Computer Help...

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

I recently had this insatiable urge to get back into online gaming, and upon turning on my great big rig from 2007 learned it might be a little dated.... here is what I am working with:

Power Supply- Coolmax CXI-500B (500w)
Motherboard - MSI K9N4 SLI
CPU- AMD Athlon 3.4GHZ Dual Core
Ram - 4 x 512Mb Crucial Blistix DDR2
Video Card - geforce 9800 gtx+

When I try to boot up FH2 the screen goes black and than the entire computer shuts off. The power supply has a breaker in it, and every time it does this hard shut off I have to pop the breaker again to get the computer to turn on. Now I haven't worked on my computer or upgraded it since about 2008... Sooo, I am a little dated on system requirements for games, and what the new hot things are... So am I able to salvage this thing and upgrade it or do I need to build a new one?

[forgottenkevinohope]

sounds pretty close to what im running with... wonder what piece of your machine is grounding out? vid card?

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

That's the problem I'm having. I've tried everything to troubleshoot it but can't seem to find it. Thought maybe it was the power-supply itself dying under the stress but not sure. The video card is actually the newest part of the machine, not exactly sure how to trouble shoot that. Could it possibly be the hard drive? I've had the constant check disk error splash screen for a while now. I figured as long as it booted it was fine.

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

Well after troubleshooting some more I found its either the video card or the power supply, soooo.... New rig it is, any recommendations?

[1AB|Pvt. Wilhelm]

The power supply is most likely the culprit. You should be able to get away with just replacing it. I have been using my current build since 2009 and the first major problem I had with it was my power supply dying on me (it would cause my computer to shut itself down). I replaced it with a 750w power supply I found at Staples which didn't cost too much.

As to what makes a good rig in today's gaming environment, I wouldn't be too sure. I am running a GTX 260 and 6 gigs of RAM and have not run into any game that really pushed my system too hard to warrant an upgrade.

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

Well I unhooked all the rails assuming it might have been a bad rail and after plugging everything back in and booting it up the video card doesn't seem to be sending a signal to the monitor. The fan runs on it so its getting power so I'm not sure. Im just going to order a power supply and go from there.

[Bailing_Out]

Yeah the power supply is firstr then yoour old card is next. You can get a better card for about 60 bucks, way more than enough card to play FH2. Leaving it sit for that long is most of the problem, especially if it is not air conditioned. They do not like sitting in a place without central heat and air. PC's are f ing panzies.

[forgottenkevinohope]

Yeah the power supply is firstr then yoour old card is next. You can get a better card for about 60 bucks, way more than enough card to play FH2. Leaving it sit for that long is most of the problem, especially if it is not air conditioned. They do not like sitting in a place without central heat and air. PC's are f ing panzies.

I must be a panzy then!

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

Welp so far managed to replace the power supply and remove a stick of ram and its running, however, removing the ram basically leaves it with one leg... Soooo.... now Im going to price a new machine, and compare it to the price of updating and go from there. But I'm running for now. Thanks for the help guys

[1AB|Pvt. Wilhelm]

Was that one stick of RAM bad?

[1AB|Cpt Soldier]

I'm assuming so, when I replaced the power supply I managed to get the computer to actually turn on without it powering off immediately, so I assume that fixed the power supply issue. But then I had no video, so I thought it could be the ram and took each stick out one by one, and alas, I had video haha.

[Bailing_Out]

Yeah the power supply is firstr then yoour old card is next. You can get a better card for about 60 bucks, way more than enough card to play FH2. Leaving it sit for that long is most of the problem, especially if it is not air conditioned. They do not like sitting in a place without central heat and air. PC's are f ing panzies.

I must be a panzy then!

Judging by the spelling errors I didn't correct I am assuming I was drinking when I wrote that.

It isn't the heat or cold that bothers them, its the humidity. In many places its too much for them, especially in the south but its too humid for them in most places if they are turned off.