End of my Tether :(

djcj · 19 Sep 2009 at 22:07

Right, i'm seriously at a loss here, tried everything i can think of but my system will not boot at all, no post, no bios, no beep error codes

I could do with absolutely all suggestions from anyone, no matter how daft, silly, small or big.

When i switch my pc on, everything lights up (case lights, hdd lights, power lights, mobo lights). All fans spin fine (psu fan, cpu fan, case fans, gfx fan). HDD can be heard spinning/seeking. But no image on screen.

My first thought was monitor. I have tried 3 monitors (all working with other pc) and still have the problem. That rules out the monitor. Tried 3 seperate vga cables, problem remains so that rules vga cable out.

Mobo makes no beeps or sounds at all so thought it might actually be a mobo fault. Removed all sticks of ram and switched on, this gave continous beeping, which indicates that the internal speaker is working and the mobo recognises there is no ram so suggests the mobo is working???

Tried 1 stick of ram in each port seperately (i have 4 x 1gb sticks of ballistix) still no post and no beep codes with just 1 stick in (regardless of which of the 4 sticks is in, or which port it is in). Does this rule out the ram? (unless all 4 sticks of ram have gone faulty at once).

I have disconnected all unnessecary pci cards and sata devices (hdd's, dvd drive, sound cards etc) still wont post bios and no beep codes.

I do not have any other pci-e gfx card, psu or cpu to test. So i am thinking it must be one of these three as that is all thats left ???

Surley the psu must be fine if everything powers up and spins up fine?

I am thinking more likely gfx card (but wouldn't i get beep codes if this is faulty?). I dont want to go out and buy a new gfx card for no reason as dont game on my pc any more.

Any idea's anyone? :confused:

Please help

Urban Reflex · 19 Sep 2009 at 22:13

I had a similar sort of problem with my build, turned out to be the GPU. I'd suggest buying the cheapest, cheerfulest PCIE GPU you can find to test it with. If you're carefuly with opening it you may even be able to return it if you're lucky.

Also, you're sure your cables are connected up properly? Tried both VGA and DVI?

djcj · 19 Sep 2009 at 22:21

Yeah everything connected up fine, should have pointed out this isn't a new build, i built this about 2 years ago, just stopped working last week, been trying to fix it since

Mattus · 19 Sep 2009 at 22:39

Have you tried clearing the CMOS?

Avalon · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:06

CMOS jumper ?

djcj · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:32

Yeah sorry, knew there was something i forgot to mention. I have reset CMOS multiple times as well

aaron333 · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:35

Checked all cables? Is the LED lit on the motherboard?

djcj · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:37

Yeah, led lit on motherboard, all cables unplugged and replugged back in multiple times

DavyBoy · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:39

Don't you know anyone you could borrow a GPU from to test your system with?

I reckon it is the GPU personally.

aaron333 · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:41

Could check the CPU and the pins on the Motherboard to make sure they're not bent. If it's AMD then the pins would be on the CPU.

Audigex · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:42

It could be the GPU, but it could just as easily be the motherboard's connection to the GPU or the PSU's cabling come loose (ie the PSU works fine, but it can't supply power to the GPU)

Is there no way you can try the GPU in another PC? The motherboard doesn't happen to have onboard graphics does it? (I'm guessing you'd have tried this, but you did say any suggestions)

Have you tried with no hard drive plugged in? I'm not sure why, but I had a strange situation where the hard drive and fans spun up but no graphics - when I unplugged the HDD, the BIOS appeared fine - turns out it was a dodgy SATA data cable.

sir-les-mp · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:46

(i have 4 x 1gb sticks of ballistix)

i would start looking here, i had a similar problem a few years ago with 4x512Mb sticks of crucial ballistix ddr 4000. one day everything was working fine the next day i could not get the pc to boot.
i was lucky and had some spare ddr 3200.

ive found that when ballistix mem works they are great but when they fail they seem to fail all at once and for no apparent reason.

i would try booting with some different ram if you can. if still not booting then that does only leave the GPU.

Mattus · 19 Sep 2009 at 23:57

I'm leaning towards the graphics card. Doubt it's RAM - Ballistix isn't that reliable, but for four sticks to die at the same time would be a massive coincidence. PSU is possible but unlikely, as power seems to be getting to the motherboard when you boot. CPU seems OK as the board is beeping with no RAM installed - won't beep at all if the CPU's dead.

You generally don't get beep codes if the graphics card is faulty - the symptoms are usually the ones you're describing. Do you have a mate or a family member with a graphics card you can borrow? (Or another machine to try your graphics card in?)

bifday2k · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:02

Have u tried running it all outside of the case, on like a phone book?

May sound daft i know, but sometimes shorts can happen if misplaced standoffs and what not.

Personally id run through all the test you have done so far, outside of the case.

Hope you can solve your problem though, sounds proper annoying.

djcj · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:12

Dont really know anyone else who is "into" pc's so cant borrow any components.

I have tried to boot with no HDD connected or anything else for that matter, just cpu, ram and gfx, same problem (so that should eliminate any other device i.e. HDD or sound card etc).

Psu is a corsair 620w, i will pull all cables out of the psu and reconnect again just incase.

The mobo does not have onboard graphics unfortunately which is a nightmare as it means to check if it is the gpu thats faulty i'll have to shell out for another card (mobo is asus p5k-e btw). Same with ram, only the 4 sticks i have.

I'll try running it outside the case which is something i hadn't thought of and if that fails i think i'll have to buy a new gfx to test, can always sell it on for a small loss if it isn't needed.

Keep all the suggestions coming though, it makes me feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel

aaron333 · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:14

You missed the CPU and motherboard pins suggestion

djcj · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:17

Ah yeah, will take a look at that too. Thought cpu would be fine due to getting beeps with all the ram taken out, but i really need to triple check everything just to be on the safe side.

aaron333 · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:19

djcj said:
Ah yeah, will take a look at that too. Thought cpu would be fine due to getting beeps with all the ram taken out, but i really need to triple check everything just to be on the safe side.

Agreed. If the cpu is fine, they my bet's on the GPU or a short somewhere. Run it on the motherboard box.

Avalon · 20 Sep 2009 at 00:43

Even an ancient PCI card will do to test with if you have/can find one.

EffBee · 20 Sep 2009 at 01:21

I would be inclined to strip the whole thing down and rebuild it - including the processor cooling and thermal paste.

Have you dropped or knocked it - has the cooler come a bit loose?

Is it VERY dusty inside - something may be shorting.

Wonder if the PSU has dropped out of spec - those things age with time you know.