HP a6314f Vista machine with serious issues

I have a HP a6314f desktop.

Product specs: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=se&lang=sv&docname=c01319307&product=3645675

For the most part, if you do normal things like check email, use word document, etc., it works okay. However, if you open more than 1 tab in IE or try to play online or installed games, the fan goes to high speed and it'll usually turn power off within 15 to 20 minutes by itself. Also d/l'ing updates, the fan will go to high and after 5 minutes it will power off.

I've taken it back to "Buy More" and they sent it off to be inspected and repaired. Supposedly, the MB was changed out. I'm not convinced as when I got it back, it does the same identical thing. At that point I pretty much gave up, and just laid down $400 to fix the machine it was replacing. It basically became a brick in the closet.

Now, I find myself with some extra time, and I'd like to see if it is possible to salvage it.

A link in the HP forums with someone with the almost identical problem (but with no resolution):

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Pavilion-a6314f-cpu-too-hot/m-p/275757

I've updated all of the drivers with the latest ones, including the Nvidia driver. I can't seem to find a firmware update for the MB (ASUS M2N68-LA Narra2) since it is an ASUS MB made for HP and ASUS doesn't support OEM products (fantabulous!). Not sure if I should upgrade to XP or Win7? Not sure if it could be a PSU issue, fan issue, MB issue, heat issue, or that it was just meant to be a brick?

Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Ouch man, that's gotta hurt! I suspect heat or PSU. Try SpeedFan to check your temperatures to see if heat is causing the issue, if it is, then open it up and clean the dustbunnies out and also make sure all fans are clean and working.

EDIT: Hmm, I just read the thread you linked to and if you followed that for heat issues then what's left is the PSU. Run OCCT to extremely test all of your machine, you've nothing to lose right? It will save many graphs and will let you get an idea of what's going on. Good luck.

 

Greetings, SIGpimp...

I'll give my standard advice in these situations: burn and boot to a live Linux CD, see if the symptoms change...

One quote from that forums link stood out to me: "I have noticed a number of the HP 6xxx models with similar if not the same issue"...

Any event viewer, task manager or system info tool information available that might point towards a cause?

Edit: sorry, AD - didn't see you there...

 

Ya know, the more I think about this, the more I believe it's the power supply. Man, running all you have on a 250W PSU seems ludicrous. An X2 5000+, 2GB memory, card reader + optical and Hard Drive with onboard video.

My first modern day machine had a 250W PSU with a lowly single core Celeron 1GHz and 512 MB RAM. It didn't even want to boot when I added a second hard drive, which doesn't take much power, that's how weak it was.

The only thing I don't get is the time delay. You did say that the fan speed increased(probably due to heat), was the noise from your power supply fan or inside the case?

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

I should also note that the high speed fan/power-off issue is minimized in "Safe-mode," but is still present.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Augiedoggie,

The CPU fan is the one that pegs on high. The PSU has been suggested as a possible problem by a knowledgable co-worker also. But would an inadequate PSU lead to the CPU fan pegging on high and auto powering off?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Frankly no, though auto power off would most likely be due to heat in your case if you didn't try any of the cooling steps outlined to you first, either in the thread you linked or my suggestions. Run Speedfan and tell us what it shows after 10 and 20 min. and just before shutdown. That's why OCCT is good, it saves graphs. Without that info, then I'm lost along with everyone else..