Computer won't post

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Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: seeknowsage
Update: I received my replacement psu from Hiper on Monday, July 30th, and my replacement cpu from AMD on Thursday, August 9th. My computer is back up and running exactly as it was before it decided to go boom.

I honestly had a better experience with AMD's rma process than I did with Hiper's, at least up until the very end. A few days had passed since my first email to Hiper requesting an rma. Annoyed by their apparent lack of a phone number for their US customers and irritated by this delay, I sent them a second email worded with what I'd consider to be some slightly stern language stating that unnecessarily long delays and poor communication on their part would facilitate my need to seek future psu's elsewhere. An hour later, I had an rma number. On the other hand, I called AMD (through a local-only phone number) two days after I initially emailed Hiper and had an rma less than 20 minutes later.

I sent both returns off to AMD and Hiper on Thursday, July 19th, via UPS ground from Norman, Oklahoma. Both of these companies had return facilities in California that were very near one another, and so both received their respective packages on Thursday, July 26th. Later that day, AMD had inspected my processor and approved its rma.

However, Hiper had poor communication throughout the entire process and did not notify me of my psu's status. I attempted to call them on Monday, July 30th, via a local number provided in the email sent in response to my "stern" email. I was connected with a person that spoke heavily accented English, but who was nonetheless understandable and friendly. This person attempted to find the status of my psu but could only ascertain that it was still in the "testing process".

On Monday, August 6th, my replacement psu arrived. Later that day, I called AMD to inquire about my cpu. I figured two weeks was more than enough time to send a cpu back to Oklahoma. As it turns out, AMD had approved my rma but never scheduled shipping for a replacement cpu. According to the rep I talked to (Chris), this was due to AMD moving its warehouse. He told me he'd check for any replacement cpu's in their office and return my call in a few minutes. After a few hours and right before local closing time, I gave him a call back to find out what was going on. He had found a replacement cpu, but it was oem. Regardless, he entered the cpu in as retail for the three-year warranty and sent a stock hsf along with it. When I pressed him on some written confirmation of it being counted as retail, he initially balked. We nonetheless compromised on an email stating that the cpu would be considered retail. Finally, on Thursday, August 9th, the cpu arrived via DHL.

So in the end, despite Hiper's poor communication (in addition to the above call, I had emailed them a few times for status updates but received no response), they had a quicker turnaround than AMD. This was due in large part to AMD's failure to notify me in regards to the movement of their warehouse. (If I hadn't called, I'd probably still be out of a cpu for some time to come.) Overall, I am happy my system is back up and running. However, despite having sleek and modular psu's, I think I'll seriously consider other power supplies over those made by Hiper for future systems. And I have already decided to go with Intel for my next system. (=


Summary:
July 16 - Computer broke. Sent an initial email to Hiper requesting psu rma
July 17-18 - Confirmed both psu and cpu were definitely dead
July 18 - Emailed Hiper second time, received psu rma; Called AMD, received cpu rma
July 19 - Shipped both psu and cpu to their respective companies via UPS ground
July 26 - packages delivered; AMD inspects cpu and confirms rma
July 30 - Called Hiper, told psu is still being inspected
Aug 6 - Replacement Hiper psu arrives; Called AMD twice, oem-as-retail cpu sent out
Aug 9 - Replacement AMD cpu arrives
Aug 11 - I post this because I was lazy for two days. (=


(The real kicker of all this? My XBOX 360 ALSO died when I stuck in a PRISTINE copy of Overlord on July 30th. I hadn't played my 360 in nearly 2 months and it was in excellent condition, at least until that point. As soon as I power the 360 on with the disc properly seated inside, the dvd drive basically chokes and pukes all over the disc. Afterwards, I'd get "Unreadable Disc" errors on every game/dvd I owned. Moreover, my ps2 refuses to read discs now as well! I think my place is just cursed. )=

Must be taking AMD a long time to move, that is the same excuse they used when I called them regarding an RMA. I started the process on the web on July 29. They wanted more info and gave me very specific instructions on how to provide that. Based on that info they then sent me an email that told me I was authorized to return the CPU and they needed some further info but they didn't tell me which of the 2 requests I had showing for this one incident to use. At that point I ended up calling them and the guy hit the magic button that sent me the email with return instructions.

The package got out to them via UPS and was signed for on August 7 in the morning. I waited until Friday and they still had not updated me via email or on the web so I finally called them again. The guy checked to verify they received it and told me he was initiating the process to send me a new one. He also said the delay was due to their move but from what I can see their web process for RMAs needs some major work. Hopefully I will get my replacement processor this week. I have not received any emails from them but it does show on the web now that they are supposed to ship me a processor.
 

jjzelinski

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2004
3,750
0
0
Wow, this is actually the first time I've heard of a fried CPU! I've been working on PC's for 15+years and always troubleshot with a failed CPU in mind but never actually found a bad one. In your case it definitely wouldn't have been my first choice of culprit. PSU, RAM, Mobo, grounding, yes. CPU, never :) Good for you for finding it, though in the future (and forgive me if you wrote you did so) you might want to do what you can to test the CPU in another rig prior to condemning it.
 

seeknowsage

Senior member
Nov 22, 2005
257
0
0
jjzelinski,
Thanks for your reply. I was able to boot my machine with my old AMD 64 3200 cpu and the psu from my secondary machine. However, if I attempted to boot the machine with the fried AMD 64 4600 X2 or the Hiper 580W psu, the machine would absolutely not post. It was really a pain to run through a process of elimination in determining that too. However, the replacement parts boot the machine perfectly, so I am certain the psu died and took the cpu with it. I've diagnosed bad components before, but in those cases it was always just one. Having to find two at once wasn't really fun either. (=

(You're not a fan of Tommy Boy by any chance, are you? ;)



Linflas,
I'm sorry to hear AMD is putting you through your paces. )= I never tried to do their web RMA process. Whenever possible, I'd much rather talk to a person in regards to services than fill out a web form, even if I have to pay to call them. That's something else - AMD should really setup an 800 number! Anyways, let us know how it goes with the return!
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: seeknowsage
jjzelinski,
Thanks for your reply. I was able to boot my machine with my old AMD 64 3200 cpu and the psu from my secondary machine. However, if I attempted to boot the machine with the fried AMD 64 4600 X2 or the Hiper 580W psu, the machine would absolutely not post. It was really a pain to run through a process of elimination in determining that too. However, the replacement parts boot the machine perfectly, so I am certain the psu died and took the cpu with it. I've diagnosed bad components before, but in those cases it was always just one. Having to find two at once wasn't really fun either. (=

(You're not a fan of Tommy Boy by any chance, are you? ;)



Linflas,
I'm sorry to hear AMD is putting you through your paces. )= I never tried to do their web RMA process. Whenever possible, I'd much rather talk to a person in regards to services than fill out a web form, even if I have to pay to call them. That's something else - AMD should really setup an 800 number! Anyways, let us know how it goes with the return!

CPU came in today. I put it in the machine and hooked everything up and the machine posted with no problem other than all my BIOS settings were gone but IIRC when I was troubleshooting the issue originally I did a reset on the BIOS. Other than having to call them to prod the process along once my return was in their hands it went pretty smoothly. This is the first time I have ever had a CPU fry as well in all the machines I have built over the years so I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later,
 

seeknowsage

Senior member
Nov 22, 2005
257
0
0
Glad to hear everything turned out ok. I reset cmos as well when I was troubleshooting, so I had to go in and set everything to the way it was originally, which was a bit of a pain since I run my os off a two hd's in a raid config. (=
 

seeknowsage

Senior member
Nov 22, 2005
257
0
0
Another update: I received my xbox 360 back from MS today. They didn't fix my old unit at all. Instead, they just replaced it with a completely new one. (=

However, I also got another package today that I absolutely wasn't expecting at all since I got the two replacement parts to get my computer back up and running. Hiper sent a SECOND replacement psu to me. I'm going to try to give them a call and let them know about it. However, if they decide they want it back, I fully expect them to pay for shipping as I didn't ask for this second psu by any means.