No post, no display, no clue.

[rackhaam]

System specs:

CPU - Amd Athlon II x4 645 @ stock speeds
Mobo - Biostar A770E3
Ram - 6gb (3 x 2gb) Mushkin Silverline @ stock speeds
PSU - OCZ GameXtreme 700watts
GPU - eVGA 9800gt @ stock speeds
Monitor - 22" LG
OS - Windows 7 Ultimate x64
I've read the FAQ and believe and satisfied all the requirements before posting here.

About a month ago I was about 15 minutes into a BC2:Vietnam game, when my monitor went to standby and my all sound ceased. My rig was still powered on, fans, lights, drives. I manually reset power, booted to windows, launched game, and had the same results within 10-15 minutes. The second time I reset power, I went straight to google to try to figure out what was happening. About 10-15 minutes in browser, display goes to standby and no sound again. Power gets reset, this time I barely log in to windows and she locks up.

I then set to disconnecting components, only leaving my video card (a77oe3 has no onboard video), 1 stick of ram, cpu/hsf, and dvd drive. I popped in an Ubuntu cd and started memtest86 on my one stick of ram. It made it about 15% before the same type of lock up as before. Same results with my other 2 sticks of ram.

Then, when I try to reset power, the reset button does nothing. The power button held in will not cut power, I have to terminate at the PSU. When power is turned back on, my monitor doesn't even come out of standby and I get zero beeps. So, I dig out my multimeter and go to work testing all the 3.3v, 5v, 12v and grounds on my PSU. Flying colors, plenty of power where it needs to be.

I've called Biostar support, their only response was to send me an RMA approval. I mailed in my mobo, waited 2 weeks, got it back today, and am now having the same exact issues. They did send me my same board (matching serials) with absolutely no documentation as to any issue fixed, no issue found, or anything. Very disappointing.

So to sum it up, I'm down to my mobo, cpu/hsf, 1 stick of ram, video card. Display doesn't come out of standby, no beeps. I've tried my 3 sticks individually, as well as a different, known working, video card. When I took the CPU out to rma the board, it had no signs of scorching. CMOS cleared, stand offs checked and rechecked. I'm at a loss other than trying to replace the cpu through amd, dealing more with Biostar support.

Please help!

 

[evilavatar]

This sounds like it is either a heating issue or your ram is dead. I would go get one stick of ram somewhere and see what happens. If it boots, you know it's your ram, if not than start digging father, looking for heat issues anf everything else. The computer sounds like it was behaving like it was having a heat issue or a short.

 

[rackhaam]

Would all 3 sticks of ram really go bad at once? I've tried them all individually with the same results. There isn't any indication of over heating, especially since I can start it from cold and at the moment all that happens is fans spin up, no display or beeps, it get powered off within like 45 seconds. The cpu just got reseated with fresh arctic silver 5 also.
I will admit I haven't tried breadboarding it yet, which I've never done.
This was a fully functional PC for about 3 months, which is how old the mobo/cpu/ram/gpu are.

 

[evilavatar]

It seems like a rare occurance, but it also sounded like none of them worked well and the system crashed... one stick of new known good ram will let you rule ram out and we can focus on other things.

 

[aford10]

Your system should give beep codes/BSOD if your RAM were the problem.

My $$ is on your PSU. Try swapping in a different one. Maybe borrow one from a friend (make sure it's a decent one).

Also, tie up all lose cables, to make sure it's not getting shorted. Breadboarding will also be a good step to test this.

 

[aford10]

I don't think it's a heat problem, because within the 45 seconds that it's running, you should hear a POST, and see a display. But you're getting nothing. It's most likely a short or power problem. But a short will usually cause a reboot loop, and quicker than 45 seconds.

 

[rackhaam]

There certainly is no reboot loop. I push the power button, power stays on until I kill it with the PSU switch (holding the front power button no longer kills power).
There is no POST happening, no beeps whatsoever. Yes, I have a speaker. So correct me if I'm wrong, but that basically rules out GPU and RAM?
I'm trying to track down a PSU to swap in just to be sure, but I have taken my multimeter to every single 3.3v, 5v, 12v and ground and all are at or slightly above spec, with no fluctuation.
Still yet to breadboard, mostly because I've never done it and it makes me nervous.

If my CPU were to go bad, would it cause problems such as this? I did contact Biostar again and they assured me that the motherboard I sent them was functional.

 

[evilavatar]

well if the mobo came back functional and the chipset could be bad, but it is pretty hard to kill a cpu without overheating it and if it was at stock speeds, you are hard pressed to do that unless cpu cooler went out or it was mounted to the unit wihtout thermal paste. The no beeps would lead to the psu or mobo usually.

 

[aford10]

Breadboarding is pretty simple. Just remove the motherboard from the case, and place it on a piece of cardboard next to the tower. Connect the PSU, CPU/HSF, and power switch. Try to power on, and see if you get the POST beep. If yes, continue to add hardware.

 

[rackhaam]

Finally got some time to breadboard. Pulled all the hardware from the motherboard, minus cpu/hsf. Removed motherboard and put on cardboard, as you said. I also made sure that all my PSU cables are outside the case and touching nothing. Connected 24 pin and 4 pin power to motherboard, connected power switch, plug in the PSU, hit the switch, and... HSF turns on, no POST beeps whatsoever. How can this be? There is no RAM, no GPU... there should be an error code, right?

 

[aford10]

Do you have a motherboard speaker, and on the right pins?

 

[rackhaam]

I have a speaker, I've tried it both ways to be sure.

 

[aford10]

It's time to test with a different PSU.

 

[rackhaam]

Best answer selected by rackhaam.

 

[rackhaam]

Tested with a known working PSU today, finally getting codes, added hardware until finally booting to Windows. Sure would like to know why all my multimeter tests went without a hitch, but at this point I'm just glad to have an answer to (and a solution on order) my problem.
Thank you all so much for your help. <3 Tom's Hardware.

 

[aford10]

Glad it's all sorted. Thanks for the vote.