I posted a longer version of this before - let me try to be more focused this time.
System includes:
Gigabyte GA770TA-U3 mobo
AMD 3 core CPU
An enormous CPU cooler that has no visible name
MSI 5750 GPU
OCZ Modstream 500 PSU
OCZ 100G SSD
A standard HD and DVD drive
4 Gig of RAM from GSkill
Built system for vacation cabin. After a large storm, the system would not light up at all. One slight flicker when I hit the power switch, then total darkness and silence.
Took system home to play with it. Hooked it up, and immediately everything worked fine.
Took system back to cabin, where it continued to work fine.
Left system on overnight (mistake!) and found it dead in the morning. Power button did nothing. Fiddled with PSU and power cord, and eventually hitting the power button caused everything to light up which should light up, and every fan to spin which should spin, with a single exception. The Scythe fan on the CPU cooler would spin for a second or two, then slow to a stop.
Took system home to play with it. Hooked it up, and immediately everything worked fine.
Disconnected system and reconnected my home box to the monitor. All fine, of course, but then I had reason to reconnect the vacation box once again. Copy and paste time here:
hitting the power button caused everything to light up which should light up, and every fan to spin which should spin, with a single exception. The Scythe fan on the CPU cooler would spin for a second or two, then slow to a stop.
My monitor remains blank through all of this. The computer makes a few noises like it MIGHT be thinking about booting (tho I guess I am not entirely sure what an SSD system should sound like at boot - this is much easier when you are listening to platters spinning), but the screen stays blank and the fan on the CPU cooler stays dead.
I have confirmed that everything was seated properly. I have disconnected everything but the SSD and the GPU with the same result. I have not pulled the RAM, because it is well hidden by the cooler.
I have replaced the CMOS battery. Old one read 3.0v and the new reads 3.3v. I could not find a jumper, so I shorted the CMOS pins with a screwdriver. After each change, I get the continuously blank screen and the CPU fan that spins for only a second or two.
Any ideas about what is causing this? I could try swapping the GPU from my home (Intel-based) machine, and probably the RAM as well, but it is hard to see how either change is going to give me anything other than a blank screen and a dead CPU fan.
It seems to me like this is a BIOS problem (as in, the CPU shots down when it does not detect any BIOS) but I do not know how to fix it, and the intermittent nature of the problem really does not fit with the BIO theory, does it?
System includes:
Gigabyte GA770TA-U3 mobo
AMD 3 core CPU
An enormous CPU cooler that has no visible name
MSI 5750 GPU
OCZ Modstream 500 PSU
OCZ 100G SSD
A standard HD and DVD drive
4 Gig of RAM from GSkill
Built system for vacation cabin. After a large storm, the system would not light up at all. One slight flicker when I hit the power switch, then total darkness and silence.
Took system home to play with it. Hooked it up, and immediately everything worked fine.
Took system back to cabin, where it continued to work fine.
Left system on overnight (mistake!) and found it dead in the morning. Power button did nothing. Fiddled with PSU and power cord, and eventually hitting the power button caused everything to light up which should light up, and every fan to spin which should spin, with a single exception. The Scythe fan on the CPU cooler would spin for a second or two, then slow to a stop.
Took system home to play with it. Hooked it up, and immediately everything worked fine.
Disconnected system and reconnected my home box to the monitor. All fine, of course, but then I had reason to reconnect the vacation box once again. Copy and paste time here:
hitting the power button caused everything to light up which should light up, and every fan to spin which should spin, with a single exception. The Scythe fan on the CPU cooler would spin for a second or two, then slow to a stop.
My monitor remains blank through all of this. The computer makes a few noises like it MIGHT be thinking about booting (tho I guess I am not entirely sure what an SSD system should sound like at boot - this is much easier when you are listening to platters spinning), but the screen stays blank and the fan on the CPU cooler stays dead.
I have confirmed that everything was seated properly. I have disconnected everything but the SSD and the GPU with the same result. I have not pulled the RAM, because it is well hidden by the cooler.
I have replaced the CMOS battery. Old one read 3.0v and the new reads 3.3v. I could not find a jumper, so I shorted the CMOS pins with a screwdriver. After each change, I get the continuously blank screen and the CPU fan that spins for only a second or two.
Any ideas about what is causing this? I could try swapping the GPU from my home (Intel-based) machine, and probably the RAM as well, but it is hard to see how either change is going to give me anything other than a blank screen and a dead CPU fan.
It seems to me like this is a BIOS problem (as in, the CPU shots down when it does not detect any BIOS) but I do not know how to fix it, and the intermittent nature of the problem really does not fit with the BIO theory, does it?
Last edited: