Is my mobo dead? If so upgrade question.

dbruno

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Jun 11, 2013
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Recently my computer has not been booting but rather pulsing. As soon as the computer is plugged in and the psu it beings to click and if there is something plugged into a usb port, like the speakers or a mic, it's power light will flash on with the first click, go off, there will be a second click, then it will flash back on with the next click, repeat. Nothing else will power on when this is happening and it will continue to do this even if I press the power/reset button on the mobo or on the case.

I assumed this was an issue with the PSU and replaced it. with what I could afford at the moment. APEVIA WARLOCK POWER ATX-WA900W 900W ATX12V / EPS12V to SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91.
Once everything was plugged back in a ready to go the computer does the exact same thing, minus the clicking noise from the psu. However, now the lights will flash an additional few times eve after I unplug the PSU from the tower. Additionally it even flashed a couple times if I disconnected the USB plug from the mobo and plugged it back in.

Is the mobo dead or is there something I can do to remedy/troubleshoot this issue? If it is dead, what are my options for replacing the board without having to do a fresh install of windows, considering I bought an OEM version.

ASRock 890GX EXTREME4 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
XFX HD-685X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB
2x G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5
 
Solution
pull the power plug from the back of your system, clear the CMOS, pull the bios battery, and wait a few minutes. replace the battery, reset the cmos jumper, try to start your system

pull out everything... except for the cpu and 1 stick of ram. try to start the computer. if that doesn't work. try a different ram stick, different slot on the motherboard. if that doesn't work then your MB/CPU is fried. no way to tell which without trying a different cpu/mb.

if it starts with one stick or ram, try it in a different slot (the one it didn't start with) if your system still starts you have a bad stick of ram

if your system start with both ram and no gpu, then it's your gpu that's fried. That or it was locked up... i've seen that...

velosteraptor

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Jul 20, 2012
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If you buy the exact same motherboard as the one that died, then it shouldnt be a problem.
Otherwise yes, you will have to buy a new copy of windows.

Most motherboards have 1 to 3 year warrantys on them,(not familiar with ASRock's policy) but i would try and get it RMAd if its still in warranty.
 
pull the power plug from the back of your system, clear the CMOS, pull the bios battery, and wait a few minutes. replace the battery, reset the cmos jumper, try to start your system

pull out everything... except for the cpu and 1 stick of ram. try to start the computer. if that doesn't work. try a different ram stick, different slot on the motherboard. if that doesn't work then your MB/CPU is fried. no way to tell which without trying a different cpu/mb.

if it starts with one stick or ram, try it in a different slot (the one it didn't start with) if your system still starts you have a bad stick of ram

if your system start with both ram and no gpu, then it's your gpu that's fried. That or it was locked up... i've seen that too. since you've pulled the gpu out and reset the cmos, try resetting the cmos one more time, then plug the gpu back in. see if it will start. If it will, problem solved, the gpu was locked up. if it doesn't you have a fried gpu.
 
Solution

dbruno

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Jun 11, 2013
7
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Thanks, went through the steps and it will not boot with just the cpu and a stick of ram. I do have another cpu I can test to see if the mobo is the problem which I'll get around to when that computer is no loner being used.
 


yeah. try the other cpu... that way you know which part blew up... your cpu or motherboard. :( sorry about the bad news.
 


well at least we know for sure. If you can test the CPU in the other computer you might want to. cause sometimes when a MB goes it takes the cpu with it. Hope that's not the case but it can happen.
 

dbruno

Honorable
Jun 11, 2013
7
0
10,510


I would have but I don't believe the other board supports 125w cpus.