stlouis1
04-03-08, 12:25 AM
so this compaq system came to me a couple weeks ago. it was locking up and screen going all sorts of wierd colors once in a while. seemed totally random.
so first thing i thought with the wierd colors thing. was graphics card of drivers. the thing had vista, and the system came out around the time vista did when drivers were scarce. at first it seemed like a hardware issue but then when i saw the nvidia display drivers for XP installed in compatibility mode, i installed the vista drivers, charged the guy 20$ and thought nothing more.
well, it came back again. the guy wanted to be able to play the videos he's been downloading. and burn them to dvd. so i set him up with nero and the k-lite pack, showed him quick how to use them and sent him on his way.
now its backing again 2 days ago. since he's been trying to burn movies, not one has finished encoding without it crashing or freezing on that scrambled screen. so now it can't cope under load, and he also wanted XP on it. so i told him 60$ to slap XP on, figure about 3 hours, with backup, udates, and reinstalling his stuff. and told him i'd have a look at possible hardware failures or heat issue for him. since its still under warranty, should cost much there right.
well, i got XP on, after the 3 try running the setup. it crashed twice in different places during the setup. now if thats not hardware related, dunno what is. so i called compaq for him, explained the issue. they wanted me to reinstall vista so they could troubleshoot. needless to say. i hung up. now its time to crack the case open and here's what i see
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020047.jpg
now apart from the asus style model numbering scheme on teh board, and the 24pin power header with only a 20pin connector in it. thats on skimpy looking heatsink on the chipset. its onboard video by the way, nforce 430 and gefore 6150se. i count 10 fins on it, that are about 1/4" high, and pretty thick, not to mention barely in a position to catch any kind of airflow. and pretty dam hot to touch for sure
anyway, i remembered my old p4r800 board with the radeon 9100igp that had serious cooling issues for the same reason. so i figure I'd throw a 7600gs i had around in for testing. i encoded/burned 2 of his videos to DVD successfully. i figured thats a good test since he hasn't been able to finish 1 to date.
so i called him, set the expectation for an extra 60-75$ for a new VC and 92mm case fan explaining that its a heat issue and my first instinct was right. i also explained how helpful compaq support was and said i would look into other options as well since we can probably get away with a 20$ chipset cooler, if it weren't for the weird short legged clip on the mobo.
so i hunted around my office for bits and pieces, looking for maybe just a fan small enough to slap on there and nothing really. but i found a thermaltake heatsink with that stupid fan design that was noisy as hell for no reason, thats why it was collecting dust. and i also found an ati radeon 9800 pro cooler. nice thing with the thermaltake heatsink was that it had a nice groove in teh center for the style of clips that the mobo uses. i scrapped the 2 together with a bit of hot glue and got this
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020049.jpg
and some spare parts
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020048.jpg
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020050.jpg
now its still encoding, has been for the last few hours. i had to reglue the fan on a couple times, first time was because i forgot to put the clip in. then i didn't put enough glue to grab the top of the fins. but now its not even warm to touch that heatsink, i call that a job well done, kept myself busy for a bit. got to be creative and have it fixed for the deadline i initially set without waiting for parts. and i can charge him an extra 20. so thats 80$ to go to my e-manage fund
sorry guys, just felt like ranting. i dunno how many product cycles over the last few years have seen this same mistake. and how one small change, that probly would not have been costly from the manufacturing line makes such a difference in stability, and how much of a better name that would made for them. oh well. all i have to say is i wont buy a compaq SR5130nx. theres not really much different now tbh. the heatsink i put in may actually be smaller, but has longer thinner fins on it that make more surface area for airflow. except before the thing was hot to touch, now its not even warm
so first thing i thought with the wierd colors thing. was graphics card of drivers. the thing had vista, and the system came out around the time vista did when drivers were scarce. at first it seemed like a hardware issue but then when i saw the nvidia display drivers for XP installed in compatibility mode, i installed the vista drivers, charged the guy 20$ and thought nothing more.
well, it came back again. the guy wanted to be able to play the videos he's been downloading. and burn them to dvd. so i set him up with nero and the k-lite pack, showed him quick how to use them and sent him on his way.
now its backing again 2 days ago. since he's been trying to burn movies, not one has finished encoding without it crashing or freezing on that scrambled screen. so now it can't cope under load, and he also wanted XP on it. so i told him 60$ to slap XP on, figure about 3 hours, with backup, udates, and reinstalling his stuff. and told him i'd have a look at possible hardware failures or heat issue for him. since its still under warranty, should cost much there right.
well, i got XP on, after the 3 try running the setup. it crashed twice in different places during the setup. now if thats not hardware related, dunno what is. so i called compaq for him, explained the issue. they wanted me to reinstall vista so they could troubleshoot. needless to say. i hung up. now its time to crack the case open and here's what i see
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020047.jpg
now apart from the asus style model numbering scheme on teh board, and the 24pin power header with only a 20pin connector in it. thats on skimpy looking heatsink on the chipset. its onboard video by the way, nforce 430 and gefore 6150se. i count 10 fins on it, that are about 1/4" high, and pretty thick, not to mention barely in a position to catch any kind of airflow. and pretty dam hot to touch for sure
anyway, i remembered my old p4r800 board with the radeon 9100igp that had serious cooling issues for the same reason. so i figure I'd throw a 7600gs i had around in for testing. i encoded/burned 2 of his videos to DVD successfully. i figured thats a good test since he hasn't been able to finish 1 to date.
so i called him, set the expectation for an extra 60-75$ for a new VC and 92mm case fan explaining that its a heat issue and my first instinct was right. i also explained how helpful compaq support was and said i would look into other options as well since we can probably get away with a 20$ chipset cooler, if it weren't for the weird short legged clip on the mobo.
so i hunted around my office for bits and pieces, looking for maybe just a fan small enough to slap on there and nothing really. but i found a thermaltake heatsink with that stupid fan design that was noisy as hell for no reason, thats why it was collecting dust. and i also found an ati radeon 9800 pro cooler. nice thing with the thermaltake heatsink was that it had a nice groove in teh center for the style of clips that the mobo uses. i scrapped the 2 together with a bit of hot glue and got this
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020049.jpg
and some spare parts
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020048.jpg
http://geocities.com/syntheticman6/host/compaq/p1020050.jpg
now its still encoding, has been for the last few hours. i had to reglue the fan on a couple times, first time was because i forgot to put the clip in. then i didn't put enough glue to grab the top of the fins. but now its not even warm to touch that heatsink, i call that a job well done, kept myself busy for a bit. got to be creative and have it fixed for the deadline i initially set without waiting for parts. and i can charge him an extra 20. so thats 80$ to go to my e-manage fund
sorry guys, just felt like ranting. i dunno how many product cycles over the last few years have seen this same mistake. and how one small change, that probly would not have been costly from the manufacturing line makes such a difference in stability, and how much of a better name that would made for them. oh well. all i have to say is i wont buy a compaq SR5130nx. theres not really much different now tbh. the heatsink i put in may actually be smaller, but has longer thinner fins on it that make more surface area for airflow. except before the thing was hot to touch, now its not even warm