PC died

[Lare111]

Some weeks ago my PC didn't want to turn on at the first attempt. Screen went black and all fans started spinning very loud. Today nothing happened when I pressed the power button and I noticed overvoltage led on the motherboard.

I tested PSU with paperclip and it turned on and so did HDD, DVD drive and case fan attached to it. I also measured voltages with multimeter and everything was correct. When PSU is connected to the motherboard absolutely nothing happens when pressing the power button. Fans don't even try to spin.

So I'm thinking that PSU is fine but motherboard died. I tried to reset CMOS which should have disabled overoltage protection but the led is still on. I don't have any other PC or PSU to test.

Can I just order a new motherboard or could the problem still be with my PSU? It's high quality and only 5 months old.

Intel i7 6700
MSI B150M Mortar
16GB DDR4
GTX 1070
2 x 250GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Seasonic G-550
Fractal Design Define C Mini
Windows 10

 

[Lare111]

Resetting the CMOS with button wasn't enough. I disabled the overvoltage protection by completely removing CMOS battery and my PC is running again. I wonder what triggered that protection. Could it be chinese led stripes which I installed today? They are only connected to the PSU though.

 

[Ketchup]

Could have been a power spike from the wall. What is between the power supply and the wall outlet? How old is it? Do you have power issues in your area?

 

[Lare111]

There is a pretty new extension cord between the ungrounded outlet and the PC. I live in an old house but it's in the city center so there shouldn't be any power issues and outages.

I don't know if it's just coincide but my PC failed to boot after installing led stripes. They were connected directly to the PSU so they shouldn't trigger motherboard overvoltage protection. Also I read that motherboard overvoltage protectors aren't very accurate and can trigger too easily.

 

[Ketchup]

Hmm... "pretty new extension cord between the underground outlet and the PC."

Invest in one of these, between the extension cord and the PC:
https://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-Battery-Protector-BE425M/dp/B01HDC236Q/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

After the install don't fret unless it happens again.

 

[Lare111]

There is actually a fault current protection and over voltage protection in the electrical cabinet. Unfortunately I only have grounded outlets in the bathroom and kitchen. Also the last power outage I remember was like 5 years ago during a heavy thunderstorm so I'm not very worried about them.

I found that overvoltage protector last week when I tried to change USB-settings in bios. That could explain why this hasn't happened before. I'm not sure how MSI's protector works but atleast Asus Anti-Surge seems to suck and even Asus recommends to disable it.

If I disable the mobo protector shouldn't high quality PSU protect my parts? My G-550 has over current, power and voltage protections so if they are working I don't think my motherboards needs to worry about anything.

 

[Ketchup]

Not necessarily. A power supply can only regulate incoming voltage to a certain degree. It is designed to account for 120 or 240, ans not too far beyond that. The rest is up to your outlet.

 

[pandemonium]

I've learned from experience that old houses and their electrical wiring can wreak havoc on computer systems, even with the many protection circuitry built into all of their components. Even newer houses can be wired improperly by bad contractors, frugalness, or just plain laziness.

I ended up buying UPSs to help with noise, voltage fluctuation, harmonic distortion, et. al and haven't had a problem since in the same old house with shoddy wiring. Plus, that security in case of power outage is always nice. Internet (unless it's network wide or beyond local) and computer stay up 24/7 because of it.

Just my 2¢.

Did you end up removing the LED strips? Try another PSU? Replace the MoBo?

 

[Lare111]

I haven't really had any issues since I resetted CMOS. I also installed LED stripes again and that didn't make any difference. I guess motherboard's overvoltage protector was too aggressive or there was some kind of electrical problem.