No POST, has to be either PSU or motherboard?

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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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Hi guys,

Maybe this is just a post to give me a piece of mind if I should buy a replacement PSU and/or motherboard... but here goes:

So I recently upgraded my girlfriend's CPU from an i3-2120, to an i5-2500k as I was no longer using the i5 (upgraded my personal system to i7-3770k).

The system I built for my girlfriend often had strange booting problems like getting stuck on the motherboard boot screen, or not posting at all.

When this problem happened I always went through by testing the RAM, resetting CMOS, checking all cables etc, essentially all the steps on that sticky in this forum.

The system would then suddenly magically boot and work fine for months at a time until the same problem happened, and my fix for this was to simply remove the power cable from the PSU for a few minutes, and switch the PC back on again.

However, this time after switching out the CPU, I can't for the love of god get the machine to POST!

I have tried putting the previous i3 back in and testing, but the same symptoms occur: On for 1-10 seconds and then switches off, in a cycle.

Shouldn't be a BIOS firmware problem as both CPUs came out at a similar time, and the Gigabyte website support shows the firmware that the CPUs are supported from being the same version.

Now from these observations and probably others I haven't written on this post, I've narrowed down the components that could have failed to either the motherboard, or the PSU.

Do the symptoms that I had before the machine not POSTing whatsoever sound like a dud PSU? The PC was working absolutely fine until I replaced the CPU (this does sound like a bad CPU but if the same problems occur with the previous CPU in, it probably isn't the problem).

The PSU seems to run fine when the green and black is shorted to force it to turn on without the motherboard, but the rails to the motherboard might be bad, and the others fine...

I live pretty far from my girlfriend and don't have access to any spare parts so I can't test it for sure, but I have to fix her computer by Tuesday while I am here, by ordering the replacement part in to arrive for Monday!

To order a PSU, or a motherboard... I could order both and test the PSU first which seems to be the culprit, and return the motherboard if it POSTs...

Sorry for the long message and if I have already solved my problem myself! I'm just really damn frustrated by this and need a second opinion!! D;

Thanks in advance for your help!

Shogo

PS- Machine specs are:

Gigabyte H61N-USB3 Motherboard
i5-2500k or i3-2120 CPU
ASUS GeForce GT 610
2x4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
OCZ Fatal1ty Profess1ional Series 550W PSU (Worst naming I have ever come across)
 
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Ubrales


That guide will isolate the problem. And, the PSU should be checked under load; verify voltages using HWInfo, or similar program. After doing that, go after the motherboard; checking it is pretty much a replacement.
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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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Went through that guide, the CPU power (4-pin) is plugged in.

My 3770k is back at my home, so I just brought down the old 2500k to put in her computer!
 
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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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I agree, I will probably order both but it is the gamble of which one is the culprit, once opened I can't return the item to amazon!

What makes you think the motherboard might be the issue? It's really hard to decide which because the problems described could really be caused by either the PSU or motherboard.

Maybe I should take a poll or something on which one I should open first..
 
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Ubrales

Ubrales

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Dec 3, 2009
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That guide will isolate the problem. And, the PSU should be checked under load; verify voltages using HWInfo, or similar program. After doing that, go after the motherboard; checking it is pretty much a replacement.
 
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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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With only the CPU on the motherboard and all power connections properly plugged in, the same power on for 1-10 seconds and switch off symptom still happens. EDIT: the system powers on for 1-10 seconds, powers off, powers on again itself and repeats for a while, and does not power on again until I remove the 24-pin power connector and put it back in.

As I don't have another computer to test the PSU, I really have to gamble if it's a motherboard or PSU problem by opening up the new replacement component by order which I think will fix this problem, PSUs are usually the one to fail so that is my educated guess on which component to replace first... do you agree?

Sorry if this is asking the same question again...
 
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parthtrivedi

parthtrivedi

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Aug 23, 2012
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I had a similar problem(well noise) from my PC but that was a problem on the mobo (specifically on the northbridge).
To me it sounds like problem of the mobo but the experts seem to say its the PSU, so I think you should go with what they say.
 
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Ubrales

Ubrales

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Dec 3, 2009
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Yes, since you are limited with equipment, start by replacing the PSU - then try powering up. If nothing happens, you now know that you have a known good PSU (high probability) and then go ahead and replace the motherboard.
 
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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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Great, will do just as you said!

Thanks to all others who contributed too, I may post back what fixed (or didn't fix) the problem on Monday if I remember.
 
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sski94

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Apr 4, 2015
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So, after replacing the PSU with a Seasonic S12II-430 430W, the same problem persisted. It was the motherboard in the end, which was my initial speculation on what the problem was. The motherboard has now been replaced with an ASrock H61MV-ITX.

Luckily as this is an ITX build, it was relatively cheap to replace the necessary components.

Thank you all for your contributions! Hope this thread will be useful to someone with similar problems in the future.
 
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