Thought my PSU was dead, but oddly enough...

[lolgloin]

Originally posted by: lolgloin
I was watching a movie on my PC, when my screen went black. About a second after the screen goes black, the rest of my computer shuts off. Whenever I try to start my computer back up, the fans and lights inside my case come on for about 1 to 1.5 seconds, and then shut right back down again. I tried different outlets and different cables. Does this mean that I need to buy another Power Supply?

It's an Antec 450W if it makes a difference, not buying Antec anymore :disgust:

I originally posted this, but after trying my power supply in my friend's computer we found that it still worked. I guess that leaves the motherboard. There are no signs of damage, and I was just curious what the problem could be. Is there anything I can do/test?

 

[lolgloin]

These are the mobos I'm looking at. If anyone would suggest one against another I would lappreciate it

ABIT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127200
ABIT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127229
DFI PRO - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136154
DFI Micro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136143
MSI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130521
MSI Micro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130494

 

[Zap]

Perform basic troubleshooting, such as taking everything out of the case and running a bare system (motherboard/CPU/HSF/RAM/video/PSU/speaker) outside the case... go from there.

 

[Fern]

Yeah, and
Anyway it shut do to heat?
Can you monitor your temps?

Fern

 

[sammy1234]

lolgloin, I had the same problem on my Asus K8N MB. Fern may have a point. I discovered using allot of techie stuff (osciliscope, temp meters, Amp. meters, etc.) that that the problem occured after changing my Heatsink and and fan. When I removed my old stock HS/fan, the thermal paste had pulled a tooth loose on my proc. causing allot of excess heat dispersion in the area around the cpu. When my system finally hit the dust in the same way as yours I was using both my prjector and my LCD monitor. This placed allot of pressure on the cpu and eventually casued the faulty pins to melt off of the die. I was just going to replace the CPU when I discovered that the 754 procs were no good anymore. So I was forced to upgrade once again. Damn . If you dont want to go through with an upgrade (which may be a good Idea) try just replacing your processor, that should fix your problem. If you want to upgrade. Buy the system I just built. I have done all the research and this is the absolute best setup for the price. I beat my friends computer with 158fps in BF2. He's running quad ASUS SLI 7800gt's With an fx60 Proccessor, He got 120fps, for shame!

 

[lolgloin]

I have never had heat problems, and the computer hadn't been running for more than a few hours.

I tried booting up without power to the processor and it wasn't lasting long. We took everything out, and the same thing would happen. This leaves only the motherboard to blame.

 

[sammy1234]

The processor controls all of the calculations associated with startup. It acts as the main brain for the entire system. If one pin is not functioning properly the whole system can be brought to a stand still. This is because all roads through the system lead to and from the processor. When you turn on the computer the beep does not occur, am I correct. This beep indicates that the bios has been loaded. This can only occur after the processor has verified that the Bios Exists. Removing the CPU will make your system useless regardless of the condition of the board.

 

[Zap]

Another new member. Welcome, sammy1234.

lolgloin, do you have the 4 pin 12v plug hooked up? Do you have CPU fan hooked up to the actual fan header? Some boards will shut off if it doesn't detect RPM on fan header, to protect the CPU.

To diagnose the problem correctly you seriously have to remove everything and reinstall everything OUTSIDE the case, and reinstall/double-check everything.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: lolgloin
I have never had heat problems, and the computer hadn't been running for more than a few hours.

I tried booting up without power to the processor and it wasn't lasting long. We took everything out, and the same thing would happen. This leaves only the motherboard to blame.

It won't boot without the bare minimums, you need to have the cpu/heatsink and fan, a single stick of ram, and video card/onboard graphics. First try with the bare minimums, disconnect any other PCI cards, hard drives, etc. If still no go, try with the bare minimums outside of the case. If you have more than 1 stick of ram, try each one individualy, and in differant slots as well. Then try no ram at all, and see if you get a beep code. If you don't, put the ram back in, and take out the video card to see if you get a beep code. If not, you've pretty much narrowed it down to the CPU or the motherboard.