Several computer problems at once!

Yeah, i'm the luckiest person alive, me.

OK, 1) My ATI graphics card wasn't doing HW 3D. it promtly buggered up completely last night and i'm currently using 640x400 resolution. Horrible!

2) My hard drive started flagging folders as encrypted when they aren't, and then it says "Request not supported" when I try to unencrypt them!!!!! (XP Home...)

3) I ran system diagnostics and one cpu core failed some test or other and my HDD failed the cache test. Nice.

So, almost £1000 Wasted. I bought this thing because i figured it would be cheaper than buying the same components and building it myself.

Doesn't look like that's the case now... :(

Any ideas? or should I give up now?

Sudden high-voltage may cause such problem, however, plug the hardware off and try it on other's PC, if still not work, maybe it's really damaged :(

Similar experience about few years ago.

Don't have the answers to 2 or 3, but I have similar problems with my ATI card (Radeon 9600) from time to time.

It refuses to acknowledge thats its capable of HW3D. Sometimes my PC won't even start up, and when it does, dragging windows around the screen it only updates at about 3fps.

Reseating the graphics card in the AGP slot sorted it, for me.

Overall, though - it sounds to me like you need to take the PC back to where you bought it from and get them to fix it and if they say they can't they you need to be looking for a refund, either directly, or through trading standards. I'm guessing you haven't had it very long?

The system came with a 300W PSU built in, which is what I'm thinking may have caused damage. The CPU was also running at high temps, 60c. It all points that way.

If they're the ones who put it in then surely i can get em to upgrade it? :S I've bought a new 450Watter anyhow.

[edit]

GFK, I've had it about 2 months now. :)

Refund might be problematic as I've installed my new soundcard in there. That was the only time i've been inside and I proceeded with caution then, too.

Hm... if you've been tinkering around inside with the soundcard and PSU then you've probably invalidated any warranty you might have had.

But even so there's a couple of points worth arguing about:

1. You haven't gone anywhere near the graphics card, yet it doesn't work.
2. Who in their right mind these days would build a PC with only a 300W PSU in it??!

Shouldn't worry too much about the CPU temperature assuming its an AMD. I know of several people who have them running at ~60C (myself included). Could always bung a liquid cooling system in if you were that bothered about it...

hehe, I haven't put the new PSU in yet, i'm at work, all I did was open the un-warranty-stickered case and pop a working soundcard in. I actually bought a new one very soon after buying the PC but i never installed that, and it ended up in another machine.

Yeah it's AMD, but it used to be around 35C when i got it, it seems to have risen within the last week :-) It all points to the PSU to be honest :)

And it's true. a 300W psu in a dual core 64-bit AMD computer with 2 HDD's, 1 DVD burner and a quite powerful GFX card... is plain stupid!

Even tho' you might have voided the warranty, you might still be able to get your defective component replaced via RMA from the manufacturer.

Heh, poxy 300w. Madness when you consider just how important a good, reliable power supply is and just what damage can be caused if it fails. :/

What make is the PC, Cygnus - or was it put together by a local, independant dealer?

Tis a HP. I quite liked HP, too... :)

Good point FD. 12 month legal warranty on all components. Yippie :)

HP, huh? My mind boggles as to why they'd only fit it with a 300w PSU. You'd think they'd know better. :)

Cheapest option psu.

Dumb. Know better next time. Yes?

300 too small for AGA card, but good for rest maybe?

Borrow old vga card. Reinstall xp. Fixed?

PSU wasn't my option. I did get to pick other aspects of the system.

However, it looks like they didn't upgrade the PSU from their bare system. Yup, you'd expect better from HP!

sounds bad man, explains why you didn't reply to my email. I got a decent 450W PSU from QuietPC.com and it rocks.

Ah, you sent an email? I should be able to grab it tonight mate :-)

Actually I think it was too your work. You are back at work aren't you?

Ah, yes, i'm at work, but no mail through mate :-)

oops sent it to blueyonder, never mind.

do you have an air conditioner?

I've heard they dry the air too much inside the house, and cause a buildup of static electricity in sensitive machines like the PC.

Nope,no air con. Thats part of the overheating prob ;) haha.

You may have a ROOTkit...

looks like the PSU is at least one of the problems, if not the only problem

this is why i would perfer to buy all the parts, build it and install windows myself

lol.

Well, that new PSU i bought yesterday did fine, but the card still wasn't happy. I did get it to play some 2D games though after some efforts!

Just for laughs, I made a mistake buying the PSU, i didn't get one with SATA connections on. So, now i'm going out to swap it, or buy some connectors so I can access all of my files!

Put that original sound card back in and see if you see the same problems. If you have the same problems, send the computer to whoever warranties it, and deny ever changing anything out. If you don't have the same problems, then it must be that newly bought soundcard causing the problems by possibly overloading the PSU.

Well, there was no soundcard built in, but I did put my old, known, working soundcard in.

Either way, all is well again now, or, it will be when my new graphics card arrives!

Until then, i've got this:



I can set it up to 1024x768 or even 1280x1024 but after a while something goes funny, the screen goes blank, the ATi control panel throws an illegal and then it reverts to that. Booo...


I swapped the PSU over for a yet more powerful one with SATA connections and my CPU and Hard drive problems have gone, with neither flagging a warning when i test them now. Yay for 500Watt and a *bloody huge* fan :)

Cheers for your comments guys. I think i have a passion for fixing these things myself even if I could have sent it back by reverting it back to it's original state. (They never put a warranty sticker on as i said...)


I'm also starting to wonder if my chosen profession was a good idea. ;)