Computer won't turn on.

[shurato]

My friend has a PC which would overheat to 70+ degrees celcius by just having the computer on in the Bios. I told him to try getting a new heatsink and fan + some artic silver.

I applied the artic silver and the new heatsink and tried turning on the computer and it would not turn on. Checked all cables and nothing.

I've so far, swapped out power supplies, swapped out motherboard and still it won't turn on.

The case is an antec 1080. Do you think that there is something wrong with the power button on the case all of the sudden? Someone told me that if the motherboard is not screwed in right it could short a circuit and cause it to not turn on?


Any help would be appreciated because what was a friend doing another friend a favor has resulted in a dead PC. This is what I get for helping all my friends for free with computer related help

 

[drum]

how much AS did you apply?
yes, if the motherboard isn't seated on those risers properly it will cause shorts.

do you happen to have another cpu you could swap?

 

[shurato]

I put a thin layer of AS. Also will a computer not turn on with no CPU seated on the motherboard? It should at least power up right?

 

[nebula]

I think the system will power on with no CPU and you should get beeps. But the 70+ degrees bothers me more. Even with the crappiest HSF I can't see you hitting those kind of temps unless it's on wrong, or no fan, or full of dust. You could take the mobo out too and lay it on the carpet so you know it's not shorting. I have a feeling drum has hinted at something, dead CPU. If he was at those temps for awhile...

 

[BadThad]

Since the only thing that changed was the cooler, did you try reseating the CPU? Pull the CPU, blast the socket with some canned air, redo the Artic Silver and reinstall it. Check for bent pins on the cpu too....be sure you put it in correctly the last time.

Note, the system will be TOTALLY dead without a CPU in the socket!

 

[nebula]

But I think we're missing the main cause here, even before the HSF change it was overheating. Another question, when did your friend tell you about this, was his computer crashing, dead?

Assuming it was working, yes checking the HSF installation is a good idea. But what I'm wondering is the CPU dead? But I guess if it was overheating, it would cause errors, not just die, unless by chance it had enough at that moment.

 

[shurato]

Yes his computer was rebooting itself whenever he played a game. It seemed to be able to stay running for a little bit.
I also pulled my 3.0ghz p4 processor out of my rig and stuck it in there and then it wouldn't boot up. That's when all the not turning on troubles started happening. I have to say this is the first computer problem i've encountered where i'm totally lost and don't even know where to begin.

 

[Underclocked]

Tp determine if it's the power button, just bypass that switch by shorting the appropriate contacts on the motherboard very briefly. Reset/Clear CMOS? on the first board. Remove any slot cards except video? Disconnect drives from board and psu? Try booting with NOTHING connected to the mobo except power connectors, video, mouse and keyboard. (oops! and HSF if it connects to mobo)

 

[shurato]

How do you short out the appropriate contacts? Could you elaborate on that, thanks.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

touch em with a screw driver...they are right next to eachother so just put a screw driver in there so both pins are in contact with the tip of the driver..