Bad motherboard?

[jfelano]

My friend said he went to the bathroom and when he came back his computer was off. He thought maybe his daughter touched something but we couldn't get it working.

The fans will jump slightly and he has a mouse light but that's it, no power up.

I took it apart and tried a brand new power supply, it did the same thing, the fans jumped slightly but no power up.

We visually inspected the board and didn't see anything like bulging capacitors or burned chips, then I RMA'd the board to MSI.

Am I right to think it's the motherboard?

MSI-785G
Athlon II 635
8GB DDR3 1333
Seasonic 350w psu

 

[Vectronic]

If that's all you tested... I think you may have really jump to a conclusion far too quickly.

1. Reset the BIOS (using the button)
2. Still doesn't boot, reset with jumper, battery removal, etc.
3. Still doesn't boot?... unplug everything that has a plug, except main power(s)
4. Still doesn't boot?... take out all but one stick of RAM
5. Still doesn't boot?... swap that stick with another.
6. Still doesn't boot?... take out the graphic card (if it had one)
7. Still doesn't boot?... remove the heatsink, pop the CPU and re-seat it.
8. Still doesn't boot?... unplug it, swear at it, let it sit for 12 hours.
9. Still doesn't boot?... ponder RMA.

No one can really answer it for sure if it was the motherboard until you get a motherboard back, then you'll be able to answer it

 

[paul878]

Disconnect everything, just try to power up with video and 1 stick of memory.

 

[jfelano]

Guys regardless of bios, ram ,graphics card or whatever you have suggested so far, the fans would at least come on.

A bad stick of memory, bios asleep, graphics card, would not cause the case fans to even come on.

I also don't see how a cpu can come unseated just sitting there under the desk, I mean it's locked into a socket.

 

[AKA]

Guys regardless of bios, ram ,graphics card or whatever you have suggested so far, the fans would at least come on.

A bad stick of memory, bios asleep, graphics card, would not cause the case fans to even come on.

I also don't see how a cpu can come unseated just sitting there under the desk, I mean it's locked into a socket.

Not necessarily true, the motherboard is failing post and any of those devices can send or cause a fault. I've had a printer connected via parallel port cause a computer not to post, or fans to spin up and shutdown.

It could be the motherboard, but you didn't rule out anything but the powersupply.

However when you get the new motherboard, you will be reseating everything anyways and will never know for sure unless you have same issue again.

 

[Vectronic]

Guys regardless ... the fans would at least come on.

The fans coming on don't really mean anything but the board isn't completely broken.

Next time you have a motherboard to kill... hook it up to a PSU, plug in some fans, turn the board on... voila, fans... now take a pellet gun, shoot at the board... throw a baseball at it... as long as your LCP/Super/I/O chip is still there, and there's a few traces connecting, you'll get fans... in fact even if whatever chip you have controlling fans is dead, you'll probably get fans, or at least one fan (primary CHA, CPU, or PWR fan)... fans basically mean your PSU isn't completely dead, and your board isn't broken in half.

Regarding CPUs unseating while sitting, it's not usually a "bump" issue, it can be a dirt/grime issue, bent pin issue, or the pressure has faded... there could have been a pin (or more) that were just *barely* touching, over time as it and the board, heatsink, etc warmed up, cooled off, warmed up... it could have shifted enough to lose contact.

With the older style sockets like yours, that little lever and the sliding *whatsamathinger* that presses/makes contact with the pins can be unequal... and again over time/temp/etc... one side might tighten up, the other loosen, etc... lose contact.

I've had this board fail to boot just from... nothing really, sometimes a cold-bug type thing, other times just stalls dead... not because anything was faulty, I had just done something stupid that it didn't know how to deal with, there's only so many error codes, and checks it can do... sometimes it doesn't know what to do so it does nothing.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I had a cheaper gigabyte motherboard die similarly after a power outtage.

It's rare but it can happen
could see no damage and swapped out every component, ended up sending it to the manufacturer and they fixed it.

After that I went out and bought a nice surge protector and grounded my previously ungrounded house.

 

[Vectronic]

I wish I had an ungrounded house... I wouldn't be in Kansas anymore.

 

[jfelano]

The problem isn't the board not posting, it's not even got fans, so of course it's not going to post.

I don't see how I can rule anything out BUT the power supply when I can't even get the fans to spin. How can I possibly rule out cpu or memory if nothing's even getting power, so I fail to see how trying to post with one stick of ram or re-seating the cpu that's clamped into the socket can rule out anything.

Soulkeeper, ironically this happened the day after we had two power outages, but he has his computer plugged into a APC UPS, so I ruled that out in my own head.

This was a barebones case/mobo/psu that he bought, so yeah my first thought was cheap mobo. It actually has a Seasonic psu which kind of shocked me for a barebones from Comp USA.

 

[jfelano]

When I tested it with a new power supply, the only thing I plugged in from the new psu is the 4pin cpu power and the 24 pin atx connector. Was that the right way?

 

[jfelano]

Still haven't gotten RMA back from MSI, so we went and bought another cheap board for $30 after rebate and it fired right up, problem solved.