What's busted: PSU, Mobo, or CPU?

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arkaeyn

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Feb 28, 2011
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Hi all,

I woke up today and discovered my computer wasn't working. That was nice. So I'm trying to figure out what the problem is before I spend money/travel time/shipping time on something that's not the issue.


Here's what happened. I went to sleep last night, and shut my computer off. It had been working fine. As far as I know, nothing about the physical state of the PC changed at all overnight.

  • This morning, I tried to turn it on, and the monitor said that there was no signal.
    I don't think there it's making the proper bootup noise
    the keyboard had the scroll lock button on, which couldn't be turned off, nor caps/num lock on.
    The CD drive can be opened, but immediately closes.
    When I opened it up, I could see that fans were turning on everywhere they should have turned on.
    I have an older video card and was able to test it, and a different monitor as well, with no luck.

Here are the specs:

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Motherboard: MSI MS-7642
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Video Card: GeForce GTX 550 ti
Video Card Display Memory: 2295 MB
Video Card Dedicated Memory: 503 MB
Total Space: 476.8 GB
Hard Drive Model: WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 ATA Device
PSU: Zephyr MX 750 750W


So my question is: what is the most likely culprit here?

Right now I'm leaning power supply, for a few reasons: first, it seems like what's happened to me in the past when I've had a video card that the power supply couldn't support. Second, reading reviews of the PSU indicates that occasional collapses do happen with it. And third, it's sounded like the fan was straining lately, and it was especially hot yesterday.


Thanks,
Rowan
 
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scoobydenon

scoobydenon

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With your hardware I don't think the PSU is it. The psu fan probably won't even come on unless under full strain. Did you have any power outages that you know of? If yes do you have surge protection for the computer? Please describe in detail what it does when you turn power on, thanks.
 
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arkaeyn

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I don't really have any more detail beyond what i wrote.There's an LED on the mono that turns on. I think the hd may try to spin a little.
 
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scoobydenon

scoobydenon

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From what you wrote it does get power, correct? Also you don't get any beeps?
 
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arkaeyn

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Yep. The fans for the vid card, CPU, and PSU start spinning. So it's getting something.

 
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scoobydenon

scoobydenon

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I'm thinking you should try and check the hard drive. take it out put it in another, make sure it's working, then we can narrow this down further, thanks.
 
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arkaeyn

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Wait won't the BIOS still pop up on screen? I don't have a working spare HD but disconnecting the one that's in doesn't bring the BIOS up. And this is very different from any HD failure I've had before
 
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scoobydenon

scoobydenon

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You have to hit F2 or F10 to bring up BIOS...
 
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arkaeyn

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Yeah but I should still see the logo for the mobo and the BIOS info appear on screen. There's nothing at all on screen
 
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arkaeyn

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They continue.
 
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arkaeyn

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Yeah, it seems to make spinning noises when I turn the PC on/off
 
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arkaeyn

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Unfortunately, I've turned it on with everything but power cord unplugged and diff video cards and monitors, so it's not quite so easy. Darn.
 
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arkaeyn

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Like I said, it was working the night before and nothing changed physically unless my cat was a new kind of jerk. Good calling the RAM, will try that.
 
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arkaeyn

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Why do you so, and what do you think might be the best way to check that sort of traveling halfway across the Bay Area and buying a new mobo to plug in?
 
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nerrawg

nerrawg

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No video signal on boot is almost def not going to be HDD related. Sounds like you are doing the right thing by isolating components. First I would check the monitor if possible by hooking it up to another source (DVD or BR player, xbox or playstation) to make sure it is indeed working. I assume you have tested the integrated gfx on your mobo without the GPU installed? What really makes this whole ordeal much easier is if you have a second pc in the house - or friendly neighbors. Test ram first cause its easiest, then psu, then CPU and mobo if compatible with the other pc that works to isolate the faulty component.
 
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