Testing for a defective Power Supply - components not receiving power. Possible mobo issues?

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Retributino

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Feb 17, 2014
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Hey folks,

I'm having an issue where my power supply seems to have died in my PC just yesterday, so I figured I'd try swapping it out for some other power supplies. I saw the paper clip method mentioned here and decided to give it a shot. The power supply that was in the PC that I assumed died boots up and seems to run fine (I left it run several minutes this way and it seemed to be perfect).

I have two spare Corsair power supplies that did the same thing, so I'm assuming this is normal? However, I've attempted to use all three of these power supplies on my PC, and I don't get any power at all when I flip the switch on my PC. I've tried removing the GPU and using the on board video card, which didn't help, and I removed all of my RAM to see if that was causing an issue. Still, nothing boots up and I don't hear any beeps noting that the memory is missing, I just don't get anything.

Since the paper clip method does fire each of these power supplies up for a brief moment, I'm assuming its likely the connectors on my motherboard? I don't see what else would prevent it from powering up in my PC.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
 
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TropicoSuarez

TropicoSuarez

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Feb 4, 2014
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Unfortunately what you'd most likely have to do in this situation is swap out each component for a spare one (if you are able) and by process of elimination figure out which part is causing your PC to screw itself. You've ruled out the PSU, GPU and RAM so you have to test the motherboard and CPU. Because absolutely nothing is powering up, it's probably the motherboard.
 
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thx1138v2

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Jun 18, 2011
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You'll probably need at least one stick of RAM to boot into the BIOS. But if neither the fans nor hard drives spin up you've got a mobo problem so unseat and reseat the connectors. While you've got it open blow it out with a can of compressed air.

Also check the connectors from your power on and reset buttons on the case.

If you can get into the BIOS reset it to the factory defaults even if you haven't changed anything yourself.

If none of that helps you probably need a new mobo. If you see any capacitors on the mobo where the tops are not flat but look swollen up that's a dead give away you need a new mobo. Search for photos of "bad mobo capacitor" if you aren't familiar with what that looks like.
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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Jan 25, 2012
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The paperclip test for the PSU is a very rudimentary test that really tells nothing besides the PSU turns on. You need a multi-meter to test the individual pins to ensure they are supplying correct (or very near to) voltages.
Did you try resetting CMOS? I'll suggest that and trying one of the Corsair units again
 
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Retributino

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Feb 17, 2014
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So, I'm having some pretty odd behavior with resetting the BIOS. I removed the CMOS battery and moved the jumper to the alternative pin positions. I booted up and I restored my BIOS to the factory default, and then continued as normal. It tried applying some Windows updates, and then failed with a blue screen with the error 'SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION'. I thought perhaps restoring the BIOS to default would be enough, so I put the jumper back to the original position and reinstalled the CMOS battery, only to have the system revert to not booting again.

If I remove my CMOS battery and move my jumper to the alternative pins, everything boots up correctly. I'm prompted to setup BIOS since the CMOS battery is missing, but beyond that everything else seems to be normal and functioning. As soon as I reinstall the CMOS battery and move my jumper back, nothing will boot.

Could I need to replace the CMOS battery?

** EDIT **

Also, I just tried reinstalling my GPU with the CMOS battery removed and I just get a loud, continuous beep until I shut the system down. The motherboard has an onboard graphics card, which I was previously using to remove as many components as possible while I tested, and that works fine. But when I reinstall my GPU (Its a Nvidia GeForce GTX550TI), the beeping just plays continuously.

** SECOND EDIT **

On further inspection, it may be my RAM. I was able to get Windows to boot successfully after restarting, no blue screens. However, I was able to do that by removing all but one stick of RAM and booted up. If I put in more than one stick of RAM, I get the long continuous beeps. I do have the GPU installed now and its working successfully, so it may be RAM. I'm going to see if I can get some spare DDR3 RAM from someone else and test.
 
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Retributino

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Feb 17, 2014
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Hey guys, I've been unable to look at it over the last few days so I haven't made much progress. Gonna fill in some updates really quick.

The motherboard is an Acer G45T/G43T-AM3 Version 1.0, its about 4-4.5 years old.

It seems like some of my RAM has just gone bad. I have 4x 2GB DDR3 sticks (these are about 4 years old as well) and removed all but one to get the system to boot. I then changed out the single stick left with one of the sticks I had removed, and the BIOS just plays a long continuous beep when it tries to boot. I've tried looking up what this means specifically for the Acer G45T/G43T-AM3, but I can't seem to find any manuals online for the motherboard due to its age. I'm assuming its due to it being unable to find any RAM though, as it only occurs when I put it certain certain sticks of my RAM.
 
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