Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Computer knocked over...

Nov 4, 2012 10:30AM PST

Hi,

Im new to these forums but i could really use some advice from some one savvy in this field.

About 2 weeks ago, my Gaming Desktop was knocked over. It was running at the time, as far as i know. The noticeable damage was the CPU fan had come UN-fastened form the mother board. I put it back on and it seems to be fine. its since stayed fastened and runs correctly.

When i booted it back up. there was a beeping coming from the second hard drive which i have since discovered is no longer usable. That has been removed.

Aside from that and a system repair on the first reboot, all seemed to be Ok. or so i thought.

Now no matter which game it is, i can connect to a server no problem and sit still with really no issue. As soon as i start to move i get a stuttering both on screen and in my headphones. This Lag will occur in increments. usually 5-7 second spike then 5 seconds smooth, then another 5-7 second lag spike and so on. The sound stutter matches the graphic lag i am seeing. to me is almost sounds like a disc spinning or rubbing on something.
I have removed the gfx card along with the ram and reinstalled them.
this did not help the situation. So i thought maybe the Graphics card (GTX 260 - kinda outdated) was damaged internally. I went out and purchased a GTX 550 TI.
Sadly... this did not help the problem, so i will be returning that to the store tomorrow.

So I am here seeking advice as to what you all think could be the problem. I really hope its not the mother board, and since everything runs fine until I am in game i assumed it was something easy.

what would make the most sense to test next?

HardDrive - main harddrive with OS on it and all essential files.

PSU - seems fine, although i read it could possible be the problem if damaged some how. (corsair 850watt)

Mother board. - FXF mobo, no obvious damage spotted. i guess it possible that there is a crack maybe where the gfx card connect to the pci slot. i looked at it pretty thorough.

any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
like i said the computer runs fine until i get into a game.
if its too serious i would almost rather order and build a whole new rig. as of now this is a great e machine...

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
You mentioned that ...
Nov 5, 2012 10:53AM PST

"the CPU fan had come UN-fastened form the mother board" and that you re-attached it. Did you clean off and refresh the thermal paste when you did that? If you didn't, there are probably air pockets that allow uneven overheating.

- Collapse -
computer knocked over.
Nov 5, 2012 11:23AM PST

i did not apply new paste, there was still some on there from the original and i figured it was sufficient. I will get some tomorrow and give this a try. I will let you know the results tomorrow. thanks for your reply!

- Collapse -
thanks!
Nov 7, 2012 3:04PM PST

yea man... i replaced the thermal compound and so far it seems to have totally fixed the issue.

just wanted to extend my thanks for your advice, you have saved me a decent chunk of change along with a whoooole lotta frustration. also i learned something.

Take care and keep doing what ya do!

-Riggs