Is my motherboard dead?

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Today I went to turn my desktop on, but got nothing, not even a sound. Recently I've been having problems starting the PC up from sleep mode. Since this seemed to start around the time I updated to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8, I thought it was an OS issue, but now I think it's probably hardware. I did the paperclip PSU test, and that seems fine since the fan, my harddrive, my blu-ray burner, and my dvd burner started up. Could this be a bad motherboard, or might it be just a bad power switch on the PC?

thanks!

Larry

badboyrog2 · Mar 15, 2014

put somes specs please...

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

the psu paper clip test only test the voltage it doesnt test for a load if it can handle. do you have another psu you can test in your system i am 90% sure it is a faulty psu issue

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

badboyrog2 :

What sort of specs do you need?? I'm just asking if it's possible that it's a power switch or motherboard issue, and how I could test either one of them.

FYI... It's an older (3-4 yrs) Gateway (Acer) tower with a Core 2 Quad CPU and 8GB of RAM. I don't have the PC model number. The motherboard is an Acer G45T/G43T -AM3 v1.0.0 according to the markings on it. I don't know what else you would need.

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

Hi Bad_Kitty, unfortunately I only have a 20+4 pin PSU lying around. This PSU is a 24+4 pin. Why would my HD and DVD drives spin up though, if it was a PSU issue?

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

hi lhowe,

yes they could it might not be outputting enough power to power anything else, the other components that you listed barely require any power at all
do you have a graphics card and are the fans spinning on the cooler?

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

Yes, the machine came with a GT230 card that has a fan. If you are asking if the graphic card fan spins when I run the paperclip test with only the 4-pin connected to the motherboard, then no, it didn't. I wasn't really sure what the 4-pin connector powered, so I didn't really think too much of it. Also, I thought that if it was a MB issue, that probably anything getting it's power directly through the MB wouldn't power up anyway.

Are you saying that even with just the 4-pin connected, that the fan should spin on the graphic card?

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

sometimes i have seen this happen. try to take the card out of the pcie slot and power up the computer see if it comes on then. also does your cpu heatsink fan come on?

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

No, the CPU fan didn't spin either when I tested the PSU. By the way, FWIW, I found the model of the PC, it's a Gateway LX6820-01.

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

try taking out the graphics card and power the pc on

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

also if your spare psu is 20+4 pin you can use it to test your mobo, just take the graphics card out so as to draw the minimal amount of power to see if motherboard breathes life

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

Card is out now, but no difference.

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

Ok, as long as you think it won't hurt anything else. Which end of the 24-pin connection should I plug the 20-pin connector into?

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

is the power connector from that psu a 20+4 as you stated earlier or a 20 pin?

badboyrog2 · Mar 15, 2014

ok i check your specs... and your psu is a 500W , for me is a enough to power your rig ... because your gpu use 65W max
and cpu 95W max so you should be ok... BUT may be is tired a little bit i do not know?

your os is a 32bits or 64bits?
do you have the latest driver for your gpu?
if not go here...
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/73780/en-us

an other question... your motherboard still compatible with windows 8.1 ??? have you all devices drivers installed and compatibles?

try removing your gpu and start on igp instead by the bios setting

have you an overheating problem?

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

The PSU I have lying around has a 20 pin connector and a 4-pin connector. The motherboard is a 24-pin connection with a separate 4-pin connection.

badboyrog2 · Mar 15, 2014

if the psu came with the tower it should work with your rig ... its a stock psu came from gateway
if not what is the model of your psu

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

yea if it doesnt have the 4 pin on the mother board cable then it wont have enought juice anyway. the extra 4 pin connector on that psu is for the cpu power connection. so dont do that. the only real way to trouble shoot if it had a rail go in the psu is to try a different psu in your system.

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

I think you are misunderstanding me... BOTH the PSU in the PC, and the one I had lying around have the 4-pin connector. The difference is that the one I had lying around only has a 20-pin connector, while the one in the PC has a 24-pin connector. SO, my question was, when I go to plug the 20-pin connector into the MB's 24-pin connection, which end do I plug the 20-pin connector into? Taking my best educated guess, I wwould think it's the end where the green wire would match up, right?

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

if it is a 20 pin power connector it wont work any way because it wont be able to supply enough power and would create the same result so dont worry about it

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Bad_Kitty13 :

wait... I thought you said earlier that you could do a test of a PSU that has a 20+4 pin on a MB that is 24+4, didn't you?

badboyrog2 · Mar 15, 2014

your motherboard have a 24 pins power connector and have an 4 pins cpu power connector..

on your psu you should have a 24 pins or 20 pins + 4 pins ( just put togetter 20 + 4 and connect it)
and you should have an 4 pins connector atx 12v for your cpu power connector

Bad_Kitty13 · Mar 15, 2014

ok

i am talking strictly about the mobo connector not the cpu connector. when you said earlier that it has a 20+4 pin connector i thought you meant the power cable to the mobo i didnt know you were including the cpu 4 pin. alot of power supplies have 20+4 pin connectors and a 4pin cpu so i understand what you mean now but the cpu pins are not included in the motherboard cable it is seperate. so thats how i got confused, but anyway it wont hurt your mobo to connect the psu to it wont provide enough power to power everything up. and earlier i was under the impression that it was a 20+4 pin not a 20 pin

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

badboyrog2 :

We all seem to be going around in circles here... Yes, my motherboard has a 24-pin connector, and a 4-pin CPU connector. We're good there. What I'm telling you is that the old PSU I have lying around has a 20-pin connector and a 4 pin CPU connector. If I put the 20-pin connector together with the 4-pin connector into the 24-pin MB connection, then I don't have a 4-pin connector left over for the 4-pin CPU connection on the MB. Shouldn't I just be plugging the PSU's 4-pin connector into the MB's 4-pin connector, and then plug the PSU's 20-pin connector into the MB's 24-pin connector in some configuration? Meaning, with the 20-pin connector plugged into the MB at one end or the other of the 24-pin connection, and if so, which end of the 24-pin connection do I line the 20-pin connector up to?

lhowe2005 · Mar 15, 2014

Well looks like maybe you guys have given up on me, so I'm going to end the thread here. My gut says that it's the motherboard, but tomorrow, I'll run out to BestBuy and pick up a proper PSU for this machine, try it, and if it doesn't work as I expect it not to, I'll take it back. I'll then have to try to get another G45T, so that I don't have to upgrade the CPU, etc. with a new MB. Thanks anyway!

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