Has the Cold damaged my PC?

[IceRaptor]

I returned to my flat in Birmingham after 3 weeks and its been quite cold. when i came in i immediately switched on my pc, without waiting for the room to heat up. I noticed my pc was running quite slow and crashed within 10 minutes of switching it on. when i restarted it i got a system disk error. I switched off my pc and reconnected all the sata wires to ensure there wasn't a problem. This time it booted fine however it still unexpectedly crashes.

I left Bit Defender on over night and there was no problem but if I use IE or firefox it causes my system to lock up every now and then.

Does anyone have any suggestions to identify the problem?

[Daniel ~]

Sorry about the troubles your having...I can't say for sure...but I leave my gear in an unheated room each night... drops to around 45 or 50F, In the morning I turn on my box and let it heat the space along with the heater..Up to 60F ":O} So I'm thinking that unless it's a lot colder there... most likely something else...?

[IceRaptor]

it was about 40F for about 3 weeks.

It might be that dusk has settled inside and i just need to clean it out.
I'll buy an air spray can tomorrow and see if it helps.
Thanks for the advice.

[IceRaptor]

just frooze up again!
I've switched ram with my other batch to see if this was causing the problem.

Also using iTAT i'm getting temps of 60C on 100% workload without my overclock. I recall my my temps use to be something like 51-52C.

[danrok]

Placing a cold object in a warm room will result in condensation forming on the cold object.

Switching a computer on in a cold room shouldn't cause condensation on the computer.

[Rondog]

Sounds like its coincidence. I would be inclined to suggest a borked motherboard or HDD if you have tested RAM.

[IceRaptor]

just had another freeze with the new ram which means its not ram.
I did a Deep anti-virus scan which rules out viruses and HDD since it ran all night and didn't crash.
I've been ran iTAT for 30 mins on full workload. going to try prime95 now.

Its only IE and Firefox that cause the problem (haven't tried any games).

Ohh and I should mention when I restarted my computer after the system disk error i heard a small pop from inside my computer .

[IceRaptor]

just ran Intel Burn Test for 5 passes and it passed.

tried to run it for 5 more passes and i immediately get this error now:-
Your pc has failed linpack testing.

[IceRaptor]

just figured out it was failing because i was testing on maximal stress. I have 2.3Gb available and the max it can test on 32 bit is 1.87gb therefore it failed.

[IceRaptor]

tonight i'm going to try chkdisk. if that doesnt work then tomorrow i'm going to use system restore.

[Rondog]

Make a backup before you use system restore. It is possible although unlikely, it may cause more problems.

[IceRaptor]

i ran chkdsk last night and woke up to this:

so does that mean my graphics card is failing? I only purchased it less then 1 month ago new.

I dont have any other graphics card to test my system with.

[Gizmo]

Being at 40F for 3 weeks should not have damaged any components. Even scumbag parts are rated for operation and storage down to freezing.

However, the 'pop' that you mention makes me suspicious that a capacitor has failed, either in the PSU or on the mobo.

You need to open the computer and look for any capacitors that are bulging on top or have completely blown their tops off. In extreme cases, there will be bits of the aluminum casing laying around, and small pieces of paper confetti.

[IceRaptor]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

Being at 40F for 3 weeks should not have damaged any components. Even scumbag parts are rated for operation and storage down to freezing.

However, the 'pop' that you mention makes me suspicious that a capacitor has failed, either in the PSU or on the mobo.

You need to open the computer and look for any capacitors that are bulging on top or have completely blown their tops off. In extreme cases, there will be bits of the aluminum casing laying around, and small pieces of paper confetti.

all the capacitors look normal and no bits of aluminium anywhere

[IceRaptor]

my system seems to have been fine all day today. Strange. The only change i made was remove the OC on my graphics card.

[Daniel ~]

Maybe it was just pissed...you did leave it alone in a freezing room with nothing to do for 3 weeks DUDE!! ":O}

[IceRaptor]

LoL

yeh it seems to have a attitude problem. Hopefully it will be ok for a while now, still no crashes.

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by IceRaptor

my system seems to have been fine all day today. Strange. The only change i made was remove the OC on my graphics card.

This is your problem as you just found it...
Its your OC on your graphics card!
You shouldn't OC your card unless you're gaming.
It's not like your CPU that you leave OCed all the time.
I always keep my card at default clocks until I play a game that needs it.
I know this is good for my card as I've been doing this now for a year & a half with no problems at all with my 8800GTS!

[IceRaptor]

Actually.... I just had another crash this morning. was ok all yesterday though unlike the day before where it was crashing every 15 mins.

I'm going to try a system restore and see if it helps.

[Daniel ~]

Stay in touch please.":O}