PC Problem
 

So anyway, I was sitting in my room reading through the 8-bit Archives, and my computer suddenly went into standby mode. Then I smelt smoke coming from my computer.
So I turned it off and pulled out all my stuff, like the mouse etc, thinking (and hoping not) that my GeForce (which i've only had for 3 days) had burnt out in my crappy computer.
So me nad dad started checking everything, and we think the power pack has burnt out.
So does anyone know for sure what happens when the pocker pack goes out?
The fan still runs, my computer makes all the startup noises, but it never makes the beep you hear when it's gone through the startup screen where it lists your RAM, BIOS version, CD Drives and all that stuff. Of course we can't see this cos the monitor won't work.
And to make sure the 3d Card didn't die, we enabled the on-board graphics and the monitor never worked then either.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Did your new gforce require an extra power cable plugged into it? Even if it didn't require an extra power cable, it still needs more power than your old card, so I'm pretty sure it's your power supply. It might not have been powerful enough for your comp & your new card.

oh and before anything else, how could you enable the on-board graphics when you can't see a thing on the screen?

Or for that matter, your computer wouldn't boot at all?

I'm thinking he removed the 3Dfx card, Asher, then tried another bootup.

Probably your processor. If it ain't even beeping, then it ain't booting at all, and a dead graphics card won't do that.

Plus that's exactly what happened to me when my processor asploded.

Bette get a new one, and invest in a new heatsink while you're at it. Bring the old one to the computer shop just in case.

If my memory serves me right, then he would have to go in the Bios and enable the on-board graphics. Unless, when you instant a video card, it disables the on-board automatically, and vice-versa?

Yeah, maybe you're right. I misread the line where he says his computer makes noises, not beeps. So, then it could be his processor or his power supply. If not, it's the mother board.

The Hand of Sauron, you said your comp smelled, could you tried sticking your nose near the power supply (try the fan hole) to see if it smells worse there? Btw, is it a standard or premium (Enermax, Antec, Sparkle, etc.) power supply, because standard ones tend to break up frequently...

The fan wouldn't even spin up if his power supply was done. It would beep and boot if his card was busted, because most motherboards these days feature (even if it's extremely basic) onboard video support. Plus the processor is about the only thing that will get hot enough to fry and smoke like that.

Well, thanks for all the info. I got a second-hand computer (AMD Duron 700mHz) for £95, and after some initial problems getting games to play, almost everything works fine now =^__^=
Apart from Warcraft 3 -_-
Thanks again people!

Edit:
Well by the time I thought to do that, the smokey smell had mostly disippated, so all I could smell was the accumulated dust in my computer...
I should really take better care of my computers...
And I've no idea if it's stardard or premium. It doesn't matter anyway, that PC's been stripped for whatever parts I needed, it's mostly empty now apart from a floppy drive that's stuck there cos the power pack is blocking it (it's a really cramped case)

What kind of processor did you have in your previous computer, by the by? I understand AMD chips run pretty hot (at least according to the guy I generally refer to for all my techie-related questions -- he says they're better than Pentiums if you're the sort of guy who'll go into your tower and clean everything out and make sure everything's working on a pretty regular basis, which he is, but that if you're not, they can fuck you). So that could have been part of it.

AMD's don't nessecarily generate more heat, but they don't have a heat regulator. They'll burn pretty badly. Pentiums will simply shut down.

Athlons what they do is " Emulate " the speed that it says on the box.We geeks call this overclocking.you see if you dont overclock you comuter detects your Athlon as a slower processor for instance if you bought the AMD +1700 if you dont overclock your computer will say that you have a Athlon 1400 :P tough huh ?. So they do tend to enerate more heat but its nothing it cant take.They usually break down because of your fans not working.Next time you put NEW pieces to your OLD computer make this cheklist.

-If its memory make sure your computer supports the speed.
-If its memory and your buying a second stick of memory make sure its the same speed as the other one because some speeds are not compatible.
-Check if you have atleast 300 Watts thats like the standard on your power supply unless you have like 2 Cd'roms tough videocard and tough prcessor and overload them oftenly i suggest a 400 watts
-Always ask you local store clerck for compatibility :rmage: