Dying Motherboard? *urgent*

[goodfella8304]

     Hello and thank you for helping me with this, I am completely lost.

     First the specs: Biostar NF4UL-A9, AMD 64 3500+, 1 GB patriot RAM, 200GB WD sata2, XFX 7800gt, Windows XP Home SP2
   
      Yesterday my computer began freezing up for no apparent reason. I was doing nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing I could do was manually power off the coputer. By doing so, it booted fine and seemed to work after logging in to windows, but after about 30 seconds, it would again freeze. I basically lost my temper and tried the same thing about five more times, each with the same result. I did find that it would freeze at the windows welcome screen if I did not log in quickly enough. I was able to get the thing to boot into safe mode; whilst there, everything worked perfectly, I scanned for viruses (there were none) and backed up all of my music onto a portable hard drive. But the same ill effects were present when I booted back into regular windows.
     Because safe mode worked, I figured it was a software issue and formatted my hard drive and reinstalled windows. The install process was flawless. Once I got windows up I thought that I had solved the problem because it remained stable for about 5 minutes, but then the same thing started happening. This prompted me to open the case; I noticed the northbridge fan was not on.
     I took the fan out and cleaned it, then put it back in to no avail. I tried plugging the fan into a system fan connector that I knew worked; the fan did not turn on. I found an old 90mm fan that I knew worked and tried plugging it in to the northbridge fan connector; it did not turn on.
     So I am thinking that the motherboard is beginning to die and that it is necessary to buy a new one. I guess the freezing is due to the chipset overheating? I would appreciate the opinions of the community.

[The Saviour]

It may not be the motherboard...

I would try replacing the Power Supply first.

[goodfella8304]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is it possible to test the power supply? Would it be safe to try the power supply from the Dell that I am currently using in my computer? Or maybe the Dell mobo with my power supply?

By the way, my power supply is a 420w Thermaltake that came with my Tsunami case. I have had all of these components for about 18 months.

[The Saviour]

If you have another power supply to try...go for it.  I'd wouldn't connect everything to it, though...just the essentials.

If it works...you know what the problem is.

[Dam1an]

A power supply overload can certianly cause these problems.  Do you have a lot of USB devices plugged in?  try just unplugging everything you don't need and see if that works before swapping power supplies.  If you;re over-drawing the wattage your power supply is putting out, then you need a higher wattage.  Make sure the one you swap it out with is higher wattage.

[goodfella8304]

OK, so I wasnt able to try any other power supplies after all. But with this one I have no usb devices plugged in, and no case fans or unessential power draws. It continues to be unstable. I dont think that it's a case of the psu not having the wattage, because it has worked fine for 18 months; I would say that it has just gone bad. I dont really have any way to test it though. I'm not convinced that the mobo is not without its faults though, mainly because the northbridge fan is broken. I sort of think I should just buy a  mobo and psu so that I will definetly resolve the problem, and possibly have a good spare part for testing purposes should a problem arise again.

Should I decide to purchase a new psu and or mobo, I have come up with these. What are your opinons on them?

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131125
psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170010

I know that those are sort of low end parts, but I cant really justify putting much more money than that into this computer as the whole thing is beginning to get rather outdated. Anyway, I dont see this computer getting much more intense use/gaming. I plan on getting a completely new system in about 6 months in which time my current computer will be delegated to more of an office role that I hope wont be too taxing on budget parts.

[patio]

Many if not all Dell PSU's are built strictly for Dells. Trying one on a non Dell setup can result in damage to the board or other components...

I would save up for a decent PSU...20 bucks will get you nothing but grief in my experience.

If your budget is limited then just buy one component at a time...get a quality PSU first...and save up for a new board.