Tech assistance required!

[Tommy]

Alright Gents let’s see if one of you can help because I’m at my wit’s end.

Computer was working fine. About a week ago I had a few crashes, nothing too serious.

Earlier I booted it up, and it crashed again. Reset it, now nothing loads. The computer turns on, fans are whirring, but nothing else, no boot to windows, mouse and keyboard have no lights on, monitor is saying no video input.

My theory is a dodgy PSU, and it’s not hitting the minimum power required to boot the motherboard correctly?

Any thoughts appreciated - I have no other PSU to test.

[Raid]

I've not heard of a PC turning on, but not having sufficient power for the motherboard to operate before. Is the CPU fan switching on? I know case fans can often be powered by a separate bus that connects to the PSU, but I think the CPU fan is controlled by the motherboard, so it'd be one way to test the theory.

[Tommy]

Well there goes my theory. Yes the fan is still going.

[Maturin]

If you have a multimeter, there is a way of checking the voltage throughput to see if the PSU is working fully or not. I've done it myself before when trying to work out whether it was the PSU or MOBO that's kaput (for me, it was the mobo).

Sometimes when PSU's begin to fail they squeeze out enough power for some fans to tick over - but I've also heard of duff motherboards doing funny things like that. If it's a very old PSU you could probably view it as a wise investment getting a new one either way.

[eny]

What is the model of the Mobo? It should have some form of POST beep codes/led's to inform you of where in the chain the problem might be.

[Tommy]

What is the model of the Mobo? It should have some form of POST beep codes/led's to inform you of where in the chain the problem might be.

A quick google suggests this is the beep that it makes when you turn it on?

It doesn’t beep at all currently. It’s probably worth mentioning that the computer has always had a bit of an issue with the PSU connection (ie. It’s quite temperamental, the cord never really feels fully connected and it makes fizzy noises if you tap it accidentally…

[DjchunKfunK]

What is the model of the Mobo? It should have some form of POST beep codes/led's to inform you of where in the chain the problem might be.

A quick google suggests this is the beep that it makes when you turn it on?

It doesn’t beep at all currently. It’s probably worth mentioning that the computer has always had a bit of an issue with the PSU connection (ie. It’s quite temperamental, the cord never really feels fully connected and it makes fizzy noises if you tap it accidentally…

That coupled with the board not powering one sounds like there is an issue with the power being delivered to the board and therefore some kind of faulty connector. You can probably get a new connector but that will require you to wire it in which is a fairly daunting prospect and it could be that one of the wires itself is faulty. If it is a modular PSU you might be able to buy a whole new wire.

[eny]

With so little to go on I would say that the PSU is the likely target, so factor in age and make, and the same for the rest of the PC, and decide whether to change it or rebuild really.

[Alan]

It doesn’t beep at all currently. It’s probably worth mentioning that the computer has always had a bit of an issue with the PSU connection (ie. It’s quite temperamental, the cord never really feels fully connected and it makes fizzy noises if you tap it accidentally…

You mean the kettle lead? Did you not try another or do you like living on the edge? Do you rub balloons before swapping a cpu? :p

Might have fried something on the mobo with the fizzling. I think I still have my old psu if you want it to test. It worked fine but it is near 10 years old so I wouldn’t recommend using it long term.

[Wrathbone]

If it’s saying no video input, surely the GPU is the primary suspect? If there’s an HDMI socket on the motherboard, give that a go.

[Raid]

The GPU is the last link in the chain, anything wrong before it would cause that issue I think.

[Wrathbone]

Potentially, yes, but it’s an easy thing to rule out.

[Abs_McBain]

My PC had a similar issue a few months back, the M.2 boot drive was failing and had stuck itself into read only mode. Windows crashed when it tried to write to it and the drive vanished from the boot menu on restart.

[Tommy]

Okay bit of an update.

I’m now getting some action. I disconnected and reconnected some stuff and now I’m getting one long beep and two short, which the internet informs me is a RAM error.

So my question now is, could it have always been a RAM error, or have I probably fucked my RAM faffing about with it

EDIT: note I still get no action on the screen.

[eny]

Do you have 2 strips? If so, remove one and test, then swap to see if both have gone...check the channel orientation for your mobo, as to which slot to use just one in. RAM posts before GFX so if it is faulty memory you wouldn't get video.