Repair or replace?

[squirk]

My three-year old custom build failed on me this week. Turned on power, and nothing. Dead silent, no lights, no fans, no sounds. So, I am looking at both PS and mobo failure. Hopefully it's not also CPU.

i7-2600K
Ripjaws 16gb DDR3 RAM
Corsair 128gb SSD
Seagate 1tb HDD
Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen 3 mobo
Radeon 7970 GPU (3gb)
Lite-on blu-ray burner

What's the threshold for repairing vs replacing? A good 1000W PS or a good mobo will cost about $130 each. Swapping out the PS is no problem IF that's the only issue. Swapping out the mobo and re-wiring is a PITA that I'd rather not hassle with.

I should add that my time is very limited, and I don't have the luxury of screwing around with this for many hours trying to troubleshoot. Frankly, I don't want to eff with the mobo unless I am certain that is the only issue. If I have to pay someone else to diagnose and repair, how much do I spend on labor before "replace" makes more sense??

If the machine was five years old, it'd be a much easier decision, but three years is on that cusp, and I built with some top-notch components to future-proof to some extent, so I am loathe to give up on it too soon.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[KingLou]

Is there a power light on the PSU? If so, that could be a quick indication that it's the power supply, in which case it would be a quick and relatively inexpensive fix. I would start there. With the components you have, I personally, would not take on the expense of a complete replacement at this time.

 

[squirk]

Thanks. No, no lights, sounds, spinning fans of any kind. When I hit the switch, literally nothing happens.

I did the paper-clip test on my existing PS and it didn't come on. I swapped it out with a new PS and it did not solve the problem, so either the replacement PS was bad, I did not install it right, or it's the mobo, I guess?

 

[KingLou]

Well it COULD be a second bad power supply. But if it is your mobo, I would still opt for repairing and getting a new mobo. I just swapped motherboards today out of a computer and it took me all of 7 minutes. And yes, if it's not your PSU, then it's your motherboard. Unfortunately you're out of warranty, though I'm sure you were aware of that.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASRock-P67-...788?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23460446f4

Still cheaper than a new build. Unless you are just trying to emotionally justify a new rig.....in which case, don't let me stop you!!!

 

[Ketchup]

What power supplies are we talking about here (original and the new one)?

There are still some decent 1155 new boards out there, so if the power supply can be ruled out, a new board wouldn't be a bad way to go:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

But here are some suggestions before going that far:
Even if the CPU is dead, you should be getting some fans.
Are there any fans on 4-pin connectors? Those should be turning on if the power supply and switch are working.
Do you have a speaker connected for beep codes?
Sometimes boards won't do anything if there is nothing connected to the CPU FAN header.
If you haven't tried a CMOS reset, now would be a good time to try it.
Same for trying removal of the video card, and double checking power connections.
Finally, unplug anything that isn't essential for boot (drives, external devices, etc) and see what happens.

 

[Charlie98]

I'd check the board connections first... particularly the 24-pin connector. Make sure it's FULLY seated. (I speak from experience with another ASRock board.)

...and a 1000w PSU??? Uh, that's a bit of overkill for that system; you could easily drop in a much less expensive ~600w PSU and be fine. What brand/model PSU (old and new) are we talking about, here?

Look at what Ketchup suggests... it would take about an hour to fully troubleshoot your system. And I agree with the others... there is still plenty of life left with that system, unless you just have money to throw at the problem.