What shall I do with this old PC

Thebestmumalive

i have my son's old pc which powers itself off after a few minutes. We have already had the motherboard replaced once as it overheated and I suspect the same thing has happened again. I'm just wondering whether I should try to fix it again or just give up and throw it out. The spec is:

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Processor Extreme Edition i7-980X (3.33GHz) 6.4GTs/12MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM) 6GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 X 2GB)
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk 160GB Intel® X25-M 2.5" SSD (34nm / upto 250MB/sR | 100MB/sW)***SPECIAL***
2nd Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply CORSAIR 850W PSU (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£99)
Processor Cooling COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£59)
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS)

It is old - he bought in 2010.

So what should I do?

esuhl

It may be old, but it looks like a fairly decent spec. I'd certainly try to fix it (but then I'm technically-minded and familiar with PC hardware).

What made you think that the motherboard was faulty?

If it's overheating, check that it's not clogged up with dust. Then maybe re-seat the heatsink on the CPU (having thoroughly cleaned the surfaces and reapplying thermal paste). Make sure that the liquid-cooling is working properly (i.e. the pump is working and there's no air in the system).

I'd guess it should be fairly easy to fix. But if you don't know what you're doing and are just trying things like swapping out the motherboard, then you could just end up throwing good money after bad.

Got any techies in your social circle? Can your son not help?

John_Gray

Take it apart and check there is no dust / fluff /gunge inside. If there is, blow it out with a can of compressed air.

Do the cooling fans work? Especially the one in the power supply?

Try running Core Temp and HWiNFO (the Sensors button gives temperatures for several components) - while blowing a desk fan at the system unit somewhere which won't affect the internal fans!

[snap - ish!]

Robisere

This motherboard was a very good one in its day, and should have lasted longer, with care. What makes you think that the board has failed? Powering off after a few minutes? I think the reasons have to do with the overheating: why is it overheating, and what makes you think it is overheating?

Has the inside of the case been checked? Are the fans and other components full of dust? That may be why it is overheating. The CPU is a very good one, but perhaps the Thermal paste which lies between the CPU and the heatsink & fan, has been 'cooked' and dried out, due to previous overheating. Thermal paste acts as a 'smoothing' agent and levels out microscopic troughs and bumps on the heatsink, giving better contact. If it dries out, the contact will be poor and it will overheat the CPU. This leads to the PC shutting down, which is what you say it is doing.

Without seeing the PC, I cannot realy tell, but it is definitely still a good computer, if the real reasons for the overheating can be found and dealt with. The components are certainly good enough to deal with most games and computer needs today: too many PC's are being junked because they are not thought good enough. If I had this PC, I have no doubt that I could get it working. Is there anyone you can trust, with the knowledge, to take a look at it for you? Seems a shame to junk what may be a perfectly good PC, after some investigation and rectification.

You could put it on Ebay or Gumtree as Not Working. List the components and the faults as you did here. I'm sure someone would buy it, but I really think it can be fixed.

Thebestmumalive

The motherboard was replaced previously by a local PC repair place - they said it had broken because it got too hot. They did have it for quite a while though as they said it was really difficult to source the correct motherboard.

My son is not at all techie so he can't help. My husband is good at taking things to bits and putting them back together again so I'll get him to have a good look inside.

Esuhl - you have said what I already thought - it has some good spec components so is probably worth saving.

esuhl

Thebestmumalive wrote: »

The motherboard was replaced previously by a local PC repair place - they said it had broken because it got too hot. They did have it for quite a while though as they said it was really difficult to source the correct motherboard.

Hmm... Did the shop offer any kind of guarantee for the work? If so, I'd take it back and get them to fix it like they promised!

It's unlikely that a motherboard would break due to overheating. The reason the PC powers itself off is to prevent any kind of damage. I think the shop have just scammed you. They probably didn't even bother to diagnose the issue, just charged you for replacing one of the most expensive components needlessly. :-(

Thebestmumalive

It was over 2 years ago so I don't think they'll look at it again (well not without more expense). I did think at the time that it didn't seem right but my son needed the PC sorted - so I let it go.

He has since bought a new one and I could do with updating mine which is an even older Dell but still going strong.

I am going to get my husband to have a look inside and see if there is anything obvious. We have kept if as dust free as possible because of the previous problem - but I will get him to check all the fans are working and the cooling system.

esuhl

If there's no fluff/dust and the fans are working, I reckon the "COOLIT ECO A.L.C." may be faulty.

It's possible that the pump may have failed (or maybe the power cable has become detached), and I've come across a few reports where the coolant has gradually leaked out.

The software mentioned in post 3 might give you a clue as to whether it is the CPU overheating. If so (and you can't diagnose the fault any further), maybe replacing the liquid cooling unit would fix the problem. There are a lot of different liquid-cooling units and air-cooling HSF (heatsink and fan) combos you could use, so double-check before buying a new one.

This web search gives some examples of troubleshooting problems with the Coolit Eco ALC. There are a few hints which might help pinpoint the issue.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=coolit+eco+alc+troubleshooting

GunJack

another thing... try running with only one of the gfx cards at a time (take out the one not being used). They will each generate lots of heat, if the cooling on one or the other is duff, it could be generating more heat than can be dissipated within the case - it must be rather tight in there with 2 cards....will cut down on the airflow inside.

agrinnall

As it is pretty good spec (it must have cost a fortune in 2010!) I think throwing it out would be a bit extreme. If you decide not to try getting it working then selling it for spares or repair should get you at least some money back.

Thebestmumalive

Thank you all for your replies. It did cost a fortune which is why I wanted to do something with it. I will get my husband to try all of the above - if we don't get it going I will put it on ebay and see what we can get for it.

I wasn't sure that anything from 2010 would still be of any use to anyone.