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Did my Core 2 Quad just fry itself?

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Darknecron

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
Furfagia
So I was doing a monitor calibration this morning (new 1080p monitor) before I left for college, and all of a sudden, my screen froze. So, as usual, I tried ctrl+alt+del and nothing hppened, so I cycled power on my PC.

Now, in the past couple months it has been very difficult toget my PC started withought a BSOD during startup. It appears at random, and I must go through 4 to 10 attempts before it actually started successfully. I was going to do a windows reinstall after this term is over...too busy to do it now, even on the weekends.

Now, this time after i cycled power, I got the normal BSOD reading MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION. However, when I cycled it again, the motherboard didn't beep to signify that it was recongnizing memory devices. However, all fans and lights worked properly. I had experienced this before while working on someone else's computer, to find that their processor power cable was unpugged. So, I tried unplugging my CPU's power cable, and got the same startup result - no video, no bleeping beeps. I used a mulimeter to measure the voltage across the pinns of the CPU's power cord, and found it to be a normal 12.2-12.4 volts, of course this was without load.


Thoughts?
 
Could be the PSU or a motherboard component beginning to grow weak.

Could try removing the GTX470 and run the system with onboard VGA only.
If it stabilizes, it could indicate that the PSU is not strong enough anymore.

Another symptom, when the system is cold, requires a few start attempts before success-
When the components are warm+charged start up usually succeeds @ 1st attempt.

If you have a spare PSU around could also test with that.

And of course, inspect the motherboard for signs of bulging or leaking capacitors.
 
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I will try all of these suggestions as soon as I am back home. I was already planning to upgrade next year, so if it is indeed the processor, I will simply upgrade now. :p

BTW, in relation to the upgrade, are Ivy bridges worth getting over Sandy Bridges? I have read that SBs are better overclockers and thus better for gaming.
 
Well, we reviewed both IB and SB on the front page... check that out. But to answer directly, the IB is 5-7% faster overall depending on what review you are looking at and what is tested how, so a 4.5GHz IB is about equal to a 4.7Ghz SB... the both overclock to 4.5Ghz+ with ease, its that last couple hundred that the temps get too high in the IB.

Go with IB for a pittance more.. unless you have a MC around you and can nab a $99 2500K before the 18th.
 
Duly noted, I will just go with the IB then. :p Plus, it turns out that this upgrade would cost $200 less than I expected...I may have enough get a GTX 780 next year. :D
 
oh my with all the troubles foxconn is going though youre actually going to buy their products?? People killing themselves and being made slave laborors (sp) doesnt sound like a good product to me.

Personally.. I wouldnt trust anything from foxconn
but thats just me
 
oh my with all the troubles foxconn is going though youre actually going to buy their products?? People killing themselves and being made slave laborors (sp) doesnt sound like a good product to me.

Personally.. I wouldnt trust anything from foxconn
but thats just me

Foxconn makes most of the mbs in the world I bet you own one and dont know it
 
Tried everything, still nothong. Ordered $600 of parts last night. At least I was planning an upgrade anyway lol.
 
out-of-budget ones from your other thread

Oh right, I did actually get those lol. Listening to music through them via my MP3 player. :p These have a much broader range than the Klipsch's default sats, and the mids are fuller. Vocals sound much better.
 
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