The Mother Board

[Daredevil]

Hi..! Brand new machine one (1) week old, with the following configuration...

M/B: ASUS P8H61-M LE R2.0
CPU: INTEL CORE I3-3225 3.30GHZ LGA1155
RAM: 1 x CORSAIR XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3 PC3-10600 1333MHZ
PSU: FORCE 500W

while O/S was installed and working for a week or so, suddenly it wouldn't boot..at first the error beeps were 1 long 4 short and the PC stopped...after i had cleared the BIOS CMOS and removed-replaced the memory, now the sounds are 1 long 3 shorts (!!!) and it keeps rebooting...all the fans work normally...has someone encountered this..can the CPU or memory be damaged in one week.?
Thanks in advance...

[Karlsweldt]

I would look toward a more powerful PSU.. on the order of at least 750 watts or more.. to ensure stability. Try reseating the memory modules and all device cards plus power connectors.
If the system memory cannot be properly paged, the OS cannot load safely.. and constant reboots are noted. With multi-channel memory setups, ensure the identical memory type and amount is installed in the same-color slots.
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F@H.. to solve mankind's maladies.. in our lifetimes!

[Roach412]

from ASUS support site:

[evasive]

"Force 500W" leads me to Greek/Eastern Europe website only, with Premier/Frontier "brands" which sounds suspiciously like a cheap Chinese power supply. If it's more than 1.5 years old, replace it because most likely it has bad capacitors. http://www.badcaps.net for more info.
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We hate rut, but we fear change.



System error, strike any user to continue...

[Karlsweldt]

Daredevil did not mention a video card in the setup.. so likely is using the on-board video. But with that i3 Intel CPU, it is a bit power-hungry.. and if the PSU does not have sufficient reserve, then the system will become unstable. If the PSU has bad capacitors, then regulation can go way off base.. and improper voltage can stress sensitive circuits.
It is well known about the eMachine "budget" power supplies.. a bad PSU can kill itself and take out the motherboard with it!!!
Go with a known-good brand of PSU, in any system.
_________________
F@H.. to solve mankind's maladies.. in our lifetimes!

[Daredevil]

OK, so according to service, the motherboard is to blame. It is replaced, so i hope there will be no further problem. The system does not have an external GPU, so yes the PSU does not seem very trustworthy but i think it will come through...that is until the owner needs a better graphic card. I can't make up what went wrong, but since the M/B was beeping i believed that something else was wrong...

[Karlsweldt]

Heat is a major enemy of electronics.. especially computers! For the sake of quiet operation, the CPU fan may run slow.. or stop until sensors kick it back into normal operation. During the "quiet" period, temps may rise to critical levels with some components.. and the damage is done, before a cooling effect is begun. Some case designs rely only on a case fan over the CPU to pull off heat.. and the main (Northbridge) chipset may not have a fan. With on-board graphics, the CPU has to do extra duty to dissect, route and render data to wherever needed.. and will run hotter than if a video card is used! Plus main system memory is reduced by whatever amount is dedicated to video needs. This can slow the system down.
The PSU also may have a speed control on its fan.. and the PSU can rapidly go into 'heat stroke' unless it gets a proper air flow! When regulation is lost, voltages can go off scale and damage sensitive circuits.
_________________
F@H.. to solve mankind's maladies.. in our lifetimes!