PC shut off - wont come back on.

[michaelt86]

Hi,

One of my computers just shut off while loading a game in Age of Empires III and it will not turn back on. This is the first time that this has happened.

Would anyone be able to tell me what causes a PC to power off abruptly and do nothing when you press the power button again? I think my PSU may have died.

When I plug the power supply in to a power source my mobo's green light comes on, but I cannot power up the system.

I recently replaced video cards. I used to have a 7900GT until it had a heartattack. Evga's kick as warranty brought me a 8800gts.

My system specs:

PSU: OCZ 520watt powerstream with 12V 33A, 5v 40A, 3.3v 28A
CPU: AMD 3700 +
Mobo: Asus A8N sli premium
Video: EVGA 8800GTS 320MB G80 factory overclocked at 555, 825 on memory
ram: OCZ ddr800 2 x 1 gb
HDD: WD 160gb sata 3.0
optical: LG dvd ram drive

I am pretty sure my PSU just crapped out and if thats the case I think OCZ has a warranty that should cover it since its only 2 years old.

 

[chookman]

Definetly sounds like PSU if you dont get anything. Theres a possibility it took something with it too. First things first get the PSU replaced.

 

[harrycat88]

That sounds familiar.
Disconnect your PSU from the motherboard, drives, etc ,etc, but leave a case cooling fan attached to the PSU. Take a piece of wire or paper clip and connect it to the green wire in the 20 or 24-pin motherboard connector.
Take the other end of the wire or paper clip and connect it to one of the black wires on the 20 or 24-pin motherboard connector. Plug the power supply into the wall out. If the case fan starts spinning, the PSU is good but the motherboard went out. If the case fan doesn't spin then the PSU is bad.
I remember awhile back I had the same problem with a Pentium 3 system. The problem wasn't the PSU. One of the compacitors on the motherboard exploded. I just dropped the board in the trash and bought a Socket A and used the same PSU which is still working as of today.

 

[mxcrowe]

I'm having the same problem, and have narrowed it down to the motherboard. I had already tried 3 PSUs, so I was pretty confident that wasn't the problem. However, I tried the paperclip thing and it worked fine. First time I heard my computer make any sound at all since it failed! So I assume something on the mobo is not responding to the power button press. I didn't see any obvious problem (like an exploded capacitor). Am I correct in assuming that if something went wrong with the CPU I would still get some indication of life at power-on?

 

[Guest]

i beleave that u werent getting enough power to all your components try a 600 wat psu but then i could be wrong and cost u money outa your pocket srry mate i had sanme problem with my system ad still isnt fixed yet