Question Unusual problem

[Tullphan]

I recently moved my tower from its normal perch in order to repair a window. It had been shut down properly before moving.
When I moved it back and plugged everything in, it would not power on. Completely dead.
I removed one of the memory sticks and tried again, nothing. I removed the battery and tried anew one, nothing. I unplugged the power switch header and tried a small screwdriver to the pins, nothing. I unplugged the main PSU cable from the motherboard and did the paper clip test and the PSU came on. I tried three different plug-ins, but the pc still wouldn’t power on. I tried a new PSU I had, but still nothing.
At this point I figured the motherboard was bad and tried a brand new one by doing a bench test. Nothing was plugged in to it except for a case fan (and the proper power cables) and it wouldn’t power up either!
I really don’t understand what’s going on with this. I’d appreciate any help.
BTW, the old motherboard was a Gigabyte with a Phenom II cpu and an Antec 550W PSU. The new motherboard is a newer Gigabyte AN4 socket. The other PSU was a Corsair 1000W. The new CPU should arrive Monday.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Gigabyte. I've learned not to trust their junk. Something weird happens to them every now and again. It could be a bad capacitor on the mobo. Inspect everything on the mobo with a magnifying glass. Maybe rust or dust bunnies or even mold might be growing in some nook or corner. Make sure there isn't some metallic shaving or tiny screw shorting something somewhere.

Some things to try:

Blow on it hard, with a blow dryer.
Keep it unplugged from the mains overnight and then try powering it on the next morning.
At this point, it's probably dead anyway, so seal it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a few hours. Take out and let it rest for an hour or so. Take it out of the sealed bag and try powering on.
Preheat oven to 360° F (182° C), and then place the motherboard inside once it's ready. Bake at that temperature for 10 minutes, then gently remove the motherboard and let it sit for around 30 min. Power on to try your luck.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Are you certain that it's not the AC socket that that PC is plugged into? Does the motherboard have any Standby LEDs or diagnostic LEDs? Do you get any beep codes (any beeper installed?)

No CPU fan spin-up? Case fan spin-up?

Maybe some piece of cruft fell into the PSU grating, and it's internally shorting, and thus, staying shut down.

 

[Tullphan]

Are you certain that it's not the AC socket that that PC is plugged into? Does the motherboard have any Standby LEDs or diagnostic LEDs? Do you get any beep codes (any beeper installed?)

No CPU fan spin-up? Case fan spin-up?

Maybe some piece of cruft fell into the PSU grating, and it's internally shorting, and thus, staying shut down.

I tried three different known good wall sockets.
Motherboard has no lights nor a speaker.
No CPU nor case fan.
Same problem when bench testing the new MB.

 

[Tullphan]

*UPDATE* I dug out an OLD ABIT IP35-E motherboard I had lying around in my workshop into yet another wall socket.
Plugged in the PSU connectors and the LED light on the motherboard came on immediately. Shorted out the pins on the PWR header and the PSU fan fired up. Unplugged the PSU and plugged it into the new motherboard, shorted out the pins on the PWR header and still nothing.

 

[igor_kavinski]

*UPDATE* I dug out an OLD ABIT IP35-E motherboard I had lying around in my workshop into yet another wall socket.
Plugged in the PSU connectors and the LED light on the motherboard came on immediately. Shorted out the pins on the PWR header and the PSU fan fired up. Unplugged the PSU and plugged it into the new motherboard, shorted out the pins on the PWR header and still nothing.

RMA the new mobo.

 

[Tullphan]

Done.
It still doesn’t make sense to me why the pc was working fine one day and dead the next.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Done.
It still doesn’t make sense to me why the pc was working fine one day and dead the next.

Gigabyte. That's your answer right there. They cut corners. Read people's experiences here: https://www.resellerratings.com/store/gigabyte

 

[Tullphan]

Received the replacement today from Amazon. They sent me a used one. It was dead too. Go figure.
I ended up ordering an MSI from B&H Photo.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Received the replacement today from Amazon. They sent me a used one. It was dead too. Go figure.
I ended up ordering an MSI from B&H Photo.

Good for you. Please do report your success with MSI.

 

[Shmee]

Received the replacement today from Amazon. They sent me a used one. It was dead too. Go figure.
I ended up ordering an MSI from B&H Photo.

Yikes. Out of curiosity, which MSI board was ordered, and what Gigabyte board was used as the previous board? I know Gigabyte has had some issues recently with certain boards, but on the other hand the X570 Aorus Master is very well built and reviewed, though it is a fairly high end AM4 board. I would honestly say though, at least for the AMD 500 series boards, I would likely recommend MSI or Asus, especially when it comes to BIOS quality and support.

Anyway, good luck with the MSI board and whatever Ryzen CPU you have now. I would try to get a refund from Amazon if possible, for sending a used board.

Just to double check though, in case something was missed, and so that we could assist in further troubleshooting, what CPU/board and RAM were you using in the new setup?

 

[Tullphan]

The motherboard I ordered is a MSI B450-M Pro Max. The Gigabyte(s) I tried were the GA-A320M-S2H The processor is an Athlon 200GE 2-core 4-thread. Memory is Patriot Viper Steel 8 gigabyte 3000MHZ.

 

[Tullphan]

*UPDATE* Received the MSI motherboard. Put the memory and cpu in it, connected all connections and cables, pushed the power button and it fired right up!
I know this isn’t a high end setup, but it’s only going to be used for internet surfing and online bill payment.