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Zed's Dead, Baby

B

bobsmods

Junior Member
Long-time lurker here at Anandtech, first time poster. Thanks in advance for your help.

My rig:

MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R VIA K8T800
AMD 64 3000+
Antec 430 W ?truepower? PSU
1 GB Kingston DDR400 RAM
EVGA GeForce 6800 GT
Lite-on CDRW
Maxtor 80 GB hard drive
Samsung Floppy
Win XP Home

I did have the CPU overclocked slightly (5%) using MSI?s ?dynamic overclocking? software.

My problem:

This is a self-built PC that has worked flawlessly for a year. Last week, while searching the forums at Riovolution.com for some info about my MP3 player, the computer abruptly shut off, almost as if someone had pulled the power cord out of the wall or my building had lost power. I had no other programs running at the time other than Internet Explorer. Since then, the computer has been totally inert. When I hit the power switch, the case fan and PSU fan twitch slightly, but don?t even spin for one full revolution before stopping. Nothing else happens ? no lights, no sounds, no fans.

What I have tried so far:

1) cleared the CMOS, both using the jumper on the mobo and by removing and replacing the batter ? no change, didn?t help

2) using different power cord, different outlet - no change, didnt' help

3) new PSU ? I was originally using the generic 350 W PSU that came with the case, but replaced that with the Antec 430 W ? no change, didn?t help

4) removed CD burner, floppy, hard drive and video card ? no change, didn?t help

5) removed the motherboard from the case to make sure it wasn?t ground to the case ? no change, didn?t help

6) examined motherboard for blown capacitors ? didn?t see anything out of the ordinary.

My guess is that the motherboard somehow shorted out, but I want second opinions before I attempt the RMA process or spend the cash on a new motherboard. I've already replaced a PSU that turned out didn't really need replacing and I'd really like to avoid any further unnecessary purchases.

Thanks,
bob


 
You'll need to find a friend or a neighborhood computer shop where you can have your memory and CPU tested out in a different machine. If they check out, chances are you've got a dead motherboard. How many DIMMS of memory do you have in it? If more than one, try to boot with each DIMM individually.
 
>When I hit the power switch, the case fan and PSU fan twitch slightly, but don?t even spin for one full
>revolution before stopping. Nothing else happens ? no lights, no sounds, no fans.

The fan twitch indicates to me the on/off switch functions.

Even if the memory were bad, the fans should spin. I think you do get some POST display even with no memory.

The most likely culprit is the PS, but you tried a new one.

I believe the Athlon 64s throttle down speed rather than shut off when they overheat. Otherwise I'd say to redo the HS in case it got dislodged somehow. It only takes a second (I think) for the recent CPUs to get over-hot. But to cover everything, you might try it. RMAing and being without the computer for a couple of weeks is no fun.

With the other things you tried, it should be good enough for the manufacturer to give you an RMA.

For all the flak MSI seem to take about QC, my personal RMA experience with them was very nice. (You do need to know the ALL the relevant numbers on the product.) In my case it was a video card (Ti4400) that I bought refurbed. It was well over a year when it got flakey. Right on MSI's site there are pages that take you through the RMA. You don't have to email or phone them just to find out if they will do an RMA or how to proceed.

They just gave me an RMA number and the address. On their site they had a progress report to check. It took 3 days for my card to get there, 8 days for them to work down the backlog (I suppose) and get around to my card. The next day they sent it out (actually a new one in box, and much better, FX5900XT), and I got it three days later. I paid for transport there, they paid for it to me

BTW, for something light and fairly small, sending it first class at the US post office was WAY cheaper than UPS, and at least as quick. There is a post office right next to a UPS outlet where I live, so I figured I'd inquire, just to see. It was around $3.50. I was amazed, to say the least. At UPS, the minimum is something like $8.

 
Thanks to all who have offered advice so far.

The computer shut off abruptly while I was using it, which would me make think it's not a problem with the on/off switch, but either the CPU or mobo. I guess I can borrow an old PC from a buddy and try my mobo in that case to see if it switches on or not.

I did take off the fan/heatsink and reapply thermal paste, thinking maybe the CPU had overheated. Didn't notice any scortch marks or anying like that on the CPU while I had the fan/heatsink off, but I've never had a CPU fry on me before, so I don't know if it would obvious to the naked eye if it had.

I'll try playing with the RAM tonight when get home to see if that helps.

Glad to hear that MSI seems pretty good about RMA.

Thanks,
bob
 
I have seen an issue like this before which was strictly relating to the motherboard, after a massive power surge, it ran into an issue of everytime it was started, it would provide a big feedback loop which would trigger the PSU to automatically cut off as if it just suffered a massive surge, the same seems to be your problem for you. Good luck on your RMA
 
OK, got an RMA # from MSI, so I will be mailing off the motherboard tomorrow. Before I stick it in the mail, though, should I remove the backplate from the motherboard, or would any replacement that is sent to me have a backplate attached to it?

Thanks,
bob
 
Originally posted by: bobsmods
OK, got an RMA # from MSI, so I will be mailing off the motherboard tomorrow. Before I stick it in the mail, though, should I remove the backplate from the motherboard, or would any replacement that is sent to me have a backplate attached to it?

Thanks,
bob
Click to expand...


you should keep all the accessories unless they specify otherwise, you never know if you will get a new one in retail box or a refurbished one.
 
Update: I couldn't figure out how to remove the backing plate, so I sent the whole shebang back to MSI.

Flash forward several weeks later, and the kind folks at MSI sent me a replacement motherboard. However, the replacement came WITHOUT the backing plate for the AMD 64 CPU. Anyone know where I can buy a backing plate?

Thanks,
bob
 
Just thought I?d post an ending to the story in case someone has a similar problem and stumbles across this thread while searching the AT forums.

Found the backplate for the motherboard at Newegg, for like $3. Arrived in the mail yesterday, I stuck it on the back of the new motherboard, hooked everything back up, and the computer worked like a champ, so it was indeed, a faulty motherboard that was causing my problems.

Thanks to all who offered advice.
 
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