Dec
1st
2013
ARGH COMPUTERS · 10:22pm Dec 1st, 2013
If I ever have to fix my computer again, I will slit my fucking wrists. God damn. $800 LATER and now it works. I shouldn't have to touch the fool thing again for five fucking years.
If you ever hear a 'pop' and your computer shuts down, pray that it's JUST the power supply. And don't get sucked into Black Friday as you run around trying to figure out just what went wrong. Good news is that I saved a good $200 because it happened on Black Friday. But still.
Ouch. That has to hurt.
What exactly happened?
Dang man, that really sucks. At least it's working again and you're once again a full citizen of the 21st Century.
The same thing actually happened to me a couple weeks ago with my CPU, and I had to replace the mobo and RAM as well, just because none of the newer processors would fit.
Thanks to a car-owning friend calling me to come hang out right after it happened I was able to get to the store before it closed and then meet my work deadline, but now I can't make all my bills this month.
thats kinda what happened to mine a few years ago...
Ahh thats harsh, but thats technology for you. Sometimes it just crashes.
Well, at least it's fixed now, yes? Probably better than it was before too, considering Moore's Law.
I hope you didn't lose all your data?
1562209
Ok, full story: My LCD monitors were both dying because of back light issues (one was actually dead, one was dimming) and while I could do a back light replacement on them, I was holding out till Black Friday sales to get two new LED monitors. Then - pop. Dust in the power supply. Happened ... uh. What day is it? Anyway, it was a sleep cycle or two ago. I stand in line in 25 F weather for an hour and a half to get INTO the store, the HELL I was going to get an old MB+CPU combo. And of course the graphics were looking so good ... needed RAM too (EDIT: from 4 gigs to 16, woo). Went from dual core to 8-core and from an old Radeon HD 4800something to the brand-spanking newest Radeon R9 270. Also got two monitors and had all kinds of issues with HDMI. FUN TIMES on my four day weekend.
1562220
... yeah, I am now the proud owner of a much larger credit card dept. Stupid computers, y u b so expensive? I hope you have some wiggle there, being without heat sucks.
1562224
Thankfully, no. It didn't touch my hard drives. Pity too, solid state looks so nice about now ...
1562313
Plus DDR4 RAM comes out this month!
x2 the speed and memory, 80% of the power usage!
I'm wiping mine tomorrow. Done dealing with the bullshittery this thing has produced since feb.
I've never had that sort of problem. I always try to get a quality PSU with more capacity than I'll need so it won't overload. The only thing that ever happened to me was lightning killing a PCI card (everything else was fine) then lightning hitting again like 6 months or so later and finally killing the board. Needless to say I now have a very good surge protector.
I always just buy on Newegg too, without bothering with sales and lines at stores. They've had some really good deals this weekend.
1562342 And 4x the price?
I haven't really been following that scene for a long time.
That's a good reason to go Mac.
I did so some 12 years ago, and haven't regretted it for a moment.
The one time I brought my computer in for repairs, it was just the power supply. I've had mostly good luck with my computers. (Knock on wood, or whatever laminate material my computer desk is actually made of.)
1562674No, I like PCs better because of their versatility.
1562674
Uhm, my particular problem has nothing to do with PC or Mac, really. Dust can get into the smallest of spaces. Specifically, this rather old power supply had a build up of dust from living with a cat for all it's life and it eventually bridged two parts of the circuit board. That could happen to a Mac power supply as well.
1563545
Versatility for what? Gaming? Blue-screening? Eating viruses? Burning a hole through my budget? Leaving me with an overgrown paperweight more often than not? How about the one time that I tried to format one HD from MS DOS, yet the computer did a bonus one?
When I switched, I only lost a few games, yet I gained a computer that never leaves me high and dry.
1563761
So, you literally had a bug? I had one with my Canon G9.
That sucks.
1563961Actually, precisely gaming. Every game I want isn't available on the Mac, and the ones that are, it doesn't have the power to run. Plus, I like being able to upgrade my computer.
1563972
Well, a 'bug' tends to refer to a programming bug despite it's literal and physical history but ... yes. Yes, it was a dust bunny death. At least I now have something comparable to a mid-range Alienware.
I have GOT to find a dust-control enclosure one of these days. Damn dust.
1564051
I was like that, but then I grew up.
I still miss Star Trek Armada 2 and Age of Empires 2 'Conquerors' Expansion.
BTW, Errata: I've only been on Macs for like nine or ten years. And these computers are so robust that my first one was still being used by my mother (as an internet station) on January this year. And it still was factory tuned, and it had never, ever gone into tech support for having collapsed on me.
"five years"
So optimistic.
You can grab some easy filters to slip over your case fans for cheap from newegg. Another 20 buck investment, but it saves you some time down the road.
1564181
I've got filters (double filters - stock and homemade from Swiffer dusters) on all intakes but the output fans I've left bare for improved airflow. And the power supply. I need to tape some filters over that.
1564547
Well, I've got my fingers crossed it holds out for a while. I hate when something in one of my machines breaks but at least it means that I get to upgrade. And upgrading is fun if you just don't look at your bank account or the receipt (and the whole black Friday thing isn't fun, but at least you didn't get into a stun gun fight).
One of the greatest dust thwarting tools is an anti-static vacuum but it's hard to justify 200 bucks on something you use a few times a year.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
If you ever want to go crazy, you could try this. You don't have to worry about dust then. (Btw, there are better/cheaper ways of doing that kind of setup than what's in the vid.)
1564599 Most people I've known just use compressed air. Anything wrong with that?
1570265 Nothing at all. It works perfectly well other than being a bit messy. I like the vacuum better but I have have lots of computers and dogs that shed like crazy. At least that's how I justify mine.
And compressed air is still necessary. A vacuum is not so good at getting all the grit out from a keyboard. So I always have a stash handy.
1570265
I heard about a system built back when Pentiums were first coming out and a CPU that ran at a gigahertz was a really good chunk of change. Kid took a motorboat impeller, the remains of a minifridge and a steel tub, rigged his computer inside and filled it with hyper low water content glycerine. I'm not sure the numbers but I heard - third and fourth hand - that he upped an 80 megahertz CPU chip to a gig and a half or something.
I've long thought about liquid immersion cooling but it's pricey and I'd want a COOLING system involved instead of just radiant heat. If I could super-dry the air, I'd stick the fool thing in a fridge and run cords through sealed ports to the bits and bobs I'd need to access.
1570445
I've used static wipes on it and haven't ever really had a major issue with static discharge. And I use an old hand pump (designed for inflatable beds) as my 'compressed' air. It's reusable and extremely cheap if not as powerful or directed.
1570575 That's brilliant, I like the idea.
1570575 You could always just run whatever liquid the components are submerged in through a refrigeration cooler with a simple pump. Bada bing bada boom! You've got yourself a super-cooled liquid immersed system.
I haven't put much thought into that before, but I think it would work well.
Addendum: I did some quick googling before posting and found out that water with antifreeze probably works better, and you have to make sure your refrigerant compressor can handle a constant heat load or it'll burn out. And then there's this thing:
The liquid has a low boiling point. Just a little heat makes it turn to gas and go up to the cooling block, so it circulates itself.