Build won't power on, board to blame?

[Senseotech]

Hello, I'm attempting to recycle a year old GA-H55M-USB board and i3-550 to make a HTPC system. Got all my other components, got everything installed, and was annoyed to find I couldn't power on. So, after taking everything out but the memory and CPU, and using a PSU I KNOW is good, I tried again. No fans spinning, no beeping, no nothing. Pulled the board out of the case to make sure it wasn't getting grounded, same thing. Before I go through the ordeal of an RMA with Gigabyte, I would like some advice on the situation; with these symptoms, is the board the most likely culprit?

 

[sharkbyte5150]

I found this thread recently, very well made.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

 

[Senseotech]

Forgot to mention that I followed that entire post and came up with the same.

 

[sharkbyte5150]

If that's the case, I have no other suggestions because that checklist covers all I can think of. How long has it been since that motherboard was used in a system?

 

[Senseotech]

The board and CPU were both used until the end of December, beginning of January. They came straight out of my main machine and went straight into an ESD bag and into the mobo box until today. And just to confirm, I've now tried two PSUs to no avail, both of which I also put on the tester and show nearly perfect levels. I did the jump start trick on one and the board spins the CPU fan and acts like it wants to post, but it powers off as soon as I stop shorting the power connector.

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Seems like it was working fine before.....what has changed in the hardware you're using now vs. the last time it was working?

 

[Senseotech]

Well, it was using an AMD Radeon 6850, different brand but same amount of
RAM, and differing hard drive and optical drive. But after taking everything out of the equation save for the board, CPU, and a single RAM stick, I'm inclined to think its not anything related to other hardware.

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Do you still have the original RAM you were using before, and have you tried it?

 

[Senseotech]

Do you still have the original RAM you were using before, and have you tried it?

Yes, I'm still using it in my main system, so I pulled out a stick and tried that this morning and still go no activity. I've even tried going RAMless to see if I can get any activity whatsoever, but the only way I can get the board to get power is by jumpstarting the PSU; the board itself refuses to power on.

 

[sharkbyte5150]

And you don't have the hard drive and CD connected when you get these problems right? Sounds like the board is dead, but seems odd since it was just used in January.

 

[Senseotech]

Correct, it's literally the board, the CPU and hsf, a PSU and a cord to the wall (RAM was tried as with and without with no difference.)

 

[sharkbyte5150]

What do you mean "jumpstarting the PSU" gets the board to power on?

 

[Senseotech]

Grounding the green power on pin on the ATX connector to a black ground pin, as outlined Mear the bottom of this page linked to from the previous link you posted.

 

[Senseotech]

Finally got an actual RMA number back from Gigabyte. Before I box it up and send it in, is there anything else worth attempting to hopefully avoid what I'm hearing is a hit-or-(mostly)miss RMA process?

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Unfortunately, you've exhausted every option I would personally try to get that board to fire up, considering you basically tried to set it up to the last known good configuration and now it just won't boot up.

 

[Senseotech]

Oh well, now the waiting game begins :-/ Thanks for the help and being a glorified sounding board lol.

 

[Senseotech]

Best answer selected by Senseotech.