Serious DirectX(?) problem

[Bagh]

Yesterday, I opened my computer case to clean it up and was very careful not to damage anything. It hadn't been cleaned since I bought it (2 years ago), so it took a pretty long time removing all the dust with Q-tips. Immediatly after, the computer wouldn't start at all. I could turn it on for about 2 seconds before it crashed (before POST). At that point, I was sure I had killed my power supply.

I eventually managed (20 minutes later) to turn it on and boot to Windows. Everything seemed OK, except it was pretty slow. I checked the CPU/MB temperature to see if my cleaning helped. It went from ~60 celcius before the cleaning to ~45 celcius.

I thought everything was back to normal until I tried running a game. As soon as the screen went black (before going in fullscreen mode), the computer completely shutted down. Just like before, I was unable to turn it back on. I had to turn off/on the power supply before I could power the computer.

Since then, everytime I try starting an application involving 3D graphics, the computer shuts down and I have to reset the PSU. I'm quite sure it might have something to do with DirectX. I had updated my DirectX installation from 9.0b to 9.0c the day before, and I did not test it before opening my case for cleaning

I tried a Windows system restore (before the DirectX install) with no success.

Any idea on what could be the problem?

Thanks.

Relevant specs:

No name power supply (I know...)
Asus P4P800SE Motherboard
Pentium 4 HT, 3.2 Ghz
2048 MB of Kingston RAM
3 HDDs
ATI Radeon X800 XL
DirectX 9.0c

(I will post additional specs later, I'm quite in a hurry)

 

[gavinseabrook]

go to Start>Control Panel>Administrative tools> Event Viewer and check under the "System Area" for errors related to System Error or anything else important looking. Post the DESCRIPTION, EVENT ID, and SOURCE here.

 

[Bagh]

I do not see anything important. Anything else I could look for?

 

[captaincranky]

Is the graphics card still seated correctly?

Since then, everytime I try starting an application involving 3D graphics, the computer shuts down and I have to reset the PSU. I'm quite sure it might have something to do with DirectX. I had updated my DirectX installation from 9.0b to 9.0c the day before, and I did not test it before opening my case for cleaning


Thanks.

Relevant specs:

No name power supply (I know...)
Asus P4P800SE Motherboard
Pentium 4 HT, 3.2 Ghz
2048 MB of Kingston RAM
3 HDDs
ATI Radeon X800 XL
DirectX 9.0c

(I will post additional specs later, I'm quite in a hurry)[/QUOTE]

Well is it? You might have bumped it loose during spring cleaning. How about the power cable to the card? (If it has one)Could it be loose?

 

[zipperman]

Fan Damage

You may have damaged the fans.You cannot let them move while cleaning
And was the power supply turned off.
I use canned air and stop the fans from moveing.
Turn on the computer and hold a small peice of cleanex near pws exhaust fan and see if it moves.Add another to the case back if it has a location just below the pws.
What mbd is it ? asus has Probe to test fans and the bios will give you a
speed reading.

 

[zipperman]

BTW,why is it a Direct X problem ?

 

[Bagh]

I checked all the fans and they all seem to run ok.

Here are ASUS Probe values (while in Windows) :

-CPU Temp. - 47 Celcius
-MB Temp. - 39 Celcius
-CPU Fan - 3461
-Power Fan - 0

ASUS Probe does not seem to detect my PSU fan, but I can tell it's running or I wouldn't be writing this message.

I don't know if it's a DirectX problem or not. All I know is that it appeared after a DirectX update (9.0c).

Thanks.

 

[Bagh]

Update:

I tried running DirectX diagnosis tests in dxdiag, and both DirectDraw and Direct3d tests went fine. I also ran sound & music tests to make sure the problem wasn't coming from there. I think it must be an hardware problem rather than a DirectX problem.

 

[zipperman]

Fans and Temps

Your cpu seems a little hot.Mine is 23 C.CPU fan is OK.
A new fan and heatsink is a good investment.
I just installed a Coolrt Master.As you see mine is lower.
My MBD is 35.
No PWS fan is normal according to a tech friend of mine.
But just put a kleenex near it.It will tell you if its blowing out.(not in)
Did you get the Direct X patch for 9c.It might help.
It explains its reasons at Microsoft.com
This also might be a video card problem.
Go to ATI.You will find answers to these ?'s and certain game problems
for your card.This might be a video card problem or a Catalyst setting.
There very important.
Update all.

 

[Bagh]

I doubt the problem comes from my CPU high temperature. If it did, I would be able to run a 3D application for more than half a second. Instead, the computer just crashes as soon as I launch one.

As for the PSU fan, I did the kleenex thing and I can tell it's effectively blowing out and not in.

I will search for that DirectX patch you're talking about, but I doubt it will do any good. As I said, dxdiag tests run fine. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[kitty500cat]

Go into C:\WINDOWS\Minidump and upload 5 or 6 of your latest minidumps.

Do you have another graphics card to test in it instead?

 

[Bagh]

The latest dump file was created on January 12, 2007. It highly doubt it's related to the current issue.

I don't have any spare video card to test my computer with.

 

[gavinseabrook]

I doubt the heat issue. My cpu usually runs at 57 C after a few hours of WoW.