Processer, motherboard, both or bin?

[The Birddog]

Hi Everyone,

Got a call from a customer saying his pc either won't turn on at all or will turn off after about 3 minutes. There is never any display.

Aha, a heat realted issue, easy. Got round there and theres a thin layer of dust between the processor fan and the heatsink and the computer is not posting. I removed the dust and still, same problem.

I took it back to the workshop changed the memory, power supply, graphics card and still the same problem. The PC turns off after about 3 mins and no display. Also no posting. It posts an error when memory is removed.

Now I'm stuck, I'm guessing that the processor is dead and a new one is going to cost say £45, What if it isn't this, do I then get a new motherboard. Boosting the total price, including labour to around £150, thats excluding the first callout charge. As you know you can get a new PC for only a little bit more.

Just interested in what you guys would do in this situation?

 

[Bryce W]

Check the heatsinks clips and thermal paste. I have had a clients system have similar problems. The issue was one of the heatsink clips hadn't clicked into the motherboard properly thus the heatsink wasn't sitting on the CPU fully which caused it to overheat after a few minutes. Give that a try.

 

[The Birddog]

Check the heatsinks clips and thermal paste. I have had a clients system have similar problems. The issue was one of the heatsink clips hadn't clicked into the motherboard properly thus the heatsink wasn't sitting on the CPU fully which caused it to overheat after a few minutes. Give that a try.

I have tried that Bryce. The no display is confusing me though. I'm assuming at the moment that the cpu is gone.

 

[bagellad]

I would suspect the motherboard personally, wouldn't it still be able to give you a beep or something if it was having a CPU problem? Id just try the different parts on a spare motherboard you got, see if it works. Depending on the age of the computer it might be a good time to suggest to the customer that its time to replace the machine, give him a discount on setup or something if he makes a stink about it.

 

[gunslinger]

Sounds like a MOBO issue to me also.

 

[14049752]

My first thought was to check the power supply. It's easy to check and can cause similar symptoms. I usually try a motherboard before a processor...I've rarely had a bad processor.
(Edit: Sorry, I missed where you said you tried a power supply in your shop.)

 

[The Birddog]

My first thought was to check the power supply. It's easy to check and can cause similar symptoms. I usually try a motherboard before a processor...I've rarely had a bad processor.
(Edit: Sorry, I missed where you said you tried a power supply in your shop.)

Yes, I rarely see a bad processor aswell, thats the problem although I think it's the cause.