Help w/ Dead System

[lessonz]

With all my other expenses, I really don't need this right now, but I guess that's the way life goes.

One minute computer was up, browsing the internet. I walk away turn off the monitor, and come back maybe 30 minutes later. I turn on the monitor and get a picture like normal, but my keyboard and mouse are dead, as in completely unpowered (no lights on). So, I hard booted. System boot-looped, never posting, no beep codes, nothing. Reset CMOS, no change. Yanked DIMMs of memory, moved them around, switched them out with each other (4x1gb). Interestingly, when I have less than all 4 seated, I get continuous short beeps which the manual tells me is a power error. When I reseat all 4, back to boot looping with no error codes.

I'm thinking it's a dead MB. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

System:
Q6600
Gigabyte P45-UD3R

(I posted this on another forum, and got some advice about ensuring the CMOS was clear and playing with the RAM. I intend to try that tonight, but if there are other ideas, I'll try those too before deciding to start replacing parts. Thanks.)

 

[morbidman]

Hi, what's your PSU?

 

[lessonz]

Hi, what's your PSU?

It's a PC P&C Silencer 750 that's been rock solid since Oct. 2007. It's actually the unit Jonny Guru used for his review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=63

I don't think it's the PSU as all the lights/fans appear to be getting power for that second before it reboots without posting.

 

[Athadeus]

Take the system out of the case and try it with just the processor, heatsink, motherboard, 1 stick of memory, video card, and power supply. Also try resetting the CMOS again with it out of the case and the one memory stick.

 

[dfuze]

I think the memory beeps are right when it's telling you power, I would try another power supply if you have a spare around.

Were you doing any overclocking of the Q6600?

 

[lessonz]

Were you doing any overclocking of the Q6600?

Yep, 3.2 rock solid since OCT 2007 on air.

 

[dfuze]

Hmm, even if the OC was a culprit, resetting the CMOS would have put that back to normal.

What do you mean by "boot loop"? Is it actually booting anywhere and then stopping, or just the board getting power, fans spin, and that's it? If it's the latter, it sounds like the symptoms I had a couple years ago with a dead motherboard.

 

[MrWizzard]

Replace power supply. That would be where I would start.

 

[lessonz]

So unfortunately, I haven't been able to play with this yet, but I did borrow another PSU from a friend to try.

What do you mean by "boot loop"? Is it actually booting anywhere and then stopping, or just the board getting power, fans spin, and that's it? If it's the latter, it sounds like the symptoms I had a couple years ago with a dead motherboard.

It's the latter. I don't even post. My first thought was motherboard, but I'm going to give the PSU a shot hopefully tonight. I'd hate for it to be the MB as replacing that right now would probably mean I'd be shelling out for a 2500k, MB, and DDR3. Doh!

 

[MrWizzard]

So unfortunately, I haven't been able to play with this yet, but I did borrow another PSU from a friend to try.



It's the latter. I don't even post. My first thought was motherboard, but I'm going to give the PSU a shot hopefully tonight. I'd hate for it to be the MB as replacing that right now would probably mean I'd be shelling out for a 2500k, MB, and DDR3. Doh!

I have a friend that had the latter symptoms just last week. It was his power supply it was 4 years old and had done it's time.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

most of the suggestions above are good. If you get the new PSU in place and it still doesn't boot, I would suggest taking out the CMOS battery and remove the power cord for a while...an hour would work. I had a really strange issue that I couldn't figure out a while ago related to my ASUS motherboard not booting at all. I swapped PSU, removed the board, all cards etc...but it wasn't until i removed the CMOS battery and let all the power drain out that I figured it out. After an hour I plugged everything in and it booted up perfectly...no issues since.

 

[lessonz]

Okay, so I've now tried pulling the CMOS battery and flushing the caps to ensure no charge was left. The result was no change.

I also tried a buddy's old PSUs but it doesn't have enough juice as the CPU fan never gets going and the GPU lights up CTF immediately.

 

[morbidman]

Is your PSU still under warranty? I looked at your link and it seems to have a 3 year warranty. I know it's premature at this point to presume that it is the source of your problems but maybe it would be good to know the details just in case.

 

[lessonz]

Is your PSU still under warranty? I looked at your link and it seems to have a 3 year warranty. I know it's premature at this point to presume that it is the source of your problems but maybe it would be good to know the details just in case.

This is the unit Jonny Guru cracked open, so even if it were less than 3 years old, it'd still be void. I appreciate the thought. I'm hoping to see if another buddy has a PSU I can use for testing.

 

[lessonz]

PSU has now been ruled out. As I doubt all 4 DIMMs or RAM have gone bad, those are ruled out, too. So, I figure GPU, CPU or MB. I've really gotta lean towards the MB at this point based on the symptoms. Please feel free to point something out I'm missing. Thanks.

 

[KGB]

Do the caps on the MB look suspect?