Old School LR

[jakegub]

Nate,

I remember a long time ago (Probably 5+ years at this point) Legit used to keep a relatively up to date system build for 3 price points. Is there anyone still doing such a thing with links to components and stuff? I'm totally comfortable doing all the research myself, but occasionally I feel like cheating a little bit on the stuff I don't care much about.

[bmaverick]

That was one neat rating service legit had when I had just joined. It was like keeping a pulse on the market place and when a knee jerk happened everyone knew when to make the move on great deals.

[jakegub]

Yeah, As I'm moving into the market again for a new computer I was hoping maybe to just have a peek at the opinions of some guys I trust.

I'll go ahead and throw out my computer problem in case anyone has had a similar problem:
My PC is about 5 years old, some parts have been upgraded, but I haven't had any changes in the past 6 months. Recently my computer started turning off automatically. I'd get home and go up to the loft and the computer would be off, but I would turn it back on and it would work fine again. This was happening maybe once a week or less frequently even. Then in the past month it started happening more frequently. I did a clean install of Windows 7 thinking maybe it was just time for the cleansing. Well it did nothing to change the frequency and finally my computer would do it within 30 minutes of being turned on. The weird thing about the problem is that when it turns off, I can't get it back on unless I let it sit for a few hours.

Temp is NOT an issue. I looked at my CPU and GPU and Mobo temps with software as well as an IR thermometer. My PSU temps have not been tested, but the casing doesn't feel hot and this would be a new issue for my 3 yr old PSU. Anyway, it's weird.

I've tried unplugging the power from the wall, the PSU, the 24 pin connector, and I still have to wait to get it back on.
There are no POST beeps even though the computer "turns on".
I have had some success with shorting the Clear CMOS jumper, but the computer turns off again within 15-30 minutes and I get to do this all over again.....

[stopthekilling77]

If you are familiar with the Ultimate Bood CD, I would suggest running the manufacturers drive test off of it, as auto shutoffs can happen if a hard drive is failing.
If you have a power supply tester, you should use it to find out if it might be starting to fail. Also, blow it out if it needs dust removal. Take the RAM sticks out after the rest of the PC is looking clean, then blow out the slots the RAM goes in to make sure the sticks are making good contact with the motherboard.

Hopefully this will help you get a step closer to figuring this thing out man!

[jakegub]

Hey,

I actually had heard of the ultimate boot cd, never heard it called the ultimate blood cd. I'll try a drive manufacturer test. The power supply testers are basically crap as they can't place a constant, measurable load and don't measure voltage oscillation. I just purchased a new PSU to try, but I won't be back home for a while to actually test it. If it doesn't work, my birthday is coming up and i'm going to ask for permission to build a new PC for my birthday.

[jakegub]

Back home, PSU in, Computer running again. Jumped on the slickdeals GTS250's and now i'm folding on a new graphics card. Yay!