24/7 PC suddenly not working, clicking noise - any ideas …

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  • chris_j_hunter
    Automated Home Legend
    • Dec 2007
    • 1713

    #16
    there's space in Node0 for a tower, so not so worried about small form factor ... do applications have to be written to take best advantage of things like multi-threading & RAM, or does the OS take care of that ? How far up the i3 i5 i7 ladder is it worth going ? At the moment, IIRC, our miniITX has 1GB of RAM - more modern PCs often have 4GB, sometimes 8GB, even 16GB, some can go to 32GB ... SSD still a bit expensive, 'though for a 24/7 PC could make a lot of sense, 'though they do need cooling, which might imply potential reliability issues (?)

    Chris
    Our self-build - going further with HA...

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    • Vangelis
      Automated Home Guru
      • Sep 2009
      • 131

      #17
      ahh ok. Apps do have to be written to make best use of resources (RAM / 32-64bit architecture).

      Assumption is (from your boot CD) that you are running WinXP - You will be getting Win7 minimum if you get a new system, for which 4Gb RAM is really base...

      I am a true believer that more RAM equals faster and more stable system - Multi-core setups really depend on what you are doing. This is not a gaming PC so i3 / i5 should suffice. I would go with 8Gb RAM min (I always think Win has memory leaks )

      SSD in my opinion is like night and day when it comes to Windows, on overall speed of operation - plus the added bonus of alot less heat

      You need to have a think of where you want to take any new system, and spec it accordingly, as it's an investment that needs to last several years. Plus if it's a 24/7 system running critical apps, I don't want it to be stressed..

      Vangelis

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      • chris_j_hunter
        Automated Home Legend
        • Dec 2007
        • 1713

        #18
        thanks ... we're running with a borrowed 2.4GHz laptop at the moment and, with one camera (its webcam) being used as part of the HA set-up, it's CPU is 40% loaded - this maybe gives some feel for where we should aim ... laptop CPU performance is generally reigned-back, of course, to limit heating issues ... the full set-up will need to cope with six cameras ...

        Chris
        Our self-build - going further with HA...

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        • chris_j_hunter
          Automated Home Legend
          • Dec 2007
          • 1713

          #19
          OK - measured a few more voltages - 10.5V & 5V is getting to the HD …

          when budget allows, will order a new SATA HD drive, to try - we could use it in a new PC, if that's where we end up …
          Our self-build - going further with HA...

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          • Vangelis
            Automated Home Guru
            • Sep 2009
            • 131

            #20
            Maybe a cheaper option (to test) is see if anyone has a disk caddy, or you can get the IDE / SATA to USB converter cables off ebay. Then check the drive in another machine to see if it's really dead

            Or just resign yourself to the fact you might have to buy yourself an early Christmas pressie

            Vangelis

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            • chris_j_hunter
              Automated Home Legend
              • Dec 2007
              • 1713

              #21
              just to follow up ...

              we did buy a new HD, but it showed less sign of life than the old one - ie: when we switched-on the PC, the new one was quiet, at least so far as we could hear, while the old one went click click click ...

              we did measure lots of voltages, but couldn't decide whether it was the motherboard or the power supply that wasn't behaving itself - ie: the power supply is smart & delivers only what's required by the motherboard - ie: absence of voltage at any particular terminal could be due to power supply having a fault or the motherboard not asking for it, for whatever reason, perhaps a fault ...

              Googling revealed that click click click ... sounds from the motherboard beeper were once, in the early days of PCs, indicative of power supply faults ... not sure that's still the case, or not ...

              in our case, the click click click ... of the beeper was in-synch with a similar sound from the (old) HD ...

              tempting to think we should try a new ACX power supply ...

              Chris
              Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 16 March 2015, 08:59 PM.
              Our self-build - going further with HA...

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