My Desktop PC is Back Up and Running
February 10, 06 by kenrichI’ve had a heckuva time the last couple of weeks trying to get a new computer built. My desktop PC died on me - but not completely. It was shutting down after 15 minutes of use due to a thermal event. My first thought was that the CPU had a problem. I bought a new CPU and put it into my computer and booted it up. It ran fine for about 15 minutes and then had the same problem.
I was wondering what else could be the problem. Could it be the heatsink I was using (it was a standard Dell heatsink) or maybe the CPU fan? This was a possibility. I had read about many problems the Dell 400sc had with it’s motherboard. Specifically, it’s capacitors were notorious for degrading and even splitting open.
So after about two weeks, I decided to buy a brand new Dell motherboard to use as a replacement. I also ordered another CPU because I was concerned that had been damaged too. After a quick 10 minute swap (Dell tower servers are beautifully engineered and upgrades / maintenance is a breeze), the computer worked good as new. I’m so happy to have my computer back again - now I just have to catch up on the tons of e-mail I received during that time.
