Graphics Card Machine Failure

[goranpaa]

Hmm, that sounds like you should get a new motherboard battery. It seems like the one you have have are too low on power and then bios loose it's memory. Or in the worst scenario you need to update / flash a new bios.

http://www.computerforum.com/175224-flashing-bios-tech-guide.html

 

[n64gk]

ive just changed the bios battery, and the problem persists, if i change anything in the bios, even the time, all the fans go to full and there is no video output, at which point i have to pull all the cables, hold down the power button for a minute, and then leave it for 5 mins before it will power on

 

[goranpaa]

ive just changed the bios battery, and the problem persists, if i change anything in the bios, even the time, all the fans go to full and there is no video output, at which point i have to pull all the cables, hold down the power button for a minute, and then leave it for 5 mins before it will power on

Then I belive a new bios flash are called for. But maybe someone else here have a simpler soloution to your problem?

Just to make sure. Have you checked that the motherboard power connector are seated as it should and likevise the one for the cpu?

 

[n64gk]

yes they are seated entirely correctly, how would i go about updating my bios considering i am running windows 8.1

 

[goranpaa]

Look at the bios flash guide I linked to a couple of anvers abouve.

 

[n64gk]

also if i shutdown my pc from within windows and then attempt to boot, it does the whole fans max thing unless i do what i stated above?

 

[goranpaa]

Normally the fans can speed up for a couple of seconds when booting. But should throttle down again. What settings do you have for the fans in bios?

 

[n64gk]

yep normally the fans speed up for between 0.5 and 2 seconds before throttling down, just before the pc posts however if i shut the pc down and try to boot, or if i change anything in the bios then try to boot, the fans just stay on max indefinitely until i turn the pc off by holding the off button, and the fans are set to AMD cool'n'quiet in the bios, as well as smart-q control (thermally controlled)

 

[goranpaa]

That's strange!

This is a kind of a long shot. But check if any of the RAM sticks might not be all the way down in the slot? And also redo the RAM stick test by just booting with one stick in the mobo at the time if the first thing I suggested did'nt work that is?

 

[n64gk]

i thought so too!

I've reseated the RAM several time, so i know it must be all the way down in the slot, and it often works with just one RAM stick, even though both the two different types of memory are listed in the compatibility manual for the machine. Also memtest never finds anything

 

[goranpaa]

i thought so too!

I've reseated the RAM several time, so i know it must be all the way down in the slot, and it often works with just one RAM stick, even though both the two different types of memory are listed in the compatibility manual for the machine. Also memtest never finds anything

It might be then that the motherboard does'nt like the other stick for some strange reason? I had before an Infinity motherboard that did that. And you could'nt fill all 4 RAM slots, not even with compatipble sticks either.

 

[n64gk]

it says on the user manual that you can have all 4 slots filled for dual channel memory and when i post the computer it says 128 bit dual channel memory 3498mb installed (even though i have 4gb)

 

[johnb35]

I've done some digging on your machine. It seems you actually have model number T3-M2NC51PV which has the motherboard cpuz says you have. Can you tell me what version of bios is installed? The latest version is 0601. Sounds like either a bad motherboard or possible bad cmos battery.

 

[goranpaa]

Are you on a 32 bit Windows? That might exsplain why you do not see the full 4 gb of RAM?

 

[n64gk]

yes this looks to be my machine, and no i am running 64 bit windows 8.1, however i will have to check the bios version for you in the morning as i am not with my pc at the moment

 

[Okedokey]

cheers, also if i change any of the bios settings, date/time fans etc. when i press f10 to save and reboot then it just doesnt reboot, then if i manually turn the pc off and then turn it back on, all the fans go to full power and i get no output unless i take apart the machine, pull the CMOS battery and start again

Clear the CMOS again. Save and restart. It will restart and then go in and load default settings (F5), save and restart. then go in load your custom settings and save and restart. BE PATIENT. It will shutdown and seem off, but in 10 seconds or so it will start. It may do this several times.

 

[n64gk]

Clear the CMOS again. Save and restart. It will restart and then go in and load default settings (F5), save and restart. then go in load your custom settings and save and restart. BE PATIENT. It will shutdown and seem off, but in 10 seconds or so it will start. It may do this several times.

im not quite sure i understand what you mean, whenever i turn my pc off i have to clear the cmos

also every time it turns on after clearing the cmos, it says working on updates before it enters windows, i dont know if theres any significance in that

I've done some digging on your machine. It seems you actually have model number T3-M2NC51PV which has the motherboard cpuz says you have. Can you tell me what version of bios is installed? The latest version is 0601. Sounds like either a bad motherboard or possible bad cmos battery.

okay so ive gone back to my machine, and im running bios version 0402, so could that contribute to the problem?

that pc looks just like mine, except I can install 4gb of ram on my system not 2gb

 

[johnb35]

that pc looks just like mine, except I can install 4gb of ram on my system not 2gb

It has a max ram of 4gb not 2gb so most likely it is your machine. If you aren't familiar with working on computers, you may need to take this in somewhere to have it diagnosed correctly. First off, try replacing the cmos battery and see what happens. Since this is a store bought pc, I wouldn't think the motherboard would be grounding out against the case. You could try building the motherboard outside of the case and see how it reacts as well. Other than that, it seems it could be a motherboard issue.

 

[n64gk]

I only said because on the manual for the system you suggested it said that it has a max RAM of 4gb. I replaced the cmos battery yesterday and when I did it wouldn't boot at all, it just did the max fans on until I shut it off manually, so I cleared the cmos and put the old battery in and it started up again, is there any chance a malfunctioning graphics card or an out of date bios could cause this?

 

[johnb35]

You did get the correct battery right? There are a few to choose from but most generally its a cr2032 battery. I've looked at the bios updates but none say anything about the issues you are having.