I think I've killed my new(ish) computer.

[TrenchardsLoveSock]

I've posted this up on Game Veteran, but thoght I should have it on here too as not all the hardware gurus use Wobbly's other site.

I tried overclocking my 8800GT the other week, but didn't get very far thanks to the useless cooler letting temps fly through the roof. The best I managed was 650Mhz core (with linked shaders in Riva Tuner) and nothing on the memory. Any higher and ATI Tool caused artifacts all over the shop then, seconds later, a black screen (when the GFX card hit 78 degrees).

So I bought an Akasa Neo Vortexx, Zalman SM-TG1 thermal grease and a pack of copper VGA Ramsinks for the voltage regulators. This all got fitted last night with no problems, and temps dropped from 56 -> 38 (idle) and 74 -> 54 (load).

Chuffed with this fantastic improvement, I get overclocking. I wish I hadn't.

Using Riva Tuner to change the clocks and monitor temps, I finished up with a seeminlgly stable 726 core, 1750 shader and 999 memory. ATI tool was left running for about 10 minutes with no artifacts and the temp didn't go over 58 degrees. By now, convinced that I am the god of overclocking I fire up 3DMark06 (which, AFAIK stresses the GFX card less than ATI Tool).

First run through is going well with no artifacts but then locks up during the CPU test. I don't worry about this too much 'cos my Windows XP is a little wobbly at the moment (I need to clean up and reinstall) and it was the CPU test so the GFX card was barely ticking over.

I re-boot and try again and get through 3DMark with no snags. While looking at the result in the on-line browser my system locked up again. And failed to re-boot :S

I switch power on and the fans spin up, the HDD sounds like it spools up, the little LED's for the memory come on and that's it. Monitor reports no signal and there are no POST beeps or Windows startup noises. What's REALLY odd is that the power light on my case doesn't light up when everything else does.

What have I fried?

Oh yeah, system specs below:
Coolermaster CM690 Dominator Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU

OCZ 2GB Kit(2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory NVIDIA SLI Ready CL4 Unbuffered 2.1V

XFX 680I LT edition SLI Socket 775 Nvidia 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

Point Of View 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 256bit Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Akasa AK 965 (Socket 775) Aluminium with Copper Base Processor Cooler

Optiarc AD-7191S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM LightScribe Serial ATA Black Bare Drive - OEM

Hi-Power Black 900W Modular 13.5cm Fan PSU - 4x PCI-E, 20+4pin, 4x SATA

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.20GHz Socket 775 800FSB 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Cheers

 

[Shortie]

The fact you getting no post beep at all, it may be the Motherboard, the PSU or maybe even the CPU. Firstly I would make sure everything is secure and fitted down correctly and then it's a process of elimination. If you have spare components you'll have to swap them out.

 

[monobrow]

Worth a cursory glance round for popped or bulging capacitors. Whilst the card might have been able to handle it, the infrastructure around it may have had "issues".

Another suggestion, is beg/borrow/steal a gfx card off someone, just to see if it boots. If it does, you know what that means.... 8800 to the tip DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[TrenchardsLoveSock]

The fact you getting no post beep at all, it may be the Motherboard, the PSU or maybe even the CPU. Firstly I would make sure everything is secure and fitted down correctly and then it's a process of elimination. If you have spare components you'll have to swap them out.

Could overclocking the GFX card fry the mobo or the PSU? I did this late last night, so I haven't had a chance to poke around at everything yet (1 AM isn't the best time to start fault-finding).

I have no spare bits to swap out as the upgrade was a full one and, even if I hadn't managed to sell my old PC, everything in there was too old to be compatible anyway.

The mobo should POST even with no GFX card shouldn't it? Along with swapping the rail the GFX card is powered by, I'll try that tonight and see if I get a POST with no card.

Hmmm, actually, I did pop the CPU cooler off and replace the standard thermal goo with decent stuff. I wonder if I managed to put too much on so it leaked and shorted something? That, or maybe knackering the board wrestling with those stupid cooler push-pins.

Bugger.

Worth a cursory glance round for popped or bulging capacitors. Whilst the card might have been able to handle it, the infrastructure around it may have had "issues".

Another suggestion, is beg/borrow/steal a gfx card off someone, just to see if it boots. If it does, you know what that means.... 8800 to the tip DT_Xtremez_42:

Possibly, something else to look at tonight.

In a way, I hope it is the mobo that has died as it will be a lot easier to RMA than and overclocked 8800 with an aftermarket coolerDT_Xtremez_42:

As for borrowing kit off somenoe else: not an option. Nobody I know down here is a gamer and they think I am some kind of freak for knowing how to build a PC. Some of them even by their computers from PC WorldDT_Xtremez_09:

 

[TrenchardsLoveSock]

Well, I've just phoned the local computer shop in Helston and he's happy for me to bring my GFX card in tomorrow and plug it into one of his systems to see if it fires up.

The only catch is that I'll be buying him a new mobo if my card fries it! I may bottle it if his test rig has a £200 monster board!

Nice helpful bloke, it's just a shame that he is so expensive or I'd spend my money there.

 

[Ex-Bay]

Well, I've just phoned the local computer shop in Helston and he's happy for me to bring my GFX card in tomorrow and plug it into one of his systems to see if it fires up.

The only catch is that I'll be buying him a new mobo if my card fries it! I may bottle it if his test rig has a £200 monster board!

Nice helpful bloke, it's just a shame that he is so expensive or I'd spend my money there.

Does 'expensive' infer a certain skill so needed by many of us? If YES,
then he's worth it.

 

[Shugster]

Worth a cursory glance round for popped or bulging capacitors. Whilst the card might have been able to handle it, the infrastructure around it may have had "issues".

Another suggestion, is beg/borrow/steal a gfx card off someone, just to see if it boots. If it does, you know what that means.... 8800 to the tip DT_Xtremez_42:

One of the voltage regulators might have given up. You could check those for output.

 

[TrenchardsLoveSock]

Does 'expensive' infer a certain skill so needed by many of us? If YES,
then he's worth it.

Good point. I'm normally just after a bit that I've decided on after digging around the reviews on the net. If I was after lots of advice and peace-of-mind then, you're right, he probably is worth the extra.

Thanks for the input guys, I got home last night and pulled everything off the mobo so I could get a good look at the capacitors and the like for visible signs of abuse but everything looked OK.

I put it all back together and it booted up without any problems at allDT_Xtremez_35:

I checked and re-checked the connections so many times that Mrs TLS was considering checking me into an OCD therapy group so I'm not sure what the problem was. Maybe there was some dust that got caught up in the PCIe port.