PC won't boot up. Hear a beep, fans spin once, then nothing. Could it be mobo?

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frognosticator

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Sep 4, 2017
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I built my PC ~18 months ago. Just the other day the PC would not wake from sleep and turned off. It would not power on when I tried. I heard clicks, an attempt to boot, then nothing.

I tried plugging the PC into another outlet. I heard one beep, saw the fans spin a single rotation, then nothing.

Trying to figure out what the issue is, but I am a layman. First thought was PSU, but some power is getting through, the pc is just not booting. Then thought maybe it's the motherboard. Maybe the power controller is preventing system boot up due to a mobo issue.

Any other thoughts on what the issue might be? We did have a power outage the other night while I was using the PC. The PC was plugged into a power strip (with some claims of surge protection), but the PC worked for like 2 weeks after that, so that also makes me think the PSU is ok.

Kind of clueless here on next steps. I could try replacing mobo, but if that's not the issue, I'm lost.
 
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appletatoes
I know a common one beep code means a GPU failure and now that you're getting DRAM errors with both sticks, I think you're computer just endured the full voltage spike of that recent power outage you said earlier. It sounds like the power strip you were using, surge protector or not, it still spiked your computer and all the hardware inside :/

The only way to rule out bad RAM would be to order new RAM of that type or, if you have any other sticks that are compatible laying around, try those out.

I just recently built a new computer to replace a similar problem and the RAM was at fault, Motherboard and HDD. It was a horrible situation but do try different RAM if you can. It sounds like the PSU is still fine though.

If you try...
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appletatoes

appletatoes

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Sep 3, 2017
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Sounds like the PSU might be bad. I would disconnect all of the PSU cables inside and do the paper clip trick:

http://aphnetworks.com/tutorials/psu_paperclip_trick

If it doesn't power on then you know it's dead. If it does then use a voltage meter to test the voltage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw

The next step if all seems to go good from there on out and the PSU turns on by itself and the voltages all look good then I would try swapping out the PSU with another PSU and see if you get the same problem where the computer still won't boot.

You also mentioned that there was an audible beep when you tried turning it on. Look up the beep codes for your make and model of the motherboard you have installed and see what that one beep code relates too.

Hope that helps!

Appletatoes
IT Specialist
 
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frognosticator

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Sep 4, 2017
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510


Thanks! My PSU connector to my mobo does not have a green wire. All black. Not sure how else to figure out the paper clip trick.

But I want to update a few things I tried just a few minutes ago. I removed the GPU and thought I'd try to boot just using the CPU's onboard graphics chip (why not?). This time the computer powered on for about 30 seconds, all fans spinning normally, with one continuous beep. The LED indicator also signaled that there was a DRAM error. The beep code seems like it might be indicating a DRAM refresh failure.

I took out the RAM sticks and reseated them in different slots. No dice. Then I tried each RAM stick alone in the designated spot. Both produced the same issue. Also, for what it's worth, no graphics came up on the monitors.

Since I'm getting some power, how likely do you think it is that the PSU is to blame? At this point, would either a mobo or RAM failure be more likely?
 
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appletatoes

appletatoes

Honorable
Sep 3, 2017
159
1
10,715
I know a common one beep code means a GPU failure and now that you're getting DRAM errors with both sticks, I think you're computer just endured the full voltage spike of that recent power outage you said earlier. It sounds like the power strip you were using, surge protector or not, it still spiked your computer and all the hardware inside :/

The only way to rule out bad RAM would be to order new RAM of that type or, if you have any other sticks that are compatible laying around, try those out.

I just recently built a new computer to replace a similar problem and the RAM was at fault, Motherboard and HDD. It was a horrible situation but do try different RAM if you can. It sounds like the PSU is still fine though.

If you try different RAM and it works then try the GPU back in but I bet the GPU is fried like the RAM unfortunately.

As for graphics on your monitor while just testing the RAM, you wouldn't get any video until your hardware performs POST (Power-On-Self-Test) where all the hardware has to be working properly before you would see any video on the screen.

Also here is an image of the two most common ATX motherboard power connectors for which I circled where you can find the green wire for doing the paper clip test:

https://ibb.co/buYxta

Appletatoes
 
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