Confirm a hardware diagnosis plz

[Mr Bean]

Several possibility present itself. But the main thing to keep in mind is that CPU's do not do well running very hot for extended temperatures nor do motherboards. No electronics do.
That said it sounds like a dead MB. Laptop motherboards that cook themselves sound just like that.

[PeZook]

I can confirm that shit like that is usually caused by overheating, and it's usually permanent.

It's fixable, but a PC mobo that old is not worth it. So just get a used motherboard and swap it out: it's doubtful you can get a new one that will fit an Athlon 64

[Tolya]

a) Unplugging the northbridge cooling shouldn't be too much of a big deal if you had even a small heatsink there, especially on older mobos.

Damage COULD be mobo related, but I wouldn't rule out the CPU. CPU's, especially older ones which always work at 100% voltage and timing tend to get stress and heat damage over time despite cooling, so that may be a problem too.

Also, it may seem far fetched, but I wouldn't rule out RAM damage as well. Faulty RAM chips have given me so much headache that I never attributed to them before I grew wiser.

b) Forget about it. You could probably find spare parts on ebay but frankly, just get a new cheap mobo with a cheapest twin core Intel/AMD CPU. You will spend some additional money (but not really that much) but what you will buy is a new piece of hardware that should grant you piece of mind for the next few years. Especially given that almost every new CPU that rolls out of the factory has mobile timing, meaning that if you don't need the processing power it will run on lower voltage and multiplier, extending lifetime and reliability (at least thats how my E5300 works).

b-2) I doubt so. If the mobo went dead because of heat problems it is very unlikely that your cpu is affected. I never seen such a case in my years (it is however theoretically possible I think). Damage spreading occurs mostly during power surges. when higher voltage wreaks havoc on every circuit not protected with a failsafe (which, safe to say, is most of any computer).

In short, if this machine doesn't have some emotional value to you (like you f*cked your first girlfriend on it or whatever) I would just ditch it and get a new one. If you are on a budget there are lots of cheap options for a machine that will be many times faster than your single core Ahtlon 64.

[phongn]

Other problems could be dying capacitors (look for slightly bulged tops or worse damage), a bad PSU or bad other components. You may also have to check any add-on components as well.

[Enigma]

My in-laws' computer used to freeze up within minutes of booting into Windows and we found out later that it was the video card. Or at least we were told that. They replaced the video card, but now it would lock-up after several hours. That and the occasional screeching.

So I cleaned out the chassis using an air compressor so now it is relatively dust free and I've defragged the hard drive.

So now it locks up even less and at the moment no screeching.

In other words, try checking your video card and make sure you don't have any dust piling up in your computer.

[PeZook]

btw, it amazes me that this computer is considered old to everyone. It is barely five years old - it is among the youngest of all the things I own. It is dying before its time.

Hey, it's annoying to me, too, but that's the reality of this industry. Fortunately, you don't need pimped out multicore babies with 500$ graphic cards to do internet surfing and some Office work, but still...

[Lonestar]

Ugh, I'm virtually forced to just buy a new machine.

Why don't you?

(I'm not trying to be a smart ass, why don't you just buy a OEM tower from Dell, Acer, or HP?)

[Tolya]

btw, it amazes me that this computer is considered old to everyone. It is barely five years old - it is among the youngest of all the things I own. It is dying before its time.

Annoying, isn't it? When I had to get a new computer because my old mobo was starting to act funny I was pissed as well. Funny thing - it was an old Athlon 2000XP+ with a GeForce 7600 and it could still run some of the new games, like Modern Warfare 2 on medium detail.

However on the other hand I really do notice the difference with a dual core cpu, a faster HDD and a good graphics card even when surfing the net (especially with 720p "HD" videos I watch on gametrailers). Gaming aside, it really is much more comfortable in every day work than the old AMD I grew accustomed to, even if I just use a word processor.

[Tolya]

Ghetto edit: As a side note, Im really used to electronics being able to withstand time a little bit better. Like this old Unitra amplifier I still have at my parents house. It is now about 25 years old and it kicks ass of almost any mid range amplifier on the market, because it was built for quality and durability rather without regard for idiotic terms like "product life cycle".

I would install it at my apartment but sadly I don't have the place to put the big wooden speakers. That also kick ass.

[Edi]

To answer the OP, the motherboard is going is my bet, for any number of reasons besides heat (the most likely culprit) that phongn listed.

As far as the computer discussion goes, I used a Celeron II machine from 2000 to 2006 and am now using the Core2 Duo system I bought when the old one died. I expect it's going to last me until I want to play some game that requires the newer stuff, at which point I'll make this a test rig and buy a new one.

[Tolya]

But, let me ask you this: on newegg, it gives a watt number on the processors. Like "35 W single core Celeron" or "73 W dual core i5 processor". Is that proportional to the average draw of these processors, or is it only relevant to the peak? That is, when the cpu is idle, will they all draw about the same amount or will the dual cores draw more?

From what I understand, this is the peak power consumption when both cores run at 100% capacity.

Power consumption is a concern to me because it both adds operating costs to the machine (~$1 per watt over its lifetime on the electric bill), and it might cause heat problems. I'd like, if possible, to keep it cool without needing noisy fans. There's one big fan in the back of my case. In my ideal world, that's all that'll be needed.

I have no idea how AMD CPU's work these days, but I bought an E5300, which is a dual core Intel CPU, 2x2,66Ghz. When not needed (idling, or some low capacity work like internet browsing), it automatically turns down the multiplier to 1,2 Ghz per core, lowering both power consumption and heat. As for the noise Im running it on factory cooler and I never had a quieter piece of electronics with a cooling system. Before I installed a GeForce 9800GT with a big Glaciator fan (which in turn is quite noisy) I could barely hear the computer running.

This is what I got, along with a Gigabyte micro ATC mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

And it's probably the most stable hardware build that I ever did for myself. After some initial tweaking (which I did more out of curiosity than necessity) I didn't have any problems - and I bought this hardware in January 2010.

[Tolya]

A small tip to save you some potential teeth grinding: If you do got an Intel CPU (dual core or core2duo) please check that you have unlocked the multiplier of the processor, so it can speed up to its advertised speed.

When I first installed my E5300 I have learned that it only speeds up from 1.2 Ghz per CPU to 1.8 Ghz per CPU, while the target was 2,66. I can't remember exactly where I did change the config, but it was something really trivial: like a small change in the BIOS or even in the CPU monitoring program. You should do fine, but I realized that my CPU was running underrated on default settings by chance. I could have just as well overlooked it and be pissed off that hardware doesn't behave up to spec.

If you have any other problems I will gladly help too, putting a new box together is always stressing no matter how many years of experience you have under your belt (speaking from experience).

[Uraniun235]

So it looks like the best solution here might be to get a new mobo and processor - newegg has a bundle for $100 that might work. Then though, I'll have to replace the GPU too; apparently, nobody makes AGP boards anymore. And my hard drive is IDE, which is apparently another problem.

Ugh, I'm virtually forced to just buy a new machine.

PCI-Express came out in 2004 (although I think it was early 2005 before it made its way to AMD boards), and SATA was released in 2003. There's really no reason for new equipment to continue supporting IDE and AGP.

But then nobody's forcing you to buy new parts; you could go crawl local thrift stores, Craigslist, and eBay for replacement parts that would support your other components.

btw, it amazes me that this computer is considered old to everyone. It is barely five years old - it is among the youngest of all the things I own. It is dying before its time.

Nothing lasts forever, especially not consumer-grade computer components. Hell, sometimes hard drive failures aren't caused by mechanical breakdowns, but by failures in the electronics.

[Stark]

The best part about being 'forced' to buy a new machine is that you get a cheaper, far better machine. Gone are the days you really had to give a shit about keeping old systems going.

[PeZook]

There are IDE to SATA converters on the market which can make old IDE drives work with the SATA interface. You'll lose the performance boost, but you'll be able to plug the old drive in and backup you files.

It's a good idea to get a SATA drive, though. Drives can fail without warning and data becomes either impossible to salvage or extremely expensive to do so. Just ghost the old drive onto a new one, sort out the driver problems from the system and you should be good to go.