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Dell desktop 330 works 4 a short time and freezes

I have a Dell optiplex 330 desktop PC which will boot alright, the windows desktop with the (i'm using Win XP )icons will show but just for about 40 seconds and it freeze for about 10 seconds and everything will go off. just at about the time that it will go off the processor fan will run at a very high speed. when it goes of like this, the power light will change from green to amber and there will be some weak cracking sound (presumably trying to give a beep) from the buzzer on the mother board. At this stage powering it up again will not work unless it is unplugged from the mains for about 20 minutes and it will repeat the above problem. I disconnected the hard drive just in case its a virus but the same thing happened and even in setup mode. please help

Reply to
fynnashba
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Is the air coming from the rear fan cold, warm, hot, or very hot?

Open the box and try to figure out what is getting hot? CPU, RAM, plugin cards, power supply, etc.

Make sure the CPU is properly seated and that the heat sink is properly attached to the CPU. You symptoms sound very much like an overheated CPU.

Look at the electrolytic capacitors surrounding the CPU and see if any of them look scorched, melted, leaking brown goo, or have the tops bulging. If that's the case, see:

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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Check the cooling arrangements, particularly the processor heatsink/fan combo. Check the fan is working correctly and the heatsink fins are clear of dust. Then have a look that the clamping mechanism is holding the heatsink tight to the top of the processor. While you've got the heatsink off, clean off any gunk and add new thermal paste.

Finally check all fans are working and there are no obstructed vents.

It might help, it sounds like an overheating issue. Is it overclocked?

Reply to
Clyde

Hi!

Check the power supply fan. You may need to replace the power supply at this point. I had a slimline Dimension E521 cross my bench that was doing the same thing. The PSU fan had quit running and things got so hot that the supply was barbecued.

Dell's power supplies are typically good quality, although they have been cheapening them as of late in the "home grade" Inspiron and Studio models.

I was given a Dimension 8100 recently that ran fine in every regard, although the longer it ran, the more regulation noise could be heard from its PSU. I didn't give it too much thought until I put my hand back there and felt no air coming out. The PSU fan had stopped. Even so, the system ran normally for as long as I cared to use it. I was even more impressed when I opened the supply to repair the fan--it hadn't suffered in the least.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to...

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

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