Computer won't turn on Part II

excalibur313

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Jan 16, 2005
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Well as a way to try and simplify my previous post I'll try and sum up what has been found out so far in a few sentences. I had and AMD 3000+ processor on a gigabyte ga-k8ns pro motherboard and i originally had to send back the motherboard because updating the bios failed and it wouldn't turn on. I got the replacement though and I used it for maybe 24 hours time and the 12 last hours were just continuously on sleep because I forgot to turn it off. It was sitting there and then it just turned off with no warning. I tried to turn it back on, switch plugs etc but it clearly wasn't the lack of power coming in. When the power button is pressed nothing happens at all. No fans, hard drives whirring, lights, sounds or anything else. (incidently I can hear this small sound of the motherboard powering down if i remove the power from it) I thought it was the psu originally because it was so crappy but on a whim I tried the psu on a friends computer who had the exact same setup of mine save the hard drives and it actually turned on. To me this means that the psu clearly isn't messed up but it is something else probably the motherboard. What do you guys think it is and what test should I do to confirm or deny it? I don't understand how it can work for such a long period of time and then fail if it was something big like a short in the board. I have the board raised up by spacers so it shouldn't be that it is shorting with the case but I could be wrong. I don't really know what to do at this point and I'm sorry for reposting but I'm at a point where I'm out of my league and I don't know how to progress.
Thanks,
Stephen

Here are my specs:
Gigabyte ga-k8ns pro
2 seagate 80gb harddrives (type 0 raid)
Corsair 3200 DDR 512 mb
Radeon 9600se (by sapphire)
I also had a nec dual layer burner and a sony 1.44 floppy drive.


PS- Oh and I also tried resetting the CMOS by taking out the battery for like 10 minutes.
 

Feep

Senior member
Aug 30, 2004
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it does sound like MB. The only thing you can really do is check to make sure it isnt touching any metal, but even if it is it may be too late.

looks like you may have to send the board back again

sorry dude
 

excalibur313

Member
Jan 16, 2005
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I don't think its a loose power connector because i can hear the board power down when i unplug it. I got clearance to ship it in but my question is how do I know it is the motherboard and not the processor. I don't want to go through all the hassle of replacing the mobo when it is just the processor. How do i isolate that it is the mobo? Also should i sent it through newegg or gigabyte? New egg would be new and gigabyte i hear probably would be a refurb but they would test it to make sure it works which is more than i can say for this motherboard.
 

Viper96720

Diamond Member
Jul 15, 2002
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Newegg doesn't rma motherboards last I heard. You did troubleshoot using minimal components to boot up. Made sure cpu and heatsink fan was on right.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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You're still trying to run that thing on a $10 Rosewill/L&C power supply, huh?
 

m4ch0dude

Senior member
Jan 16, 2005
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I didnt catch the "Part I" of this topic, so maybe you've tried this already, but one thing I would do is disconnect everything from your motherboard except tha bare minimum you need to have the computer on. So, you'd only have the cpu (w/heat sink, obviously) and memory on the mobo, and nothing else. Then, try turnning it on, and see if at least you can get the thing to POST, or at least if the cpu fan is working. If yes, the reconnect all the other components one by one until you run into problems, and you've found a faulty component.

The reason I'm saying this is because a few months back, my comp would turn on, have fans running, but never get to POST, or boot, or even display anything. So I coudn't figure anything out, and I thought the mobo was dead for sure, but then I tried this, and it turns out my lousy case fan was shorting the whole system. I ditch the fan, and it works like a charm.

Hope this helps.
 

excalibur313

Member
Jan 16, 2005
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I have a really nice power supply ordered (super flower) but you're right that i haven't used it yet. I don't think it is the psu because it works with my friends who has the same setup and it used to work with mine. I tried what you said m4ch0dude...i just had the cpu, fan and memory plugged in and it still didn't turn on. Its weird though. When i used my friends psu that started smoking it did cause the cpu fan to spin after about a minute although it didn't show anything on the screen while when I have this working psu it doesn't cause the fan to spin afer a minute. It's probably nothing but it's still weird. I called new egg and they rmaed my other motherboard and they said they would do this one too.
 

volrath

Senior member
Feb 26, 2004
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Sounds more like your motherboard got fried because you used a crappy power supply.

It shouldn't be cpu because you can't get it to turn on at all... right? The way to troubleshoot that is to put a different cpu in it. The only way.
 

Feep

Senior member
Aug 30, 2004
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a better idea would be to put your cpu in antoher MB

otherwise you might just fry another cpu ( i that is the problem)
 

excalibur313

Member
Jan 16, 2005
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My friend who has the same setup as me is going to rma his too (for a problem with the raid so it still turns on) and i applied my heat sink to processor with thermal grease. Since i just want to check to see if i turns on and it isn't long term do i need to clean it all off only to reapply it to stay on for a bit or whats the easiest way to move it over so i don't have to clean it twice but i can still just see that it works without frying it?
 

Feep

Senior member
Aug 30, 2004
224
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you need to clean it. Otherwise you won't know if the problem is the MB or the CPU not getting rid of heat well enough