Computer ain't working

[.Maleficus.]

Hey guys. I'm at my friends house right now trying to fix his PC. It plain doesn't do anything. Turns on, but no video output, no beeps, nothing. Our guess is dead motherboard, but I can't tell. I tried my old (working) X1600Pro, taking out each RAM stick, unplugged everything... Doesn't want to work.

Before I recommend a new motherboard, what else is there?

[doug91]

So it turns on, and does nothing? Does it POST?
Same thing happened to me, turned out to be a shorted motherboard

[.Maleficus.]

So it turns on, and does nothing? Does it POST?
Same thing happened to me, turned out to be a shorted motherboard
No POST, no beeps, no video... nothing. But yes, it turns on.

In that case, I'm just going to recommend a new motherboard. I figured it was shot, but I thought I'd check with TBCS first.

[OvRiDe]

I have had the same problem a couple of times. Once it turned out to be a shorted motherboard, and the second time it was a bad CPU. Its a tough situation to diagnose because there is no feedback at all. The only suggestion I can give at the moment is to maybe take everything out, clean it up real well, look for any indications, and then put it back together, you may get lucky, and its free to try.

Good luck and hope that it turns out to be something simple.

[doug91]

The thing is, if the CPU was busted then I think the motherboard would still POST. Either that or you would get some sort of error code. Since it doesn't POST then you are dealing with a busted mobo.

[Luke122]

Check for something behind the mobo, shorting it against the tray. Also, if the cpu power plug is unplugged, it'll spin up fans, but not post.

Come to think of it, try another power supply. I had one that lost the -5v, and it would spin everything up, turn on lights etc, but that was it.

[agnat]

I was going to say to ensure the power plug (20 or 24 pin) from the power supply to the motherboard was securely attached and that none of the pins are broke.
Hope this helps!

Agnat

[organicpuzzle]

If the problem just happened all of the sudden it is almost definitely a short on the motherboard. Also, like said above, check the power connection to the board. Most likely not an issue with the motherboard being grounded, but check the case anyway..