CPU or Motherboard

rayer · 5 Jul 2006 at 18:49

Been using a PC for 2 years now until yesterday. For the first turn on of the day, No power whatsoever. No PSU fan, no LEDS, dead !!!
So i took the PSU to work, and that worked fine.
Once i got home, still no joy so I disconnected everything apart from the essentials. No joy still.
Tested the front switch connection, nothing
I took the fan off of the CPU and removed a nice blanket of collected dust, so wondered, couple with this heat if the CPU fried ?
I have also read that the motherboard could be at fault as well. Is ther e any way I can tell if it is the motherboard or CPU ?

Joe42 · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:23

If the psu tested ok i should think its the board. Anything else and it would give a beep code or some leds would light up or something.

Corasik · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:33

Try a full reset, disconnect psu from motherboard, remove battery from motherboard, find the clear cmos jumper, and put it on the clear position. Wait 5 minutes. Replace jumper to normal spot, replace battery, reconnect psu, and see if it boots.

rayer · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:38

This might be a silly question, but if there is no power and the CMOS battery is out, what is the point of putting the CMOS jumper to clear for 5 mins, to then put it back before any power up ?
Just wanting to know, curious ?

Also, if the CPU was dead, would the motherboard beep and the PSU show some activity or if the CPU is dead, everything is dead ?

Joe42 · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:43

If the cpu is dead but everything else is ok you should get various leds and beep codes yes.

rayer · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:47

Thanks Joe, that is the info I have been hunting for all day on google. Came up with lots of posh configuring and stories but not a basic answer.

Right, off to get a new motherboard

Corasik · 5 Jul 2006 at 22:09

If the motherboard's cmos is badly corrupted you wont get anything, not a fan, nor any LED changes when you hit the power button. Dunno about AMD platforms, but I've 'fixed' 10+ intel systems by doing the full factory reset on the motherboard.

The cmos memory is powered by the battery, BUT there are often several small capacitors that can store charge as well. The CMOS Clr jumper discharges those as well.

rayer · 6 Jul 2006 at 09:28

Took the battery out, did the clear CMOS jumper and disconnected the power. Left for 5 min then reatteched everything. Dead.
Ordered a new motherboard.

harris1986 · 6 Jul 2006 at 10:16

Fear not, i had this exact same problem with my comp! again mine was spontaneous, with mine it was the memory controller on my opteron 148 that had gone skitz it wouldn't boot up with my ram in slots 2+4 (dual channel mode) i had to use my ram in slots 1+2 try this, failing that try disconecting everything inc hard drive and ram and see if you can get the fans to spin up then!

**edit
i just saw you have ordered a new motherboard i did this aswell only to find i had the same problem with my new motherboard just advance warning for you

Corasik · 6 Jul 2006 at 10:49

Well, it was worth a try. Good luck with the new motherboard.

Joe42 · 6 Jul 2006 at 11:01

harris1986 said:
Fear not, i had this exact same problem with my comp! again mine was spontaneous, with mine it was the memory controller on my opteron 148 that had gone skitz it wouldn't boot up with my ram in slots 2+4 (dual channel mode) i had to use my ram in slots 1+2 try this, failing that try disconecting everything inc hard drive and ram and see if you can get the fans to spin up then!

**edit
i just saw you have ordered a new motherboard i did this aswell only to find i had the same problem with my new motherboard just advance warning for you

Surely you got some kind of life out of it, like a beepcode or an led on the board or something?

harris1986 · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:23

my good friend joe, no i had nothing it didn't post all i had was the standby light on my motherboard showing that i had power! changed over to single chan memory and booted, changed back to dual chan comp powered up but nothing appeared on the screen, same thing happend with the new board i bought!

split · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:30

harris1986 said:
Fear not, i had this exact same problem with my comp! again mine was spontaneous, with mine it was the memory controller on my opteron 148 that had gone skitz it wouldn't boot up with my ram in slots 2+4 (dual channel mode) i had to use my ram in slots 1+2 try this, failing that try disconecting everything inc hard drive and ram and see if you can get the fans to spin up then!

**edit
i just saw you have ordered a new motherboard i did this aswell only to find i had the same problem with my new motherboard just advance warning for you

So now you have a spare motherboard.
That's an expensive way to find out what's wrong

Stelly · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:32

Its got to be the motherboard

Stelly

Joe42 · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:33

My good friend harris, having a standby led on the board counts as 'an led on the board or something' and suggests the board wasn't dead, and rayer says he didn't have any leds at all, which suggests his board probably is dead.

At least i hope its dead, now that he's gone and bought a new one...

rayer · 6 Jul 2006 at 13:44

If its not dead after buying a new one, it soon will be

and cremated