Powering on issues, unsure of cause. Please help.

[PaperScissorsStone]

Recently my computer has been having real trouble powering on.

My computer is a AMD Althon 64 x2 DualCore 3800+, Asus A8N32-SLi mobo, 2GB of ram, EVGA 8800GT graphics card... Vista Home.

Please forgive my low key explanation : )

When my PC normally turns on, after the power button is pressed you hear the 3D card fan whirl quite loudly for a few seconds before the motherboard beeps and the fans all quiet down. Its at this point the moniter kicks in and all is well... the PC turns on.

Recently, and it appears to be getting steadily worse, after the power button is pressed you hear the 3D cards fan whirl loudly. Unfortunatly the motherboard does not beep (major concern), the fans do not quiet and the PC fails to turn on. The PC stays powered, fans going but nothing else appears to happen. It appears power is getting to all parts as you can see the motherboard lights and hear the harddrives.

You need to hold the power switch to force the PC off before trying again. This morning it took 2 and a half hours of turning it on, and forcing it off before the motherboard finally beeped and the PC turned on.

At times, holding the power button does not turn it off and I am forced to turn off power at the wall socket.

When the PC is on, its fine... I can find no problems there... its just getting it on in the first place. I have talked to few tech friends and they believe the motherboard is dieing on me.

However AnandTech has always helped me with problems in the past and I would appreicate peoples opinions as to what the problem is.

Is it likely to be the motherboard?

 

[nishiyama]

I just recently went through this on my Intel based computer. I eventually tried flashing the bios but they just bricked my motherboard. Currently I am waiting for my new MB to arrive in the mail but I would suggest a few things.

If you can get it up, try to restart and get into the bios. Once there I would write down any settings you have tweaked then try loading optimized defaults. I would then power it down completly. Wait a minute then restart and see if you still have the same cold boot issue.

Have you run any tests to see how hot your cpu is running? CoreTemp is a great program for that. As long as you are staying below 65 during stress you should be fine.

If your temp is exceptionally high and you are not overclocking, you could try
- cleaning out the dust bunnies from inside your machine
- re-apply a fresh coat of thermal paste between the heatsink/cpu

There are any number of things that could be wrong and you may end up having to either RMA your MB or just getting a new one all together. Before you do that though assuming you have another pc I would swap in your pieces and see if the issue re-occurs with any of the other hardware to narrow it down and be more certain it is actually the MB.

 

[Jest3r]

Sounds like the motherboard. Test the power supply voltages just in case tho.

 

[mpilchfamily]

What PSU do you have?

 

[PaperScissorsStone]

Thank you for the reply guys, and the suggestions.

My power supply is just a bog standard one. Its an ATX 12V JNP-500AP, ive had it for quite some time now. I was concerned it wouldnt have the juice to power my 3D card when I bought it last year but up until now ive had no problems.

It took about and hr and a half to get it on this morning : (

Ive checked my CPU and they are both running at about 51 C max when being taxed so I do not believe that is the problem. I have not overclocked it either. I will take a look at the Bios.

Unfortunatly I do not have a secondary PC.. well not with me in London at least. I have looked online to see if you can still buy my motherboard, doesnt look promising.. its a good few years old now.

I have removed my graphics card, and one of my HDDs to see if, maybe they were part of the problem but unfortunatly the motherboard still would not beep / turn on.

 

[mpilchfamily]

I'd get another PSU. I generic 500W PSU isn't likely to sustain the power needs of your system. Sure its worked well so far but it seams to be wearing out on you. You system needs about 28A on the 12V rails. Problem with the generic PSUs is they don't offer allo of power to the 12V rails. Newer and better quality PSUs now offer allot more to the 12V rails. I reccomend looking into the Corsair VX450. Its a great quality PSU and has the power your system needs.

 

[PaperScissorsStone]

Thanks for the suggestion, stupid question... if it is my power supply why would it suddenly work after about 2 hrs of trying to turn it on? Then work without fault all day as long as I leave it on?

I would have thought if my PC wasnt getting enough power it would just... not work. As I said, I removed my 3D card, which is a large power hog, and it still would not work. Surely without a 8800GT drawing power, power supply would not be an issue?

Please enlighten me

 

[mpilchfamily]

A troubled PSU can be rather fickle like that. The PSU is just barely able to power the system. Problem is over time the PSU is less able to supply the amount of rated power to the system. So it can have its good times and its bad. But ultamitly you are headed for a PSU failyer.

Now there is a possibility that the PSu is just part of the problem. Either way it would be a good idea to get a new one.

 

[PaperScissorsStone]

Thanks mpilchfamily, makes sense. I suppose I have to way up spending £50 on a new PSU which may fix my problems or use that £50 towards a new PC all together.

Im emailing a few PC repair shops in my local area, see if they might give me any free advice. It must be either the PSU and or the motherboard.

Cheers! If anyone else has any suggestions please let me know.

 

[nishiyama]

FYI Here is a great deal on a beefy power supply:
PC Power & Cooling 750W ~$90 AR