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Alright,
I recently sent a computer to my girlfriend who recently graduated from BMT and is at Sheppard AFB going to Tech School. The computer is a custom-built computer. I sent it whole -- didn't take any parts out of it except the graphics card (sent that in it's original packaging) and I send the computer in the box it came it.
Well, I overlooked the CPU heatsink, a Zalman 8700. Anyone familiar with it will know it's pretty big and heavy -- heavy enough to pop it's retention bracket during shipment. When the computer arrived, she found the heatsink loose and only connected via the fan cord...
She took a look a close look at the motherboard and says she see's no damage to any parts. Indeed, she even sent my high-quality pictures and I couldn't see any glaring problems, aside form the fact that the heatsink was off.
Well, the thermal grease came in today, so she cleaned the processor and heatsink off, applies a new layer, and mounted it back to the motherboard. I walked her through checking the other cables, installing the graphics card, etc, and it comes time to hold our breath and turn it on.
What came next wasn't expected -- turning the computer on apparently tripped the circuit to her dorm, and she had to get it reset. She tried again with a different surge protector and with the same results...
Now here's my question: would tripping the circuit be due to a short in the computer itself, possible because of the loose heatsink from before? Or is it more likely that her dorm (I would assume it's somewhat old and minimum) isn't wired to handle the load? If it's the latter, is there anything she can do to help, maybe a UPS or something? Would using a surge protector with a 15amp circuit breaker built in be more useful?
Thanks for any advice. =)
I recently sent a computer to my girlfriend who recently graduated from BMT and is at Sheppard AFB going to Tech School. The computer is a custom-built computer. I sent it whole -- didn't take any parts out of it except the graphics card (sent that in it's original packaging) and I send the computer in the box it came it.
Well, I overlooked the CPU heatsink, a Zalman 8700. Anyone familiar with it will know it's pretty big and heavy -- heavy enough to pop it's retention bracket during shipment. When the computer arrived, she found the heatsink loose and only connected via the fan cord...
She took a look a close look at the motherboard and says she see's no damage to any parts. Indeed, she even sent my high-quality pictures and I couldn't see any glaring problems, aside form the fact that the heatsink was off.
Well, the thermal grease came in today, so she cleaned the processor and heatsink off, applies a new layer, and mounted it back to the motherboard. I walked her through checking the other cables, installing the graphics card, etc, and it comes time to hold our breath and turn it on.
What came next wasn't expected -- turning the computer on apparently tripped the circuit to her dorm, and she had to get it reset. She tried again with a different surge protector and with the same results...
Now here's my question: would tripping the circuit be due to a short in the computer itself, possible because of the loose heatsink from before? Or is it more likely that her dorm (I would assume it's somewhat old and minimum) isn't wired to handle the load? If it's the latter, is there anything she can do to help, maybe a UPS or something? Would using a surge protector with a 15amp circuit breaker built in be more useful?
Thanks for any advice. =)