dead PSU?

[alphasigmookie]

I just want to confirm my intuition on this before I place an order with newegg. Today when i went to turn on my PC all the fans turn on and the HDD starts spinning up and it sounds like it is going to boot and then everything goes dead. My gut is that the PSU crapped out on me. I have had absolutely zero issues with this build up to this point so there has been nothing to indicate other problems. I guess I knew this would happen sooner or later as i'm just using the crappy offbrand 500W PSU that came with the case.

 

[phdchristmas]

Could be a symptom of the cpu or other component reaching terminal temperatures upon boot up, then the MB bios shuts everything down before something does fry. Most MB's only auto-shutdown for the cpu.

Check your cpu heatsink to see if its properly fitted, ive read stories where push-pin heatsinks randomly popping out for whatever reason, but its a very rare occurance.

 

[logicmaster2003]

im on the same boat as you !

the barebone that I'd put together last August 2008 died last night !

upon turning on power: HDD red light turns ON and stays ON, power green light stays OFF.

* I have took out the battery and cleared the CMOS then restore.
* I have took out all the RAM and Video card

both results in : no beep, no boot, no green light, solid red light.

Please do the same step as what I did and confirm you have the exact symptoms so we can both work together. Thanks !

 

[Atheus]

Both of you post your system specs. Since you're getting some power (is that right alphasigmookie or is it not working at all now?) I'd say the PSU is probably okay. In my personal experience when they go boom they go boom good. With smoke and everything. Does anything inside the box look fried or even a bit discoloured? Especially power jacks and MOSFETs. Was there a smell?

 

[logicmaster2003]

1) Here are mine :
- Antec Neo-HE 550w
- Biostar P4M900-M7-SE socket 775
- Intel Pentium D945 3.4ghz DT 800fsb
- crucial 2040mb PC5400 DDR2 667mhz
- crucial 1024mb PC5400 DDR2 667mhz
- evga geoforce GTX 260


2) No burned smell, and physically no burned parts

3) From the pinout.. http://pinouts.ru/Power/atx_v2_pinout.shtml

the GRAY wire "PWR_OK" (pin-eight) should read 5 volts ? even if its on stand-alone test (jumper pin-16 to ground) ? cuz im reading something like 95mv. If you have a spare PS, could u do the same test and check the voltage reading @ pin-eight "PWR_OK" ?

4a) connected the power supply back to the mobo (no ram, no video card, no hdd). Upon power-up, the hdd red light still turns ON (even without hdd connected).

4b) then added 1 ram, 1 old hdd. Upon power-up, the hdd red light still turns ON ((but hdd not spinning or vibrating) and I've measured the voltages across the 4 power pin to the hdd while the hdd is connected ( +12v, ground, ground, +5v) which are correct.

Could this be a dead mobo ?

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: logicmaster2003
the GRAY wire "PWR_OK" (pin-eight) should read 5 volts ? even if its on stand-alone test (jumper pin-16 to ground) ? cuz im reading something like 95mv. If you have a spare PS, could u do the same test and check the voltage reading @ pin-eight "PWR_OK" ?

Okay just a sec...

/edit: Yup I'm seeing 5.14V on PWR_OK with green-wire test and no load. That's on an FSP, your Antec might be slightly different, so you might try loading it with a fan or something. Doesn't look good though I have to say.

I had an Antec ?400 once and it blew a cap and took the board with it.

 

[logicmaster2003]

Hi Atheus

THanks for the quick reply yeap ur right.. I have to add load. I added an old HDD and the voltages reads 4.76 vdc. So this proves my PS is good ? bad mobo /or cpu ?

also..corrections: hdd red light = on if hdd is connected while powering up. hdd red light = off if no hdd connected while powering up.

Also, while powering up, the 3 light on keyboard lights up at the same time for 1/2 a second; those lights are the num lock, caps lock and scroll lock.

 

[Atheus]

Okay the safest thing to do is try another PSU because if you replace the mobo and the the PSU was gone it might take out the new board. Get a nice one and you can reuse it on your next build. If that doesn't fix it you'll have to get the new board - might as well get a good budget C2D bundle than replace the board alone, and reuse RAM and HDDs etc, but not the processor.

 

[Laputa]

Or could be a bad or jammed power switch. Easiest way to test it is to disconnect the power on/power switch cable and use a screw driver to hot start the system to see if you have this issue. If the issue is gone, then you do have a sticky/bad power on switch. You can use the reset switch if you have one in your case. If the problem still remains, you are likely going to need a new power supply if you don't hear any strange beeps.