My friends comp...

[ShinRa]

My friend has my old t-bird 1.4 amd athlon. lately, when he plays games, his comp keeps restarting on him. when it started it would take 20 minutes or so before it did, now, it takes only a few minutes, sometimes instantly, before his comp restarts. only when he plays games though? Im assuming its the power supply going on him. Anyone know whats up?

 

[Gunsnroses]

Could be power supply, OR check the temps. His fan could be going bad, and hes over heating it.

 

[ShinRa]

His comp gets as hot as 70c. but its been like that for 2 years....so idk if its the temp?

 

[blahblahblah]

His comp gets as hot as 70c. but its been like that for 2 years....so idk if its the temp?

Tell him to buy a can of compressed gas and clean out his computer. It is probably really dusty which affects your hsf cooling potential. If it is really dusty, you have to worry about having fans short out on you because of so much dust. This typically happens on weaker fans (like video card fans which could be overheating and causing the problem).

70 C is way too hot in my opinion. Unless his temperture gauages are lieing to him.

His power supply can be an issue as well.

 

[iamaelephant]

Maybe it's been at an excessive temperature for so long it has cooked the CPU?

 

[gh0st]

70c for a t-bird for 2 years?

 

[Dead-Inside]

Maybe it's been at an excessive temperature for so long it has cooked the CPU?

Usually it doesn't burn the second time if it didn't the first. Only if his CPU would get hotter then it should for some reason (The fan stopped or w/e) would that happen.

 

[Malfunction]

You can get a nice can of compressed air at RadioShack, which we just used yesterday, and it works really well, but it has about enough air for just two computers. IT worked really well, so instead of fondling your PC parts with a cloth or something, use compressed air in a can. My brother's heatsink was full of dust, so, let's hope this helps. Also, if you have someone to help you, I'd suggest sitting outside on your back porch, or setting your PC down on a nice clean table and cleaning your PC down, since there usually is a lot of dust, and it'll fly everywhere. No one wants that in their house.

 

[Maxi]

Overheating. His CPU fan is either dead or covered in dust. Open his case and have a look see.

 

[Dead-Inside]

You know, if you're lame, a vaccumcleaner works too. Used it on my old comp flawlessly. The bad thing is that you don't reach all areas. You should also concider, if you're trimming an old PC, to buy some electric-parts-protection to spray on vital parts.