Spare PC won't power on at all

venomx · 4 Mar 2021 at 17:04

Put together a PC with some old parts I have, and for some reason it won't even power on ?
I have no HDD, RAM, GPU or CPU connected to it, although I tried with a CPU in and still nothing.

The PSU is hooked up to the mobo ( 24pin ) and cpu socket.
Also the PWR switch cables are connected correctly too

When I connect the AC cable into the PSU and press the on button nothing happens

As far as I know all the parts are in full working order as it's mainly stuff from my old PC

EsaT · 4 Mar 2021 at 20:23

Neither does my crystal ball power up, so what's the part list?

As for causes could be dead "BIOS" battery, old PSU having gone permanently cold etc...

maj · 4 Mar 2021 at 21:29

Is the switch on the PSU switched on?

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 07:21

EsaT said:
Neither does my crystal ball power up, so what's the part list?

As for causes could be dead "BIOS" battery, old PSU having gone permanently cold etc...

A320-MH Mobo
CoolerMaster Masterwatt Lite 500w
Three case fans
AMD wraith stealth cooler

Just tried a CMOS battery from another old PC and no luck. Must be the PSU. Really odd, it's never been dropped or exposed to water. And last time I used it it worked fine

ANDARIAL · 5 Mar 2021 at 08:37

What cpu?

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 12:55

ANDARIAL said:
What cpu?

Ryzen 2400g

I tried with and without CPU, still nothing

Journey · 5 Mar 2021 at 13:00

venomx said:
I have no HDD, RAM, GPU or CPU connected to it, although I tried with a CPU in and still nothing.

You have no RAM in, but expect it to power on?

Moving to the obvious, have you tried just testing the PSU on it's own? Take it out the case, disconnect it from all the parts and short PS_ON (Green wire) and one of the GND (Black ground), you can use a piece of wire, or solder, or even a paperclip straightened out.

mickyflinn · 5 Mar 2021 at 13:04

venomx said:
Ryzen 2400g

I tried with and without CPU, still nothing

Paperclip test.

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 13:28

I'd rather leave it to be honest, don't want to mess with a 500w PSU.
Even without RAM it should at least power on and get to the BIOS.

Journey · 5 Mar 2021 at 13:29

venomx said:
I'd rather leave it to be honest, don't want to mess with a 500w PSU.
Even without RAM it should at least power on and get to the BIOS

No.

If you are local to me feel free to drop it round and I'll diagnose it and finish building it for you FOC.

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 13:43

Journey said:
No.

If you are local to me feel free to drop it round and I'll diagnose it and finish building it for you FOC.

I have no car so not possible.
It's not a computer I wanted to actually use, it's just something to mess around with.

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 14:06

Right.
I got an old old motherboard from 2009. Connected the 24-pin into it, then powered up the system and low and behold it powered up.

Must be a faulty mobo then !

Journey · 5 Mar 2021 at 16:16

venomx said:
Must be a faulty mobo then !

Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions, as it sounds like you have very little knowledge of PC building and diagnostics.

Firstly a PC will not past POST and be able to enter the BIOS with no RAM installed, secondly you could have something as simple as a short to ground in the motherboard to the case.

venomx · 5 Mar 2021 at 18:31

Journey said:
Firstly a PC will not past POST and be able to enter the BIOS with no RAM installed, secondly you could have something as simple as a short to ground in the motherboard to the case.

I know that. What i'm saying is all I want it to do is power up. It powers up with an ancient dell mobo but not with the gigabyte A320.

I'm new to building PC's but I know how to put one together

In that case. Should I take the mobo out the case and see if it powers?

Quartz · 5 Mar 2021 at 18:43

venomx said:
When I connect the AC cable into the PSU and press the on button nothing happens

Do you have a piezo speaker installed? If so, do you get any beep codes?

Journey · 5 Mar 2021 at 18:49

venomx said:
In that case. Should I take the mobo out the case and see if it powers?

It is a good idea to check this, yes.

I would have only the CPU, and one RAM module installed (in the slot it advises you in the manual), no HDD/SSD etc. and as you are running a 2400G no need for a graphics card either. Pop it on a card board box, and just connect the 24 (or 20+4 pin) and the 4-pin (or 8-pin EPS) to the CPU power and then short the pins on the board for Power on the motherboard header.

venomx · 7 Mar 2021 at 14:47

Journey said:
It is a good idea to check this, yes.

Tried taking the mobo out of the case, no luck

All the parts ( mobo and PSU etc ) were fully working. So can't see why the mobo is faulty now. Perhaps some static electric caused damage ?

adrichardson81 · 7 Mar 2021 at 14:54

Are you sure you've wired up the power button correctly? I've been caught out by that a couple of times.

Also check you've connected the 8 pin power connector to your mobo too.

venomx · 7 Mar 2021 at 16:12

adrichardson81 said:
Also check you've connected the 8 pin power connector to your mobo too.

The CPU cable ?
I connected the 24pin to an old mobo and it switched on fine.

It could be a problem with the switch on the case itself ? No idea.

I tried the pwr switch many different orientations, no luck

adrichardson81 · 7 Mar 2021 at 21:09

There should be an 8 pin cpu power cable too. Top left of the mobo.