn · 7 Mar 2021 at 16:25

Terminel said:
She's been playing Minecraft on and off since yesterday with no issues.

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it.

Shes been using the gpu for mining no wonder it broke

Glad you sorted it.

james.miller · 7 Mar 2021 at 17:18

Glad you got to the bottom of it

Musty Pie · 10 Mar 2021 at 13:30

Just to say well done for the persistence.

Hopefully she can get back to some happy gaming now! And you can feel like a good dad!

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