Before Buying A Processor Or A Motherboard

by Cecile Cinco

Last Friday, our computer was down. It had been restarting every after about 10 minutes until it did not restart at all…

I need the computer and the thought of replacing the motherboard or the processor, should one of them be the culprit, is just out of budget.

We tried to isolate the problem. Removed all the unnecessary cards. The power supply fan, we noticed, would work for just about a minute then would stop–so would the whole system stop–dead. We thought, the processor and the motherboard could be safe and something might be wrong with just the power supply.

I tinkered with the power supply. Noticed 3 capacitors busted (top bulging). Got hold of my soldering iron and emptied a ballpen (just got the holder) to use in place of a desolderer (that molten lead sucker) but with a ballpen holder, instead of sucking the molten lead, it has to be blown away as hard as possible to leave the capacitor terminal with the least lead left.

After removing 3 capacitors that were obviously busted, I did some test with my 23-year old multitester which batteries were quite failing but still the tester gave faint response that could somehow tell me if it’s really bad or not.

I decided to make a list of what to buy: 3 capacitors, 1 meter lead, 1 9-volt battery and 1 AA-battery (both for the tester). When they were bought, I tested the assumed busted capacitors (and they were!) and mounted the new ones, soldered them, screwed the chassis and gave it a test.

We giggled with glee because the booting continued up to showing the desktop! But it suddenly died again. Tried to restart but about 5 times it lasted for just ten seconds! Hmmm…something else could be busted apart from the capacitors, we thought….so we decided to buy a new power supply because for me to check the transistors nearest the busted capacitors would be so much hassle. Besides, transistors are more expensive. The overall hassle and cost might be more expensive than a new power supply.

When the new power supply was installed, the problem was the same…and we learned how to switch on the power supply, exactly, by shorting 2 terminals. When I tested the old power supply, it works perfectly. Arggh…if only I traced which terminals to fuse, we could have spared the money for something else. Now we have a working extra power supply to sell.

Conclusion is getting more expensive. Either the processor or the motherboard. My husband tried different forums and they seem to be pointing to the motherboard. I went to the mall and ask for specific motherboard and processor prices and if they are willing to diagnose. They are, for 300 pesos. But then, the guy I talked with suggested I clean the memory contact with a pencil eraser since, he said, it’s possible to give the symptoms the computer was suffering from at that time. Another suggestion he made was to buy that paste that is applied between the processor and the heat sink, which I bought for 150 pesos. If it works, it’s a lot better than spending almost 3,000 for a motherboard or a processor. My husband also suggested to clean also the fan of the processor.

When I got back home, I cleaned the fan (it was sooooo dirty!), erased the memory contact, and applied the paste. IT WORKED! Up until now, it’s working. I think it’s really the high temp that makes it snap down. Just to make sure, though, I put a fan to focus on the computer.

After removing the busted capacitors.

After mounting the new capacitors (spot the difference?)

Half of the processor heat sink cleaned (see how dirty it gets?)

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