Monitor keeps staying in sleep mode, is PC screwed?

[xtremist5150]

I've been getting this problem as of late. When starting my home computer (an Athlon XP 1600 that's about 2 years old) I don't hear the usual beep, my monitor goes into an offline mode, and it'll stay that way for a while. If I leave it off for a day or so and try again, it goes into BIOS and says something about the CPU speed not being right (but it's set correctly). The computer will then work OK but if I leave it on for awhile it freezes up. THen if I restart I go through this whole process again.

I'm wondering if my CPU got fried or something? Anyone have any thoughts? If need be I'll shell out for a new CPU and motherboard, but I just need to know if I have to first. Thanks!

 

[maultier]

It could be any number of things. A little troubleshooting is in order. Check that all your fans are running (Power Supply and CPU fans). It sounds as if you may be gettinga thermal cutout. It's also possible that one of your pci cards (including the video card) may be dying on you when you get it heated it up. Stripping the machine to basics will sometimes help isolate a problem.. remove everything except what you need to run.. extra disks, cdrom extra pci cards .. slowly rebuild the system until the problem recurs.
If it still dies, then you'll need to start replacing the basic components.. I'd start with the video card at that point. Easy stuff first. Good luck!

 

[BadBigBen]

Replace the CMOS battery!!! Also make sure that it's out for more than 10 min (thus clearing the CMOS)...

I've read somewhere, just can't remember where at this stage...

Ben


If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...

 

[gbaughma]

BadBigBen is right... sounds like a CMOS battery problem.



Just my $0.02

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg