Possibly dead CPU? I need this dumbed down

[taryntruitt]

Hey folks. Usually when I have a computer problem I troll the forums here and find my answer after some searching. This time I'm just overwhelmed and frustrated with the whole experience so I'm hoping someone can dumb this down for me a bit. I'm a frazzled mom who needs wine and computer time for sanity each night, and let me tell you the wine is getting low.

First off: I don't have "a friend's" computer to plug things into. I don't have other "known" working parts. I'm terrified of "re-seating" a CPU and really don't want to touch it unless I'm 100% sure it's necessary because I know some extensive damage can be done by not doing it right.

Also: I don't have a huge workspace to do all of this. I have a toddler. Nuff said on that.

Specs (copy paste!):
CPU: Intel i7-67000K 4.00 GHZ 8MB LGA1151
Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming M5 ATX w/ USB 3.1, 3 PCIe x16, 4 PCIe x1, 2 SATA Express, 6 SATA3, 2 Ultra
PSU: new Corsair CS650
Graphics: GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 (Pascal)[VR Ready]
Buncha fans, two hard drives, yadda yadda, prolly not important to this process but I'll post if needed.

Obviously I'm not a techie. I had the computer built by Cyberpower PC just over a year ago (no longer warrantied).

The PC has worked perfectly all this time. Then last week it just shut off. No beep, no BSOD, nothing at all. I thought the power went out. I tried to turn it back on and got lights and a fan for maybe five seconds and then off it went again. For good.

I just installed the new Corsair PSU tonight, double checked to make sure everything was secure (Hulk smash those plugs in), and still no dice. I unplugged everything, did the paperclip trick (please laugh with me at how untechnical I am) on the plug that goes into the MOBO and left the fans powered in, but nothing else. Got fans and my super awesome but totally useless LED light strip lit up on the new PSU.

Great.

Next step: plugged in just the CPU and its fan in addition to the other fans/lights. Lights and all that came on, but not the CPU fan. At least, I think it's the CPU fan cause it looks like it should be the radiator in a Ferrari and it has massive tubes that could funnel new york city subway cars going to the CPU.

Anyway. I read the "checklist" that people post, and it seems as if it's for new builds, not already established builds. But I DID go through the parts that I thought pertained to me and here I am still bugging you fine people.

So give it to me straight, people. Are there some motherboard tests I could be running to rule it out? Is the CPU toast? Darned Intel. Maybe there's a warranty on that. Any other non-extreme sort of tests we could attempt? Possibly involving something as simply MacGyver-ish as a paper clip and a ball point pen?

Thanks fellas/ladys!

 

[smorizio]

if the old power supply kicked the bucket some mb may need the cmos jumper cleared to reset the mb from a dead short. your mb has debug led block if the mb is posting it should show a code. if there no code and the mb turns right off. that a sign of a dead short. pull the gpu and check that the ram is locked in. if there no post start unplugging fans and pumps see if the mb will post. if there no post i would rma the mb first. intel and amd cpu unless you over clock them to far there the last part to fail unless there a power short from a bad power supply or zap.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

If any part is bad I would say motherboard. But check what the poster above said. In about 20 years of working on systems, I've only seen a few dead CPUs, those were usually from extended overheating or something.

 

[taryntruitt]

if the old power supply kicked the bucket some mb may need the cmos jumper cleared to reset the mb from a dead short. your mb has debug led block if the mb is posting it should show a code. if there no code and the mb turns right off. that a sign of a dead short. pull the gpu and check that the ram is locked in. if there no post start unplugging fans and pumps see if the mb will post. if there no post i would rma the mb first. intel and amd cpu unless you over clock them to far there the last part to fail unless there a power short from a bad power supply or zap.

Whoa there bud, that's a lot of tech speak for the non technical sorts. Let me see if I have this right. My motherboard might need the cmos jumper cleared to reset it from a dead short - okay, I can google-fu that one. However, I'm not sure what a debug led block is or how, exactly, the motherboard is supposed to show a code aside from booting and displaying something on the screen.

So I'll pull the GPU and see where that gets me, then if taking out the GPU doesn't get a start, I should attempt this cmos jumper clearing business. And then, if still no dice (I'm putting my money on that), I should start pulling fans and pumps? Like try to boot without the CPU and its fans plugged in?

(Told you I'm not technical). And on that note, how much damage can I do to my system from booting it up without certain pieces plugged in? I'm afraid I'll make it drool all over itself permanently.

Thanks you two, I really appreciate the time you took to answer this and help me out. I'll be back in a bit to share results...

UPDATE:
Okay computer Gods. I pulled the GPU (and gave the poor thing a good dusting in all those little spaces - I'm proud of myself) and still nothing. Cleared the cmos (hey, that's what that little green piece of plastic is for), still nada. On a side note: I'm eternally grateful to Cyberpower PC for including all the manuals AND my windows CD in the computer box. That mobo manual is super handy

So, making sure I understand this right so that I don't do permanent damage here (yes I'm a weenie); unplug everything but the motherboard and try again? And if nothing happens, contact MSI?

Sorry for all the questions. I realize this is as easy to you guys as tying shoes, but I've never learned any of it so it seems like there's always something new and strange to learn every time a problem crops up. And btw these things can catch on fire, so there's that...

I realize you guys have bigger fish to fry, so thanks a ton for helping me out.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Your i7 should have integrated graphics. Reset the cmos. There should be a jumper, or you can usually pull the battery from your board(it will look like a silver coin--unplug that, and unplug from the wall for about 30 minutes). Pull the graphics card, pull the ram except for 1 stick, unplug the hard drives. Basically unplug everything except what is connected to the case, and what is connected to the power supply.

Plug your monitor into one of the video outputs on your motherboard, put the battery back in and attempt to start up that way. If you get a display, great, you are in business. Begin then by adding parts one at a time, in other words, add in your ram, add in your hard drive, add in your graphics card, one item at a time and see if you get any faults. If you do then you will have an idea what part/parts are bad.

I would say that if it does not start up, you could attempt using another power supply just in case you got one bad out of the box, not common, but can happen. I would suggest if you buy another one, get it from like best buy or somewhere local where it can be returned if it does not work.

If it does not start up, the next thing to check would be the ram. Though if you have more than 1 stick of ram installed, I would say 2 or more ram sticks should not go bad at once. But you may again try purchasing a ram kit locally and trying it that way. If it solves the issue, great then you are set. If not, then return it.

However, if after those things, you still can't start up, then the next thing you need to try is a different motherboard. I have only seen 2-3 chips actually fail. So I would say an actual cpu failure is unlikely, but can happen.

Also, it may be of use to remove the board from the case, and place it on top of the motherboard case it came in on top of an antistatic bag. Plug in your power, ram and cpu, you should be able to find a how to online, but there should be 2 pins on the board you can touch with a screwdriver to attempt to get it to boot up. You want to make sure there are no metal standoffs or anything that has worked their way behind the board while you've had it. Not normal if the system has been running, but that is a mistake sometimes new system builders make and accidentally short out their system.

 

[dontlistentome]

If it were me, I'd assume the old power supply died. If that happened, there is an outside chance it took other components with it. So you buy a new power supply(which you did). TIP: power supplies have a switch(usually says 1 or 0) on the back, make sure that's on 1.

Next, I'd want to run a minimal system, to eliminate as many potential dead components as possible. You need one stick of memory and onboard graphics to boot to Windows. I'd remove the videocard and any extra sticks of memory. I'd also disconnect the power cable and SATA cables from all drives except your Windows drive, but you don't have to physically remove them.

At this point I'd clear CMOS, to start from scratch. The jumper for that appears to be next to the PCI E5 slot. Then, with the monitor connected to the integrated graphics output, I'd try booting up.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Exactly what he said. Which is similar to what I was saying.

Basically at this point you want to pull anything from the system that is not a necessary component. The necessary components are

1. Motherboard
2. CPU
3. CPU fan
4. 1 stick ram
5. Graphics(use integrated graphics for testing)
6. Power

Clear the CMOS/bios, attempt to start up with the new power supply. If it starts, then add components back one at a time until you are fully functioning. Hopefully that is the case, if you hit a snag, then at least you will have a good idea what the part you are dealing with is and be able to focus in on troubleshooting.

 

[taryntruitt]

I did know to switch the power supply on in the back - which might make me a step above hopeless. Tentative high five?

Okay so I unplugged all the hard drives except the one with windows on it (yes I can tell, I think I earned a second high five), took out the GPU, plugged 1 monitor into the motherboard, cleared cmos again just because, and took out all but 1 stick of ram in the far left slot, if that makes a difference. Set phasers to fun. Turned it all on and... nothing.

It's looking dark, isn't it guys.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Did you clear the bios/cmos? If not, please do so. Also, do go ahead and unplug the drive with windows. You want a bare system just to see if you get a display right now. If there is something wrong with the hard drive, those aren't that expensive right now.

Anyway, clear cmos, try to boot with no drive. If the same thing as before, then remove the stick of ram. The reason for this is you want to see if the board gives you any type of lights or beep codes that may indicate if the motherboard is alive or not. If you do get lights or beeping, try another stick of ram. If that does not work, a different kit from best buy etc may be worth a shot if you would be able to return it.

If still no joy, even after a new power supply, then my guess at that point would be if you had a power surge or something, or if the old power supply went out, that it may have taken the motherboard out also. Unfortunately sometimes companies cut corners on the power supply and if they go out, they have the capability to kill other components.

I would not guess that the CPU is dead, but it's possible the motherboard is gone and may need replaced. However, you might be able to get a motherboard relatively cheap. I usually build with more AMD equipment, but I'm sure some of the other folks here can recommend an economic option if that would be the case so you can get running again.

 

[smorizio]

on your motherboard if you look at the user guild there debug led. it should be red letters that are flashing at post if the mb is working at all. if it stops at a number that not ff. look online or in the mb guild for failure codes. on your mb go to msi web page for warranty info and rma. if the mb still under warranty start the rma. ask to see if they can cross ship you a mb. you dont have to send them the old one back and can have two mb for testing if needed. with most pc parts now you have to pay for shipping to the vendor.

 

[taryntruitt]

Bah. Still no lights or beeps or anything after all of that.

And, knowing what I know now, I plugged in the old power supply with the paperclip short and a fan plugged in for load. It ran. So maybe it wasn't the PSU to begin with, maybe the motherboard just... died? Or maybe it was the PSU and it only puts out enough power for a fan now, who knows. I don't know enough about motherboard death to determine what went wrong.

Either case, as Smorizio suggests, I'll be checking the MSI website for RMA information and possibly seeing if I can get a new one cross shipped.

I'm quite grateful to all of you for the help, I've learned a lot in this process and, as a PC gamer, the information is invaluable to me. Thank you.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

If the old power supply died, then it's possible it took the motherboard and other things with it. Hopefully it's just the motherboard.

If you are not able to get RMA, some of the folks here should be able to recommend a good replacement on a budget. But as you unfortunately learned the hard way, the power supply is NEVER where you want to skimp on. Unfortunately, some of the boutique system builders do exactly that, and then when the power supply goes out, then the end user is unfortunately left to deal with things after the warranty is expired.

 

[taryntruitt]

Thankfully, Cyberpower was really good and gave me a multitude of options where PSU was concerned (or any component). I chose to skimp because I was already $500 over budget. Even now I'm not really sure it was the PSU. Sadly, the MB is no longer warrantied, so another out of pocket cost...