Need to reset CMOS on powerup, what component is fried?

[Joeydubbs]

Been using the rig in the sig for a few years now. Good system, never much of a problem, still kills games I throw at it. Threw a second SSD in about a year ago.

Then, about a month ago I noticed my boot up time increased significantly (from 10 seconds or so to about a minute). System was fine after boot, figured I had some kind of virus or malware, but ultimately system was fine (AVG never found a bug btw...)

Then about a week ago, my computer would occasionally fail to power up. I couple of tries would get it on its feet, again working with no problems once booted.

A few days ago the computer is such that it will now not boot at all. I open the case, lights are on, fans are spinning, but no POST, no beeps, and a prominent solid red CPU-LED is seen on the mobo. I played around with reseating components to no avail. Did not remove CPU however.

Becoming desperate, I reset the CMOS with the jumpers and this surprisingly allowed me to boot into the BIOS. From there I could boot into windows and all is well, until I powerdown and have to repeat this process. For now I have been leaving my computer on 24/7 (and keep a pair of tweezers handy for the jumpers)

I'm guessing this is a mobo problem but thought maybe PSU or possibly a CPU issue? Anybody have advice/thoughts? or experienced a similar situation? The system is not very old so I am surprised there is mechanical/electrical problem. Looking to avoid a tear down but am guessing that I may have to do that...

thanks in advance

 

[denis280]

try replacing the cmos battery,if the problem still go on,then the mobo is the one

 

[MongGrel]

try replacing the cmos battery,if the problem still go on,then the mobo is the one

Just sounds you need a new battery.

Or a new PSU maybe.

Or both.

 

[Paperdoc]

I had a similar situation a few years ago with this machine, which I assembled originally ten years ago. It would not turn back on after a shut-down. However, I found that if I shut off the master power switch on the back for at least 10 minutes, it would boot cleanly again. Then it started occasionally just shutting down in the middle of something. Then that got more than just occasional. That made me suspicious of a deteriorating PSU, so I took mine out, opened it (was out of warranty anyway) and found a couple of large capacitors with bulged tops. That was the old "bad bulging capacitor" problem of units from the 2005 to 2010 years. I replaced the PSU and the problem has never returned.

So that one was a PSU failure. I will just point out that the "bulging capacitor" problem was not limited to PSU's, however. I have another machine assembled originally about 8 years ago and used 24/7 in a retail store. Some years ago it began misbehaving with symptoms of power failures and my son replaced its PSU. The problem persisted. I examined carefully the mobo - especially the larger capacitors in the Voltage Regulator section of the mobo near the CPU chip. I found bulged cap tops there and replaced the mobo. No more problems since then.

Personally, I'd be more suspicious of the PSU. But if you can, inspect both the components inside your PSU and those on your mobo. WARNING: Especially inside the PSU there are large capacitors that store a charge for a long time, and often at high enough voltages to be lethal! You must be VERY careful NOT to touch ANY exposed wiring inside unless you REALLY know what you're doing and have grounded any residual charges.

 

[MongGrel]

Pissing around inside a PSU can make you dead if you do not know what you are doing.

I do not recommend it.

Just thought I would reiterate that one myself.

 

[Joeydubbs]

Appreciate the responses.

I'll try replacing CMOS battery>PSU>mobo. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be the battery. When I first saw the CPU-LED I was fearing the worst

Not a chance I'm tinkering inside that 750W PSU, thanks for the warning

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As soon as I saw the thread I thought dead battery. A quick search shows that board has QC issues though. Some with your symptoms. Faulty southbridge, borked bios. Your's lasted quite a while, but it seems like it is dying. If it turns out it is the board, I would go with a different brand, Asus CS is considered trash. Lots of complaints about them. And if they issue an RMA, they send the same defective board back according to a fair number of customers.

 

[Joeydubbs]

Thanks, replacing CMOS battery did not fix the problem. Will try switching out PSU next when I have time, but ultimately, I'm afraid DAPUNISHER may be right, my research suggests same...

 

[jsalpha2]

I had a similar problem.Tried everything above, then moved the motherboard into another case and the problem was gone. :smile