How to tell if motherboard or cpu is dead? -bit long winded but I need help

FishPolice

FishPolice

FishPolice

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Had all the components in & out of my case last week whilst I was butchering my case to fit a bigger GPU.

Took all the usual precautions regarding static etc but it's either something I've done or it's simply coincidence. Either way, I now have either a dead mobo or dead cpu (or both).

I tested the rig outside the case and there are no signs of life whatsoever. The psu was clearly borked as it was sparking & making popping noises when the psu switch was operated -it had started to make popping sounds occasionally prior to this so I know I hadn't killed the psu myself (small consolation).

Bought a new psu to test things out and also invested in a simple motherboard testing kit (speaker/leds/off & reset switch).

Still nothing happens when turned on. No beeps, no led activity, cpu fan doesn't spin. Not a dicky bird.
Tried with nothing plugged in apart from cpu/fan. Tried 1 stick of ram etc but still nada. New psu seems to work ok as far as I can tell (psu fan spins when I short green & black wire).
Even tried reseating cpu.

So my gut feeling is that the mobo is fried -perhaps a power surge from the dying psu or something I broke when I had it in & out of the (very tight) case. Then again, the cpu has been running heavily overclocked for some time so maybe that simply gave up or got fried by the dying psu.
Maybe the mobo got shorted by debris left over from where I dremel'd the case (blew it out with compressed air but might have missed something).

Don't know anyone with a 775 board or cpu so kind of running out of tests to run now.

Although I will be upgrading to Sandybridge very soon I don't want to scrap this rig just yet.

Is there a way to get a definitive answer on the cpu/mobo by using a multimeter? If so, can someone point me in the direction of a decent guide?

Or is there anyone in the Northants area that can assist?
 
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Just because the PSU fan is spinning doesn't mean it works.
Is there any CMOS LED Light on on your motherboard?

Simple Test. Short your PSU like you did before, but plug some random stuff into it on random rails like case fans etc.

If they all work, it's all good, you could test the 12V, 5V and 3V rails using a multimeter too on a normal 4pin molex.

If that works out all fine, your Motherboard is a gonner, otherwise you'd hear some beeps or something. Have you made sure to connect the little 4pin power connector for CPU too? (If your board uses one)
 
Emphacy said:
Just because the PSU fan is spinning doesn't mean it works.
Is there any CMOS LED Light on on your motherboard?

Simple Test. Short your PSU like you did before, but plug some random stuff into it on random rails like case fans etc.

If they all work, it's all good, you could test the 12V, 5V and 3V rails using a multimeter too on a normal 4pin molex.

If that works out all fine, your Motherboard is a gonner, otherwise you'd hear some beeps or something. Have you made sure to connect the little 4pin power connector for CPU too? (If your board uses one)
Click to expand...

There doesn't appear to be a CMOS LED light on the mobo
Case fans will spin if connected to PSU and PSU is shorted
4pin connector is plugged in

Not actually got a multimeter but reluctant to buy one if the mobo is probably dead anyway. Would only buy one if replies in this thread suggested the CPU might also be the culprit.

pcAnywhere said:
That would be my guess. What was the make of your PSU?
Click to expand...

It was a Corsair HX620W. Will rma this anyway out of principle. New one I got is a Corsair TX650W.
 
To be honest, without having a motherboard, CPU and RAM that you are willing to substitute for testing purposes . . . and to risk, I think you face problems.


A few months ago, I was building a new system for someone and some days after I had completed work on it, it just stopped working. I contacted the supplier of the components and got pretty much nowhere. I then contacted the motherboard manufacturer (Gigabyte) who were actually reasonably responsive (by email at least). They gave me instructions on how to test but that got me no further forward.

Eventually the components supplier told me to return the motherboard, CPU & RAM for testing and possible replacement. For no very obvious reason, I took some photographs of the motherboard before shipping it (I also took photographs of the box in which I returned it and even of the van used to collect it).

A day or so later, I had a very curt email saying that it was not faulty, that they would not replace anything and that I would have to pay a restocking fee before they would do anything else. I queried this and they said that they had actually sent me the wrong response ;) and that they would test everything and get back to me in the next few days. They didn't get back to me until I chased them.

When they did eventually get back to me it was to say that the RAM clips on the motherboard were damaged and that for H&S reasons they could not check the motherboard but had checked the CPU & RAM and both worked. I said that I didn't believe them and they sent me a .JPG showing a broken RAM clip. I sent them back my photographs showing an unbroken RAM clip and asked them to explain their bizarre H&S excuse.

To cut a very long and trying story short, after I had emailed and failed to speak to their MD by phone and had also contacted Gigabyte again, they eventually agreed to test the motherboard (which was faulty) and replaced it.


It was pure chance that I happened to photograph the motherboard before returning it and to be honest. I can't say that I know how I would ever have been able to get a faulty motherboard replaced under warranty otherwise. This is one of the hazards of ordering parts and building systems yourself :(


ps - Good luck! :)
 
stockhausen said:
To be honest, without having a motherboard, CPU and RAM that you are willing to substitute for testing purposes . . . and to risk, I think you face problems.


A few months ago, I was building a new system for someone and some days after I had completed work on it, it just stopped working. I contacted the supplier of the components and got pretty much nowhere. I then contacted the motherboard manufacturer (Gigabyte) who were actually reasonably responsive (by email at least). They gave me instructions on how to test but that got me no further forward.

Eventually the components supplier told me to return the motherboard, CPU & RAM for testing and possible replacement. For no very obvious reason, I took some photographs of the motherboard before shipping it (I also took photographs of the box in which I returned it and even of the van used to collect it).

A day or so later, I had a very curt email saying that it was not faulty, that they would not replace anything and that I would have to pay a restocking fee before they would do anything else. I queried this and they said that they had actually sent me the wrong response ;) and that they would test everything and get back to me in the next few days. They didn't get back to me until I chased them.

When they did eventually get back to me it was to say that the RAM clips on the motherboard were damaged and that for H&S reasons they could not check the motherboard but had checked the CPU & RAM and both worked. I said that I didn't believe them and they sent me a .JPG showing a broken RAM clip. I sent them back my photographs showing an unbroken RAM clip and asked them to explain their bizarre H&S excuse.

To cut a very long and trying story short, after I had emailed and failed to speak to their MD by phone and had also contacted Gigabyte again, they eventually agreed to test the motherboard (which was faulty) and replaced it.


It was pure chance that I happened to photograph the motherboard before returning it and to be honest. I can't say that I know how I would ever have been able to get a faulty motherboard replaced under warranty otherwise. This is one of the hazards of ordering parts and building systems yourself :(


ps - Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

Kind of hoping you didn't order from OCUK... That's some shocking customer service right there...

kd
 
Processor dont easily get damaged even when the psu blows cause it is protected by the motherboard vrm.
So unless you see burned/melted vrm on the mobo it is probably something else and not your processor.
 
AtaRo said:
Processor dont easily get damaged even when the psu blows cause it is protected by the motherboard vrm.
So unless you see burned/melted vrm on the mobo it is probably something else and not your processor.
Click to expand...

As it happens I think I can see something not quite right. Been scouring the board looking for something obvious -like when you see people staring under their car bonnet despite not knowing what they're looking at!!
I don't know what it is. A grey rectangle -like some small memory module or something? There's about 30 or so tiny connectors on each side of it -a couple of these connections look black. The top surface looks like there's a tiny tiny nick in it where you can see white underneath. Need to find my magnifying glass really to be sure.
Can't see any bulging/misshaped capacitors.
 
Will do later tonight or tomorrow -need to get the camera out of the missus' car when she gets back from work. Got to do this all under the radar so to speak -she'll go nuts if she realizes I'm potentially spending money on myself again!!

Could take it on my mobile phone but her crappy laptop wont recognise my Galaxy S yet -still playing with that :( Always something going wrong for me at the moment :( lol
 
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