While his death has not been confirmed as I have not performed an inspection or autopsy, the clues aren’t positive.
This desktop is the third Personal Computer I’ve built. He (I’m assigning a he/him gender to this computer on a whim.) was born in 2016 and has been going strong for six years. For one of those years (it may have been two; gotta check ancient receipts in my email), it was dysfunctional because it needed a new hard drive and Operating System because the previous hard drive was ancient. It was the old pre-solid state-style drive from Desktop PC generation 2.
How does a PC work?
Specifically, how does the hardware in a PC desktop computer work?
The above image is a basic image and diagram of what the inside of a computer looks like. The inside of my case is different because this appears to be a generation earlier in technology. (I don’t have the energy to unplug and lift my case elsewhere to take a photo.)
A brief explanation of computer parts.
- Power connects to the Power supply.
- The power supply connects to the motherboard and video card.
- The motherboard, not labeled in the above picture “is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals.” Source, Wikipedia. Is like the skeleton of the computer. Every organ needs it to function along with the others.
- The Processor, or CPU, is like the decision center of the brain. The better you have, the faster it makes decisions. In a computer, this creates heat because the more powerful the processor, the more power required and heat generated. In a desktop computer, it’s one of the most expensive parts and fragile due to its size.
- Attached to the CPU is a cooling fan. Usually, it is a plastic fan connected to the top of a metal grate to disperse heat. If you want to get fancy, there are other options, such as a giant copper fan like I have or a water cooling system. (Google it)
- After that, you connect a hard drive via wires to the motherboard. A hard drive is a long-term memory of a brain—it, along with the Operating System, helps everything inside function and work together for programs.
- Optical and floppy drives are now obsolete, but each used to be a way to install or use software. Another name for an optical drive is a DVD player. I have one installed on my computer from the previous generation. It still works, but I don’t need it.
- Next, you have the Random Access Memory. It works like short-term memory in the brain.
- Finally is the video card, or cards. “A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a display device such as a monitor.” Source, Wikipedia
Possible issues?
My computer may be unable to start because of common desktop computer issues, such as a fan getting clogged by a dust buildup, a wire somehow breaking (like Coconut getting curious), or a connecting plug end getting loosened. Unlike most desktop towers like mine, the side panel is unattached. The wires are loose, but it has better airflow. I didn’t attach it because the panel with it had a fan in the way of the giant custom processor fan.
Regarding priorities, having a dope processor fan for a desktop gaming computer is way more important than a panel fan. If you have built a custom gaming computer like mine, you’d know that this extra step can become extra hours to fix this issue… When you could be installing an Operating System or using your brand-new, cutting-edge technology computer.
I attempted to boot it up as usual by pressing the power button. An internal fan began to whirr for a few seconds, then stopped. But it didn’t power on. I tried it again with the same results. So, I switched the main power switch off in the back of the computer and haven’t tried since.
I haven’t solved it since Sunday because I had just got home from my vacation trip (that’s for a future blog post), showered for the first time in three days, changed into clean clothes, and was going to relax by going on my computer, but this happened.
Which leads one to ask?
Murder?
Who would Murder a desktop computer?
I found my computer off, coming home after three days away on vacation, which was strange because I left it on to run BOINC or World Community Grid to contribute computing power to the project, SIDOCK@home. Each user donates a percentage of their computer’s total processing power to contribute to science or math projects. You can set it up to use less power when you want to do any intensive computer activity, such as gaming, so it doesn’t interfere.
One foreboding sign is that one case fan hasn’t been working correctly. I’ve needed to give it a jump start by flicking like an old biplane engine, but it’s not a critical part of regulating heat.
But seriously…
I’m being ridiculous with the murder thing, as it’s likely that it’s simply this way due to age.
For the past three years, I’ve mainly used this computer for non-intensive activities such as watching shows on a browser (Firefox, then Chrome) and rarely playing games. But all that use adds up over time. And seven years for a desktop computer is a long time, roughly about the ages of my previous two computers when they died.
Now, desktop computers can have parts replaced or repaired, but gaming computers eventually become obsolete, especially in the past 20 years.
I’m hoping that this problem, whatever it is, is fixable. Maybe it’s a dust buildup in the processor or video card fan or a dust buildup elsewhere in the tower case, which would be fixed by taking the insides apart and cleaning it.
I blast out dust as needed or a couple of times a week with a rechargeable compressed air gun and keep the exterior fans clean… But, like an old car or owning a car, sometimes maintenance isn’t worth it.
For the time being, a detailed inspection will have to wait because I’ve been sick this week. Had a combination of a cold and the newest Covid booster vaccine side effects.
If you made it this far, Kudos! I know this is a bit different kinda post than usual.
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