(RESOLVED) Computer won't turn on... best guess is the power supply?

[xboxist]

Built my computer 4 months ago or so. Worked flawlessly until last night. Was just browsing, doing nothing out of the ordinary. Then my screen went solid gray. I thought it locked up. So I held my power button in for a couple of seconds, and the computer turned off as it should. But then it wouldn't turn back on. And I haven't been able to get it to turn back on since then.

I have no spare parts or extra computer to swap and test, so I was just going to order another PSU and hope that did the job. But it occured to me that maybe something else was wrong that caused the PSU to fail. I don't want to get a new PSU only to have it fail in another couple of months.

The PSU is a 500W Enermax Liberty.

Any ideas or words of wisdom for me?

 

[Mermaidman]

Make sure all cards, cables, and wires are still securely connected - you never know

Hopefully, it's not a broken motherboard.

 

[KGB]

Just for grins & giggles, try clearing the CMOS.
Follow the correct procedure in your MB manual.

 

[dfuze]

The machine you typed this message on, can you "borrow" the power supply from that to test on your machine?

When you do try to turn it on, does anything happen? My motherboard just died. When I pressed the ON button, all fans would spin, but nothing on the monitor, so the power supply is still good.

 

[imported_wicka]

Generally if the board died the PSU would turn on, like dph said, unless it's shorting it our something. You could jump the PSU manually to see if it's still working while not plugged into the board (don't keep it running for more than a few seconds without a load on it): http://www.hardwaremods.com/guides/psu_jump/psu_jumping.html

Other than the PSU or motherboard there aren't many ways your computer would shut off and just not turn back on.

 

[Noema]

Sounds like a bad PSU...had a similar thing happen to me 2 weeks ago; new power supply fixed it. I'd try that first.

As for what happened...who knows. Could have been a faulty PSU, or perhaps a sudden power surge. That's what happened with mine at least: a blackout and then my PSU was gone.

 

[xboxist]

Just wanted to follow-up on this issue (thanks for the great feedback!)

Took it to a friend's house a couple days later, it took about 15 minutes to determine that it was a bad PSU. That's the good news, since I didn't have to deal with RMA-ing a faulty motherboard and deal with the cabling, etc. So I ran out and bought a new PSU... installed it, and everything seemed fine.

Brought my computer home from my friend's place, and hooked it up. No video. "Oh christ..." To make a long story short, it appears that something caused a surge in my power outlet, and simultaneously took out my PSU and my friggin monitor. Confirmed that the monitor was dead today. Have a new 20" widescreen coming from Newegg now. Got to love forced upgrades!

Anyway, I'm not sure if it will help, but I'm investing in some sort of badass power surge strip. I had like a $20 one, but I'm going to bump that up a bit.

 

[daveybrat]

With the nice system you have, i'd strongly consider an APC battery backup with surge protection instead. You can get a decent one for $49 and up.

 

[deathwalker]

Surge protect border on wothless...spend the extra money on a quality UPS.