Bricked computer = Going crazy

what is exact problem with your computer. I might try to help (I'm Computer engineering student)

 

What happened to it? A virus? overheat?

 

My computer derps too... as expected for a 10 year old computer. I just need to replace and add in more RAM to my computer. Apparently I have 504MB RAM and I'm like... "ASDADADASDASD!!!" ...

I need to build a gaming rig...

 

For $500, you can make a decent gaming PC right now. Shoot for 4-8 gigs of ram, an SSD (stripe or mirror raid array) for your games and/or OS), and a I personally use a Radeon 4850 HD Pro video card, but the 6970 is fairly cheap for high end (the TOXIC edition by Sapphire being, literally, 20% better). Get a nice quad core processor (best to go dual-quad core) around 3 ghz.

 

Did I mention that I'm really lazy?

Really won't have time to do any building of a rig... :/

 

Drd, i just bought a premade computer with 6 gb of ram and quad core and i run Black ops on 100+ fps with no lag. The comp was only 1000$.

 

NewEgg.com

What's the clock on the processor and what video card? My brother's laptop was around $700-800 and has a Radeon 6000 series (but it's Mobile edition). His processor has a higher clock than mine, but my desktop still crushes his laptop in performance.

 

My $2000 custom rig.
Cost me $2000. (Really, who'da thunk?)
Because of this I'm kinda broke.
(Though I built it a year ago)
And my modded case. (Ponies!)
(Cost me even more money to buy the tools.)
And I'm getting a second GTX 580 this December!
The 13[sup]th[/sup] specifically.
(So, for the most part, it cost me a lot of money to build.)
Though I think it cost me even more sweat, blood and tears to build.
I mean literally.
There is blood on my motherboard, my RAM, and the infernal heat spreaders on my RAM
that caused my to bleed everywhere.
That aside, building a decent rig can cost as little as $500.
Assuming you salvage parts from an existing machine.
NewEgg and TigerDirect are also your friends.
Though I don't often use my desktop to do anything but play games.
I post off of my Netbook.
At least, I think it still classifiable as a netbook.
It's a M11x R1 that has seen far to much love.
And fallen some 13' off of my second floor, but that's irrelevant.
(And rivals Nintendo grade indestructibility.)
Anyhow, it's currently being held together only by Epoxy resin, Dollar store clear tape,
and the Strong Force.
The hinges are quite literally totaled.
Anywho (yes who); back to what this topic is about:
If you can tell me exactly what happens when you try to boot your computer,
I can diagnose your problem.
If there is a Hardware issue, it should emit a series of beep when it tries to POST.
(A general hardware check just as the BIOS boots).
With that, I could probably tell you whether not there still is hope.

(And that is what we call non-sequential logic.)

 

Is it booting up and not doing anything, or is it not even booting up at all? If it's the latter, I'd consider going to a professional to fix it.

 

Actually, the later could be a very simple fix.
Dead Power Supply.
Just replace the PSU and you're done.
It's a very simple job, and furthermore, power supplies are cheap.

 

Well, yes, that is a possibility. I was assuming worst case scenario, I suppose, something internal that needed to be fixed from the inside. But, hey, I don't claim to be a huge computer wiz. I just know enough to deal with most problems that pop up for me.

 

If I'm not here, or anyone wishes to diagnose issues with their computers:

Problems that could cause a PC not to boot at all:
Dead PSU - Simple fix
Symptoms: N/A

Corrupt/Dead BIOS - Moderate/Replacement only (Motherboard must be replaced)
Symptoms: May briefly boot and crash

Dead FSB and/or CPU - Replacement only (CPU and/or Motherboard respectively.)
Symptoms: N/A

Damaged Motherboard - Replacement only
Symptoms: N/A


Problems that would cause failed boot sequence (P.O.S.T.):
Dead/Bad RAM - Replacement only (Try removing, cleaning and reinstalling RAM first)
Symptoms: Crashes, Consistently high RAM usage, Slow data access.

Corrupt BIOS - Moderate difficulty fix (BIOS must be flashed)
Symptoms: Crashes during boot sequence

Loose CPU - Easy (Remove, and reinsert the CPU)
Symptoms: Crashes during boot sequence or when computer is nudged or moves.

Damaged Motherboard - Replacement only
Symptoms: Varies.

Video Adapter issues - Check component integrity, may require replacement.
Symptoms: Video adapter may have burst capacitors, Typically difficult to identify.


Problems that would cause failure after boot sequence:
Bad RAM - Consider replacing. Check component alignment.
Symptoms: Crashes, Consistently high RAM usage, Slow data access.

Weak PSU - Consider upgrading. (Weak: Insufficient power output. PSUs weaken with age.)
Symptoms: Crashes on load.

Corrupt/Incorrect Drivers - Boot in safe mode, remove bad driver (Especially video drivers! They're infamous for this!)
Symptoms: Crashes/Lockups during OS Boot/Games.

Weak Cable Connection - Check all cables.
Symptoms: Varies.

Overheating - Dust build-up; clean it out!
Symptoms: Load fans, Crashes on load, Computer runs hot.

Damaged/Bad Hard Drive - Replacement only
Symptoms: Crashes on data access.

This is only a brief generalized list.
Hope it helps with figuring out what actually is the problem.

 

Summary for the TL;DR

If your computer dies, a wizard did it. A Wizard wizard wizard. SO do thing by hand, don't use the wizards.

 

Ah, but a wizard could also fix it.
A computer wizard.
A wizard computer wizard.
Just don't trust the wizards on the computer.
Even if they're wizard wizards.
And especially if they're made by actual wizards.
No matter how wizard those wizards and their wizard wizards may be.
And if the wizards' wizard wizards are actually wizard wizard wizards and are made by either wizards or wizard wizards:
Run.

 

Wizard, ol' chap! Wizard!

 

You see? This is why I use an abacus.