Major bootup and stability problems.

[Faize]

Hi everyone,

A while ago, I left my computer on overnight and woke up in the morning only to be greeted by a BSOD. Ever since then, I've been having numerous problems when booting up my computer after turning it off for a couple of hours - I get a series of long, continuous beeps and have to hit the reset button numerous times before the computer boots up properly. Even when I manage to get the computer to boot up, it'll eventually (anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of days) end up crashing on me in 1 of 3 ways (BSOD, automatic reboot, or it'll just beep at me) no matter what I'm currently doing - I've had it happen while I'm playing games, surfing the web, watching videos, and even just idling on the desktop. Sadly, the problem seems to be getting worse and worse - crashes have become more frequent and it's harder for me to boot up now than it was a few weeks ago.

At this point, I don't have any clues as to which component's dying on me. I've already checked the usual suspects, including viruses and spyware, memory, CPU, PSU, hard drive, and signs of overheating.

Here's my hardware (nothing's overclocked):

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra
FSP Fortron FSP400-60THN 400w Blue Storm PSU
eVGA 6800GS
512mb x 2 Corsair Value Select
160gb Seagate hard drive
Samsung DVD burner
Some generic floppy drive
Windows XP with SP2

If there's anything else that you need to know, I'll be glad to provide the info. Any clues would be great, and thanks in advance!

 

[Faize]

Don't tell me that my problem is so rare that I've managed to stump everyone...

 

[imported_JFG]

count the beeps and do a search for startup beep codes. It should give you a clue as to where the problem lies

 

[jdini76]

Originally posted by: JFG
count the beeps and do a search for startup beep codes. It should give you a clue as to where the problem lies

Agreed beeps are a symptom of hardware problems on the MB.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

http://www.motherboardrepair.com/ Read symptoms. Look at pics.

Your board probably has aqua colored G.S. caps with a K' on the vent cover. (Rubycon, a
VG brand uses a K and this is just to look good )

*IF* on close inspection you find bad caps, there are only a few options: Recap the board,
RMA it if in warrenty, pay someone to recap it, or buy a better board and reformat.

Topcat at badcaps.net does recapping. I'm just learning.

How does one prolong cap life? Sink the FETs & VRMs, along with some case air flow
directed at the board.

Post what you find. I doubt the PSU is at fault.


...Galvanized

 

[Faize]

I looked up the beep codes and found that they refer to video or memory problems, yet both my video card and RAM were fine.

I took a good look at my motherboard just now, but I didn't find anything resembling the pictures on that site. All of my caps appear to be flat and I don't see any brown stuff coming out of them.