Dead PC - Mobo or CPU?

ublebub

ublebub

ublebub

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6 May 2007
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I turned my pc on for the first time since being away for 2 weeks and the house circuit breakers tripped. After flipping them back the pc wouldn't start so i checked the 13A fuse and that had blown. Replaced kettle lead and still no life from the pc (no fans, lights or beeps). I assumed the psu had gone so bought a new one and now the fans do spin but the machine won't post :(

So i'm guessing either the mobo or cpu has been taken out by the psu... only thing is that i don't know which to replace. All the fans are spinning and i have diagnostic lights on the gfx card. I stripped everything out except the cpu/heatsink and there are no beeps from the motherboard. Also checked my ram and gfx in a mates rig and they're all ok thankfully.

Is there any way to test whether it's the mobo or cpu (or both :() that is broken? I don't have any spare chips to test and my mate is reluctant to rip his cpu out to test mine. Any suggestions much appreciated!


Also- any theories as to why a psu would die after switching on the first time for two weeks? I'm pretty puzzled by it...
 
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13A fuse is bit high to have in there, not sure why it happened after 2 weeks of nothing though.

Id say you had a mini powersurge, if your RAM and GFX are ok then it is probably a good chance that your CPU is ok too and it is a faulty Mobo.

I'd try and convince your friend though, just to double check.
 
Thanks, hmm it may have been a 5A fuse actually- either way it had blown. Also i had a surge protector and i'm guessing that my pc was the reason that the house mains blew.

Are the symptoms of a dead motherboard the same as a dead pc? Would I be getting diagnostic beeps from the motherboard if the cpu was dead?
 
It really depends on the board, but there are some beeps for faulty CPU normally. If your're getting no beeps Id say that was another point for the faulty motherboard argument.
The only true way to tell is to swap it into a working machine though.
 
i have to agree with J.B. Motherboard is the most likerly suspect here. have you got a post speaker attached to the board for error bleep codes?

I had a ASUS A8N SLI mobo which the power supply blew up resulting in a dqamaged mobo, however the ram CPU GFX and ther devices where fine.

Best of luck m8
 
Cheers, yeah usually i get beeps from the board for post errors.

New motherboard it is then... Was hoping it might be the cpu as it would be a good excuse to upgrade it. Damn, spending £150 and getting no performance increase sucks :(

Recommendations for a new board? Are asus and gigabyte still the ones to get?
 
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