Need serious HELP...PSU prob! I THINK :S

[martinvince]

Hello friends, this is the first time i write on this forum although i've been a fan of toms since 2004. Im from Peru and here we have a lack of good technicians so im seeing in you my best viable option for solving my problem.

Well, here i go.
My computer specs are:
Core 2 Quad q6600 cpu @2.4ghz
Asus P5E3 Deluxe Mobo
1st video card: 9800gx2 gigabyte / 2nd: HIS radeon hd 5830
Corsair 1066mhz ddr3 ram
samsung 226bw 22" through dvi
Seagate sata II 320gb
Coolermaster 750W psu
Antec 900 Case

Well, my problem started about 7 months ago when the computer suddenly started to lock up while i was playing video games...hanging up through playing sessions....making me have to reboot several times until the computer recognized the video signal and start normally (at first i thought it was a motherboard problem since through my research i found out that this mb tended to have this errors while keyboard and stuff was plugged in...so in order to be able to turn the pc i had to disconnect many times hard drive...cd-rw, etc..until it booted...sometimes i just did get lucky and the pc would work by reseting without moving anything) till once it finally never booted up again. First thing i though that was faulty was the video card...the funny thing is that my temperatures were pretty good CPU 50 max...GPU 78 Max (being the 9800gx2)......and mb temperature aroung 30 Celsius. So, everytime i tried to boot up after the last time the "videocard" failed everything would turn on, leds...fans...but nothing would show on monitor and would not reach windows even with monitor off...meaning it wasnt even POSTing, i tried it several times...doing what i did first, disconnecting stuff and nothing happened. So i decided to tryout something else, i remembered i had a Nvidia 7300LE on an old computer...so i took it off from it and put it on my rig and voilah! it reached post...and even started windows 7 normally...so by that time i really thought the problem was the video card...to reasure that was the problem i bought one of those speakers old computers used to came with and connected it to my rig...the sounds it made while the 9800gx2 was connected were 1 large beep and 4 short, meaning it was a videocard problem (as i remember <.<)...so after that i closed the case and decided not trying to make it work till i saved enough money to buy a new video card...well, is now three months from that and i bought the 5830 ati card assuming everything would be fine again...first thing i did was try to make the pc work with the 9800gx2 for the last time and again the same thing happened, leds and fans turned on...even on the graphic card (led and fan) but nothing on screen...what is curious is that the speaker never beeped this time (after 3 months without touching the pc)...so well, i took off the nvidia and put on the ati...and guess what...nothing happened...same syntoms as the nvidia...all fans on...even on card but no post or something on screen...no beeps either...TRIED AGAIN THE 7300LE AND WOULDNT WORK THIS TIME...i used the cmos clear jumper im guessing like 10 times?...i was desperate...started looking at asus forum and they said that i should leave the battery off the mb for about 10 mins and then try again. I took off the video card, off the battery and after 10 mins and without videocard i turned it on and the thing BEEPED!...i thought that was a good sign so i hook up the ati card and then...NO BEEPS AND NO POST AGAIN...i took it off...and turned it on and BEEPS...i inserted the 7300LE and it reached windows!!!!...then i turned it off...took that card off...put ati card in (all this was done just with one slot of RAM connected....1gb) and it reached Windows!...i was pleased but still had to insert the three remaining ram cards..so i turned off the pc and connected the ram...it then showed again the same syntoms...i took all the ram off again, just leaving the inicial 1gb and it did post, turned off the pc, put a second one...and again it posts!!!...off and 3rd ram!!!...it posts!!!...again off and 4th ram!!! and it POSTed!!!...i was like WTF?...why do i have to do this??? and well i though...well its working now so screw it. I had a beautiful day testing the videocard...playing dirt 2...battlefield...SC2! and Assassinscreed2...computer would turn on and off normally posting like a champion...until today's afternoon....i was playing AssCreed 2 when i had to go to the bathroom and put it on pause...when i was back....computer was off and if i tried to turn it on NOTHING..and i mean NOTHING would happen...no fans...no leds, nothing....i totally thought it was the psu and i guess i wasnt wrong because i did the clipper test thing and it would not even breathe xD...i had to bring my other's computer psu and the interesting thing was that...by connecting my rig psu cable (energy cable, power cable) to the OTHER COMPUTER'S PSU it wouldnt work either with the clipper thing...i had to unplug the power cable from the monitor and plug it on the secondary pc psu and just the fan would start spinning and i would know it was working, after that i connected the secondary psu 24pin thing to my asus mb and the LED turned on so i was glad the mb was still working. (sigh)....

So my final conclusion and question is...since the original power cable i had on my rig wont make even my 750W CM or the generic 500W psu work (the 500w psu works with the monitor cable, but not the 750W with it)...could it have been the reason of all the problems ive been suffering for all this time???...could it have made the expensive coolermaster psu fail to the point it now wont even turn on through clipping?.....could the 9800gx2 still be working since the fan and power leds on it always turned on?...and now i have 2 videocards because im retarded???

Im kind of desperate because, like i said on the beggining of this post, peruvian technicians suck and i have consumed every single idea i had of how to fix this...im hoping you guys can give me some advices and please forgive my grammar mistakes...my native language is spanish so i'm hoping you understand and are willing to help.

Best regards,
Martin Ubillus

 

[Lmeow]

Welcome to the forums, your English isn't bad at all.

Higher end CM PSUs aren't too bad. Strange, 750 W should be far more than enough for a 9800 GX2 although it's possible it could have died. Could be driver conflicts but maybe not if your HD 5830 was working fine before it suddenly crashed again.

 

[martinvince]

thanks for answering, and indeed...previous crashes were accompanied by working fans and leds but now NOTHING turns on...when i use a clip to check on the psu the fan wont start spinning, the only way i had to see if the mb was still alive was pluggin the other 500w psu which worked with the monitor power cable and when plugged to the motherboard the only green led it has turns on!!!...but not with the actual Coolermaster power cable (which actually is not the original...i think it was from a printer...but aren't all the same? <.<)...im already considering on buying this PSU http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001M3G42W/ref=asc_df_B001M3G42W1214138?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=dealt383356-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B001M3G42W ...but im afraid to make the same mistake all over again and realize the problem is hiding elsewhere U_U.

 

[martinvince]

forgot to mention........5830 just worked for about 10 hours before PSU fried...

 

[martinvince]

anyone?...i know its large but please help

 

[jsc]

Work through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it.

Breadboard - that will isolate any kind of case problem.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

The breadboarding thread has a paragraph about how to build and test a PC in stages.

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. You do have a case speaker installed, right? If not, you really, really need one. If your case or motherboard didn't come with a system speaker, you can buy one here:
http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to.

You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems.
Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU.

If no beeps:
At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if
it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card. Silence or long single beeps indicate a problem with the memory.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step.

 

[shovenose]

well the corsair psu is an extremely good psu. even if it turns out its another problem, the osu will last you through several future builds/upgrades...

 

[shovenose]

in any case you could always get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899887005&cm_re=psu_tester-_-99-887-005-_-Product
this is the one i bought its INCREDIBLY useful

 

[martinvince]

thanks jsc...i have performed every single of those steps and im stuck in the clip part "if you try with only the clip connected and it doesnt turn on then its dead"....so its probable and 99% sure its dead but im afraid that my mb is doing this???being able to kill a psu??...or the psu was doing all this ghostly syntoms that made me think it was the mb and video card or cpu???

i think you are right shovenose!!!, i will probably buy the corsair psu and in case it doesnt work i can always sell it till i get the money to fully build a new rig....that tester looks awesome!...i will probably buy it too but like i said...the psu is not working with the clip trick and the 500w did work, as well as the 500w one made the MB lead turn on...so i guess is pretty clear by now whats the problem...what i want to recieve advice in is that if that COOLERMASTER PSU could have been the reason for the 9800gx2 death and booting problems...or im facing another problem that ill probably see when the new psu arrives???