What can I save from my dead video editing PC?

M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
I only went to make a cup of tea and when I came back the studio had a slight fog and a smell of hot electronics about it. Actually, make that burnt electronics.

Luckily, this is not my main video editing machine anymore. I used it to run Photoshop and do VHS tape-to-digital conversions plus various office tasks and stream music. And it was very good at all of those things. But now it's dead.

It's about ten years old and is a bit like Trigger's broom in Only Fools and Horses: it's had three new graphics cards, 24GB of RAM (up from 12) and about half a dozen different drives, a new PSU and at least three monitors. But because it still has the ASUS P6X58D-E motherboard and the 8-core INTEL i7 processor in a big old Master Cooler box, it's still the same computer.

The PSU passed all the multimeter tests, so I'm thinking it might be a failed motherboard. How can I find out if that's the case? And if it is, what should I do about it?

The graphics card is an ASUS GTX750Ti, which is more than enough for Photoshop. The 24GB of RAM in six sticks of four is OK (I think) but it's DDR3, so won't go in a modern motherboard. Right now it has OS and apps on a Samsung SSD and data on two 1TB HDDs.

The power switch on the motherboard lights up, the power LED on the GPU is green and the red LEDs on the front panel glow. But there is nothing when I press the power switch. So if anybody can give me a checklist of components to work through, that will be great.

And if it is the motherboard that's toasted, what would you do with the rest?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
martynmoore said:
I only went to make a cup of tea and when I came back the studio had a slight fog and a smell of hot electronics about it. Actually, make that burnt electronics.

Luckily, this is not my main video editing machine anymore. I used it to run Photoshop and do VHS tape-to-digital conversions plus various office tasks and stream music. And it was very good at all of those things. But now it's dead.

It's about ten years old and is a bit like Trigger's broom in Only Fools and Horses: it's had three new graphics cards, 24GB of RAM (up from 12) and about half a dozen different drives, a new PSU and at least three monitors. But because it still has the ASUS P6X58D-E motherboard and the 8-core INTEL i7 processor in a big old Master Cooler box, it's still the same computer.

The PSU passed all the multimeter tests, so I'm thinking it might be a failed motherboard. How can I find out if that's the case? And if it is, what should I do about it?

The graphics card is an ASUS GTX750Ti, which is more than enough for Photoshop. The 24GB of RAM in six sticks of four is OK (I think) but it's DDR3, so won't go in a modern motherboard. Right now it has OS and apps on a Samsung SSD and data on two 1TB HDDs.

The power switch on the motherboard lights up, the power LED on the GPU is green and the red LEDs on the front panel glow. But there is nothing when I press the power switch. So if anybody can give me a checklist of components to work through, that will be great.

And if it is the motherboard that's toasted, what would you do with the rest?
Click to expand...
Oh, that's a shame on an old workhorse, they do become part of the family!

It's quite possibly the motherboard. Just to be sure it's not the case power button that's somehow burnt out (unlikely), there's a power button on the board, just try pushing that and see if it will power on.

7d0y6yjm8ee1QPO0_500.jpg


The other possibility is that the CPU has burnt out possibly due to overheating, the symptoms would fit.
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
Thanks Spidertracks! The power button on the board is lit up but nothing happens when I press it. Is there a check for the CPU and can it be replaced with something new that fits this board?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
martynmoore said:
Thanks Spidertracks! The power button on the board is lit up but nothing happens when I press it. Is there a check for the CPU and can it be replaced with something new that fits this board?
Click to expand...
You'd need a compatible CPU to test with or another motherboard to test that CPU on.

Another thing you can do is remove the cooler, and just see if there are any burn marks on or around the CPU.
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
I'll have a look for the signs of burning, Spidertracks. Just trying to wrangle the cooler off now! It's fiddly.
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
Hmm, not sure. I've taken the black twisty things with the points off the four white posts fixed to the mb, but the four white plastic posts don't release the cooler's frame.

cooler shaker.jpg
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
martynmoore said:
Hmm, not sure. I've taken the black twisty things with the points off the four white posts fixed to the mb, but the four white plastic posts don't release the cooler's frame.

View attachment 20925
Click to expand...
Yeah, you don't remove it from that side, it's from the rear of the motherboard, there's a bracket you unscrew and it will release the cooler from the front.

You just remove the other side panel of the case and it should expose it.

LJAwyuY.jpg
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
Here's the surface of the CPU cooler, after I removed the thermal paste.

cooler surface.jpg


And here's the CPU showing similar marks, which I think might be from the vibration of the cooler.

cpu.jpg
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
So what do I do now? I can't check the CPU without a known good motherboard.

Is there a decent motherboard/CPU bundle that will work with the GTX750Ti graphics card? The DDR3 RAM will need to be replaced with 24GB of DDR4, or something like that.

Any recommendations will be gratefully received.
 
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
Erm, not sure if they did, Daleman. I think they might have had a little spasm after I'd held down the power button to clear the capacitors when trying to start it. But I don't think they actually ran. Sorry, I can't remember. The PSU fan is good when I join the green and black in the block connector and all the voltages from the PSU are correct. That was my big hope, that the PSU was fried. But it's not.
 
jamiephillips909

jamiephillips909

Godlike
That pc really needs a good dust out ! Can see layers of it over everything if the cpu is fine maybe it just overheated because its coverd in dust when you have a thick enough layer of dust on a circuit board and components overheat is can smell like water on a iron but a much stronger smell
 
jamiephillips909

jamiephillips909

Godlike
M

martynmoore

Bronze Level Poster
Haha. Yes it is a bit embarrassing, isn't it? When it was my main editing machine it sat on the desk and was kept clean. Since it got relegated to a back-up role about three years ago it was put on the floor near the dog's bed. I'll try cleaning it all up and putting it back together. See what happens. If it's still unresponsive I might try this:
 
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