computer stopped turning on

mazchazo · Apr 4, 2014

i came home and my brother told me my PC isn't working. he said he turned it on and played on it then it randomly turned off after 1 hour. Then he turned it on and it randomly went out after 20 minutes. It didn't turn back on anymore.

I tested out the power supply and connected a paper clip to it and connected a fan. The fan was working, which means the power supply is fine. i disconnect all the power supply plugs to components, hard drive, graphics card, etc. and leave only the motherboard cpu and big atx connector. My motherboard has a power switch as well and I tried turning it on using that and it wouldn't turn on at all.

My guess is my motherboard is probably dead, but i don't know if they don't turn on if the cpu is dead. The PC never gave problems before so this was really random. The only things about though is that my graphics card always ran at 99 degrees on high gpu intense games, but my brother was playing low gpu usage games before it turned off. i thought the gpu might have blown up or something. i checked all capacitors on the motherboard and graphics card, it was all fine.

i really want to fix this soon and I think it might be the motherboard. I have all warranties to all parts still and I hope to try to RMA the motherboard, since it seems like this is the dud part.

Thanks for any help.

techgeek · Apr 4, 2014

It's possible that it's the power supply even with the paperclip test. With such a small load (a single fan) it could power it up, but then with the motherboard and CPU the load could be too great.

99C on the graphics card is pretty excessive. What card do you have? Have you tried removing it when you tried to turn on the computer?

I have also seen RAM cause a computer to not POST.

From the description of how it failed, I am leaning towards the PSU. Do you have another supply you could borrow to check with your system?

coastie65 · Apr 4, 2014

To add a bit to techgeek's post. If you have a second PSU you can use, and you have an onboard Chipset / integrated graphics, then use that. If it works, then Install the dedicated graphics card. If it still works, then it is most likely the PSU. If it doesn't, then you have a garphics Card issue. As was stated, 99c undr load is pretty excessive. It could be just an issue of blowing the dist from insude the heatsink over the GPU. Check your Motherboard for any discolored or swollen caps ( capacitors ). One other thing, check the standoffs and make sure they are snug and all there. It could be grounding somewhere and the problem just now surfacing. It happens.

mazchazo · Apr 5, 2014

I do not have a decent second psu unfortunately. All caps on the motherboard look fine and in the standard vertical position without burnt marks or sign of any blown up caps. I took out my graphics card and used the same psu and still no luck. The stand-offs are all there and the motherboard is in the correct position and away from the case's backboard.

Something I forgot to mention is that this motherboard's ethernet port actually died about 10 months ago and i replaced it with a pci-e ethernet port. I think this is a sign of a dying motherboard possibly.

mazchazo · Apr 5, 2014

I also tried taking out RAM, still nothing. I'll go out and buy a power supply and test out sometime later I guess.

Thanks for the help.

mazchazo · Apr 5, 2014

I also do turn off my PC at night and half the day. Is it possible I need to replace the CMOS battery? pc is 2 yrs old.

coastie65 · Apr 5, 2014

Hi. I doubt you need to replace the CMOS battery. I have had those things go for much longer, in fact I have never had to replace one and I turn my Computer off at night. As for the Ethernet Port dying, I don't know how old the Motherboard is, but when components on one of those things start dying, I start thinking about replacing it or depending on the age, doing an upgrade and if the performance boost of the upgrade will justify the cost. I went from the Second Gen Sandy Bridge ( 2600k ) to the new Haswell 4770k and it was a an over $500 upgrade between the Motherboard and CPU ( it had just come out ). It was worth it when I ran the benchmarks.

mazchazo · Apr 5, 2014

The components and the PC is about 2 years old. I'm really shocked this PC died after 2 years.

coastie65 · Apr 5, 2014

mazchazo :

Don't know what Motherboard is in there, but some are better than others. If you had an ethernet port fail, there is no telling what if naything may be or have failed.

techgeek · Apr 6, 2014

Yeah, I'm pretty certain your PSU is gone. Hopefully that's all that's gone. In some rare instances, when a PSU goes, it's takes the motherboard, and / or adapter cards etc. These incidents are rare, but they do happen occasionally. Usually when it happens though, the PSU fails quite spectacularly, loud pop and smoke, etc.

If you are getting a replacement, get a good name. If you haven't decided on one, give us your system specs and we can suggest a few if you want.

mazchazo · Apr 6, 2014

Man if it is the psu I'm really mad because I got a Seasonic X series gold+ 750 watt power supply. Seasonic is the #1 brand of psu (seasonic makes Corsair psu's). This is a 150 dollar power supply. Is it possible to RMA it? My friend will lend me his 450 watt psu for a bit I'm sure.

I forgot to mention that the psu always had a coil whine noise sometimes but I ignored it because it didn't bother me and I knew this happens occasionally with 750+ watt power supplies. Well I'm going to use my friend's power supply sometime this week and test out if it is the psu for sure.

Thanks for the help. If I have to replace this psu and can't RMA this one, I'll probably go for a 750-850 watt Corsair/Seasonic.

techgeek · Apr 7, 2014

How long have you had the supply? If I've got the right supply, NewEgg shows it at a 7 year warranty:

Yours?

So you should be good as far as a RMA is concerned. Let us know how you make out with your friends supply.

coastie65 · Apr 7, 2014

mazchazo :

Good idea to try another PSU. If it still doesn't work, then I would look at the MOBO. You have already had one component on that thing fail ( ethernet port ). Yeah, Seasoinic does make some of of the Corsair PSUs. I beleiver the AX850w I have in here ( Overkill ) is made by Seasonic.

mazchazo · Apr 8, 2014

techgeek :

Yeah that is mine, but that one is a bit updated for haswell. I got all my components 2 years and 3 months ago. I don't have newegg warranty on them, but the manufacturer on this has like 5 years left.

coastie65 · Apr 8, 2014

If you are running, or trying to run, a haswell Processor on a two year old Motherbaord, then it is a mismatch. The Motherboard is a socket 1155 and the Haswell processor requires a socket 1150. Close, but no cigar. I have seen this before.

mazchazo · Apr 8, 2014

Oh no of course not, their sockets are different. I'm using an i5 2500k sandy bridge processor. I did not change any part recently for it to do this. The most recent part I added was a new 2 TB SSHD, but that was 3-4 months ago.

coastie65 · Apr 9, 2014

mazchazo :

Okay. I got a bit sideways when reading through the stuff again. You were referreing to that linked psu being Haswell ready and that yours was a bit older. Is the standby light on the motherboard lit up? This doesn't mean a lot as it can be lit, even if the PSU is bad. You have eliminated the possibility of a bad switch. You MOBO temp when gaming is a bit excessive. We have one saying PSU and you are saying MOBO. It could be either and I 'm am trying to figure a way to eleiminate one or the other. Another PSU would do it. With just the bare minimum hooked up CPU & ATX connector, if it Starts and POSTS, then you have pretty much eliminated the MOBO.

Incidently, I had someone come in on another board that I moderate. They were having all kinds of issues. He had just installed a new Socket 1150 Motherboard. Problem was, he was running either a 2nd Gen Sandy Bridge or 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge ( forgot which ). The processors are the same size. The socket 1150 has 5 less pins then the socket 1155 and some other differences, but you can put a Sandy / Ivy Bridge in a socket 1150 and you can put a Haswell in a socket 1155. They are physically interchangable, but that is it.

mazchazo · Apr 9, 2014

Embarrassingly, I do not know where the standby light is on the motherboard. I just see a light come on when the PC turns on and when it is in sleep mode. This is the motherboard. http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/ASRock-s-PCI-Express-3-0-Compliant-LGA-1155-Motherboards-Get-Pictured-3.jpg/

Edit: I actually just went and checked it right now and I found no light. I'm sorry, actually I do remember where the standby light was, it was somewhere down from the graphics card, near the middle.

Thanks for the information and bringing up about the topic on the standby light. I'm going to meet up with a friend this friday to borrow his psu.

coastie65 · Apr 9, 2014

mazchazo :

If tha standby light doesn't come on with a known work PSU, then it mosty likely could be the motherboard.

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