Sad Story of My Day

[Cronky]

Short Version: Blew out my Video Card... and my Hard Drive Broke. :(

Long Version:

So lately my Desktop has been acting up and shutting down for no reason. Well.. the reason was obvious since I had experienced it before, but I was dreading what kind of omen it was putting in place for my financial life. My graphics card was overheating.

Today I decided to take apart my cleverly crafted desktop to put it through the normal, run of the mill, idiot checks to see if I was just missing something. I have had an ATI "some number"HD video card that in the summer got FAR too hot and overheated a lot... there was nothing I could do about it (easily), got a 8800GTX from my friend later and that solved the problem. The new(er) video card now having the same problems, I was fearing the worst. I pulled it out to find that maybe my wallet wasn't going to be affected too badly because of the simple fact that the fan was clogged with dust. I took it outside and blew it out only to have all of that stush blow in my face. All seemed well at this point (Except for the dustgasm in my face)...

Looking back into my computer case I noticed all the Standoffs had broken (Cheap Plastic ones), so my motherboard was held up merely by... the video card and cables. I start to unhook all the cables so that I can get my Motherboard out to clear it of broken, plastic remnants. A little bit of work was in order, but the fix for that was cheap and I didn't need my computer right that second.

I get to what I assume is the "Power" Cord for my hard drive and it takes a nice tug to finally get off. I bump my hand against the back of my Hard Drive, but everything seems to be in order so I continue on my way. Wading through the jungle of cords and cables I finally get it out. CPU fan has a little dust on it so I go and blow that out also. Everything seems to be going well. I set the board down and take a breather.

An hour goes by and I get bored and come to the conclusion that: If the computer worked just fine beforehand without all the standoffs being there then it should work now... Plus I want to see if dust was indeed the culprit of my video gaming restraints (Forcing moderation upon me... BAHUMBUG). So I put the board back in, put some cords back into their place, and figure out how to put the video card back in it's home. All seems well till I get to the Red SATA cord that connects to my MoBo to my HD. I go to stick it on the back of my Hard Drive and Lo and Behold... It doesn't fit anymore.

Now I'm not saying I'm some Computer Tech Whiz or anything, but I'm not 100% that I'm putting the cord in the right spot. I don't REMEMBER taking the cable off, but I know I'm looking for a little "L" piece of plastic that fits the cable end. I take a peek at the back of the Hard Drive, notice what seems to be bend gold connectors, I bend them back... those things are durable... and go search the Internet via Laptop for a Second Opinion only to find that I SEEM to have the right spot. Something is missing though.

At this point it dawns on me what has happened... That bump from before... the one that hit the Hard Drive. THAT knocked the cable off. Knocked meaning broke that bit o' plastic that makes everything all fine and dandy connecting that cable to that Drive. Those bent bits were the aftermath of my silent destruction...

Now my wallet is giving me a disappointed stare as I look upon the internet for replacement Hard Drives.

Time to add Hard Drives to my list of "Reasons why I shouldn't own Electronics"...

1.5TBs of goodness... Struck down in its prime... :(

[Farley4Fan]

lawl at the dustgasm

[tigaer]

i lol'd @ dustgasm