Fatal computer issue: need troubleshooting help

[unbot]

so after 6 mths of my new build working fine, i started to notice more occasional BSOD happening (i somewhat ignored them since i've been playing bf2142 and just attributed part of it to that).

last night, computer just shut down after about 10min of powerup. wasn't doing anything intensive. no blue screen, nothing. just off on its own. could not power up after that.

took everything out and left only mobo, processor, and power supply. reset power supply by switching on/off and trying again but no luck (i'm powering on through mobo switch so it's not the connection to case issue). all fans power up for about 1 sec, then shuts off.

if i wait for 20-30min, power on, it looks ok and waits for ram. slip ram in, vid card/monitor, hdd, and it posts. but turned it off and on again to test and it does the above: fans power up for a sec and off it goes. tried reseating northbridge heatsink/fan but same issue.

anybody have any ideas? i don't have any spare parts lying around so i really can't do any swapping....



Build:
epox ep 9npa +ultra
amd x2 3800
evga 7900gt
patriot 2gb pc3200 ram
seasonic s12-500

 

[ch33zw1z]

sounds like system board or power, w/ no spare parts you're still left guessing though.

 

[ZzZGuy]

your best bet is to bring it into a computer store that does repairs unless you got a firend that can supply the extra parts for tetsing. From my experence, it'll cost around $70 US per hour, but it shouldn't take more then a hour for them to find the problem.

-edit- if xh33zw1z is right, which sounds aobut right. -edit-

 

[unbot]

thanks for the replies.

i may try shorting the power supply directly to see if the fan kicks in. but if it does, does that mean the ps is likely to be ok?

i may try resetting the CMOS too and see if that would help it...

 

[j00fek]

try rebilding the whole system piece by piece first. then clear the cmos. (look in your mb manual for this)

id hate to see you pay someone else to fix it

 

[unbot]

taking it somewhere doesn't seem cost efficient, since i can probably buy a new mobo and power supply for the cost of people to just diagnose it for 2 hrs. i might see what i can do to borrow a P/S from a friend to test.

maybe i'm biased but i'm guessing the power supply is ok (it's a seasonic!) and considering my first Epox mobo was DOA, i wouldn't be too surprised if something is wrong with this one too.

frustrating....

 

[unbot]

so i did the paper clip thing to the green/black wires of the 24pin connector and plugged the p/s to wall jack only with no other connections .......lo and behold, fan starts for a second then stops immediately.

guess it really is a dead power supply. can't believe this seasonic died in 6 mths. very disappointed....i just hope the rma process is quick.

 

[lenjack]

That's not positive proof that it's the ps.

 

[unbot]

can you elaborate? i'm just wondering what would cause the fan to spin for one second and then stop, other than faulty ps. are some ps designed to do that if there is no load?

 

[unbot]

it was a dead psu. replacement works fine and computer is up and running again. very disappointed that the original psu died in under 6 mths. i thought seasonics were reliable....but i guess there's always a dud once in a while.

anyways, thanks everyone!

 

[TeeJay1952]

They stood behind their product. That is the BEST we can hope for.