HELP!!!! My Computer Died

[Frankie]

I turn it on and the lights on the front of the case come on, the DVD light comes on and off, as if the computer is checking to see if there is anything in there to boot to, all the fans are running but nothing happens.

It won't post. I won't beep. It just sits there with the lights on and the fans running. I'm pretty sure it's either the CPU or the Motherboard. However, how do you determine which one it is?

Also, could it be anything else causing this, or am I'm right in my assumption that's one of the two I listed.

The motherboard is an AN32SLI, the one with the useless, it would seem, heatpipe. The CPU is an AMDX264 4800.

 

[montag451]

Take the RAM out of the machine, see if you can coax a beep code out of it.

 

[Frankie]

Nothing. I took out the memory and still no posting, not beeping.

 

[montag451]

No beeps?
Reseat cpu/fan and try again.
If still no joy, tear the heatsink and the cpu away from each other, clean off gunk with isopropanol, reinstall with arctic silver, or equiv.
Try again.

 

[Frankie]

No Joy. No beeps, no nothing.

Since the light on the motherboard is coming on and all the fans are running, I'm guessing it's the CPU. The lights on the Mobo and and the fans that are plugged into the mobo wouldn't be running if it was bad would it?

 

[montag451]

Depends on what was wrong with the mobo.....
Can't tell, but at least have narrowed it down.

Try a BIOS reset.
What was it doing when it died?
Any thunder and lightening outside?
What psu are you using?

 

[Frankie]

Originally posted by: montag451
Depends on what was wrong with the mobo.....
Can't tell, but at least have narrowed it down.

Try a BIOS reset.
What was it doing when it died?
Any thunder and lightening outside?
What psu are you using?

Reset the BIOS, still nothing.

Actually I started having a problem at the beginning of the month. It did the same thing a couple of times, when I tried to restart the computer after installing some software it wouldn't post. I opened it up, made sure everything was connected and then turned it back on and it was fine. Did it again a couple of days later. Last night I got home from work cut the computer on and nothing, wouldn't post or beep. Opened it up made sure everything was connected, still nothing. Pulled the memory, the video card, and the power to the mobo. Put everything back, still nothing. Tried to turn it back on today when I got home, nothing. I'm guessing when it started messing up at the beginning of the month it was a warning sign.

We haven't had any bad storms with lighting lately, alot of rain and thunder but that's it.

I'm using an Enermax Power Supply, 650 watt. Didn't want to go cheap on that.

 

[montag451]

Well, you got a great psu.....

Its hard to say whether it is mobo or cpu without swapping out.
Do you know anyone with a 'postcard' diagnostic tool.....? Its a card that either runs off USB or PCI, comes up with an error code that can be looked up. Some of the time it can pin the problem to one piece of hw or another.

 

[Frankie]

Originally posted by: montag451
Well, you got a great psu.....

Its hard to say whether it is mobo or cpu without swapping out.
Do you know anyone with a 'postcard' diagnostic tool.....? Its a card that either runs off USB or PCI, comes up with an error code that can be looked up. Some of the time it can pin the problem to one piece of hw or another.

Never heard of one of those. I have a techie friend, I'll get in touch with him and see if he has one of those. Until then, I'm tied to my laptop. I would try and put another CPU in, but I don't have any old ones. My linux machine has an old AMD MOBO along with an old AMD CPU which is a different slot design. This was a new build, 2 months past a year.

I saw in the other topic you were posting in that AMD has a 3 year warranty. I bought the stuff from Monarch Computers, which went out of business. I'm guessing they might send me a CPU, hopefully once I diagnose the problem to one of the two components.

Thanks for your help montag :thumbsup: Appreciate it. I'll let you know if I can diagnose which one is the culprit.

 

[montag451]

Yeah, definitely post back....

Look forward to one less comp on the scrap heap.

 

[dbailey]

Last night I got home from work cut the computer on and nothing, wouldn't post or beep.


That's the problem. Never cut your computer. They don't respond well to harsh treatment.

 

[Frankie]

Originally posted by: dbailey
Last night I got home from work cut the computer on and nothing, wouldn't post or beep.


That's the problem. Never cut your computer. They don't respond well to harsh treatment.

Unfortunatly that's not an option for me. My room is upstairs and there is no central air upstairs. I have a window unit and I can't leave that on all day. However, during the winter time that might be an option and an option I'm going to try I think. During the summer time though, I have to turn it off.

By the way, still haven't determined which one is screwed.

 

[Frankie]

UPDATE!!!

I just put everything back in again. I pressed the reset button about 10 times and it's finally got life again. Not sure why, but it's working again.

What could be the cause of this? It's got to be something else now