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For about a year my 1200amd with 256 was making an odd noise on startup. Kind of like a loud grinding/humming noise. I put this down to it starting up funny and thought little about it.
Recently, my hard disk appeared to be failing, even linux can't cope with that and I resigned myself to buying a new hard disk and trying to install it [webmasterworld.com]. I learnt alot about hard disks, slaves, masters and jumpers.
But, to my despair, I still had big problems, so we called 'the guy' round. He took the panel off the PC and I swear, it was BLACK in there! The CPU fan was completely choked with black fluff and some odd kind of resin (possibly from cigars). This is what had been making the noise, the poor fan trying to start up every morning. Sheesh, I've been running this thing with no CPU fan for a damn year!
He took it away, cleaned it, put in new fans and bought it back: It still didn't like my new HD though.
So, we bought a new motherboard and read the manual carefully before getting out the screw drivers.
Picure this
Nick and Ivana with Wagners Ziegfried playing quietly in the background to aid concentration, the new motherboard on an anti-static foam mat, tools in hand.
It was like performing open heart surgery ;)
We get all of the pieces in and finally there is nothing left to do but throw the switch:
The next bit all happens in the space of about 5 seconds:
Ivana: What's that smell?
Nick: I don't kn..BANG!
Nick: Turn the power off! Turn the power off!
Hmmm....
On examination, we had actually managed to crack the CPU physically down the middle!
We now have a new PC.
Nick
I'm still laughing. A perfect example of an ohno second.
I take it you were using an AMD Athlon CPU? If so, sounds like you cracked the CPU die core when you installed the heatsink/fan. Has been known to happen; sorry it happened to you.
Folks also sell "CPU shims" for AMD processors that help folks avoid this plight, too. I've never used one, but some folks like them. Especially when installing overly heavy heatsink/fans like some overclockers and low noise enthusiast do.
In the interest of helping others avoid this, if indeed this is what happened to Nick:
Check out the system builder links at AMD.com. Especially the illustrated publication # 23986, entitled:
"Socket A AMD Processor and Heatsink Installation Guide".
Available by clicking from here:
[amd.com...]
FWIW, I've found the docs at AMD quite helpful a couple of years ago when I was building my first AMD box.
Good luck with your new computer!
hth someone,
Midwestguy
We now have a new PC.
Does your new HD work with your new computer?
I remember seeing a picture once of a open computer case with a dead snake in it. The thing had slithered around various parts and ended up with its head through the blades of the cooling fan on the back of the case when the owner turned it on.
I think they got a new computer too...
WBF
An AMD CPU chip is approximatly 2 inches square, most of this is ceramic material intended to carry the 400 plus connections required to pins on the bottom of the chip that plug into the chip socket. The CPU chip itself (the CPU core) is in a "tin can," about one half inch square, in the center of the ceramic material. This "tin can" produces as much heat as a small toaster when power is applied.
One "popular" method of destroying a CPU is to mount the heatsink so that it isn't lying flat on the core. Within 3-5 seconds of applying power the tin can heats (and expands) much faster than it is designed to and the entire ceramic cracks.
When mounting a heatsink, use a small mirror to inspect the relationship between the heatsink and the chip. Examine it from two sides, at right angles (not opposite sides) and insure that the bottom of the heatsink is parallel to the top of the ceramic. If it isn't, remove the heatsink and start over before applying power!
Poor Nick is probably thinking to himself, "Now he tells me!" :)
I've exploded two blowdryers; doing the same to a computer scares me.
I bought an external hard drive and now I'm prepared for any computer catastrophe. And of course, now that I'm prepared, this baby will hum along forever without any problems.
Nick and Ivana with Wagners Ziegfried playing quietly in the background to aid concentration
And you are sure this was the right background? Perhaps you should have tried Mahler's Second Symphony, called "Resurrection"...
Glad I didn't know it was possible to destroy one like that. :D
Yes, one does need something to assist heat transfer from the cpu to the heatsink/fan (i.e. HSF). Most of the HSFs that come with the CPU in an AMD XP "CPU retail box" package have a thermal "pad" on the bottom. The directions show clearly what to do (such as peeling the tape off it before installing the HSF on top of the CPU.
I prefer to use an aftermarket HSF that doesn't come with a thermal pad. In that case, one uses a thermal paste, like Arctic Silver. There are very good instructions on the Arctic Silver site (google gives good SERP for this one) on how to correctly apply thermal paste to the CPU core prior to installing the HSF.
To apply the the thermal paste, one needs:
1) some rubbing alcohol for cleaning the CPU core prior to applying the Arctic Silver;
2) some Q-tips for swabbing the CPU core clean with the alcohol (then it air dries quickly);
3) a single edge razor blade to spread a *very thin* layer of the thermal paste over the CPU core.
Then one applies the HSF. Again, there is a link in my earlier post above to instructions on AMD's site on how to install the CPU and HSF.
FWIW, I always use rubbing alcohol that's over 90% pure alcohol. There are some nice instructions with pictures on the web for all this. After the first time or two, one gets comfortable with it and realizes there's not much to it.
Just be careful not to get the Arctic Silver on anything you don't plan to throw away, as it stains badly. One really only needs a dab smaller than a BB to cover a CPU core, too. So it may prove wise to "prime" a new package by gently and slowly squeezing a dab out over waste paper before squeezing the very small dab one needs to spread with the razon blade onto the CPU core (to get a feel for the amount of squeeze force needed). If one messes up -- usually by applying too much -- just clean the CPU core with the alcohol and Q-tips and try again.
Hope the above helps. I wish I had read it before my first time. I wouldn't have been so nervous. ;-)
Take care,
Midwestguy
