Desktop will not turn on

[Deathgazer]

Alright well, first off, this PC is fairly new. I bought it late February of this year.
A few months later, we had the power on the block flicker a few times, killing the power (PC is plugged into a surge protector). Turning it back on would give me the
CMOS Settings Wrong, Date/Time not set screen.

Tried switching out the CMOS battery, np. A few months later power flickers on and off again. I hit the power button on the PC later to turn it back on, but nothing happens.. An hour later, PC randomly powers on.

A month or so later, same thing. Power to the neighborhood dies while PC is on, few hours later I try and power it back on and it doesn't turn on or respond at all. Yet a few hours later the PC randomly powers itself up.

And most recently, power flickered to the neighborhood, yet again, later that night I try and turn my desktop back on, and absolutely nothing. Been days and it just seems dead. Refuses to turn on or respond when I hit the power button.

Few things to note: I use an MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard. The motherboard light IS on (orange).

I never turn my desktop off (cept to restart for updates.) The only time it was turned off was when the power flickered/went out.


I had a technician check it out, he said he thinks it's the power supply. He tested it and said only one of the legs is giving any power, or something like that. He swapped it out with a brand new power supply, tried everything with it, including a new battery, but the PC still won't power on.



Any idea what it could be? Maybe the motherboard? Or would a dead processor cause it to not power on at all (hope not, $$$.) Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[mickey megabyte]

do you get any beeps when you turn it on?

do the fans spin at all?

i would check that each pci card is properly seated, as well as the ram. take it out, and stick it back in. give the old mobo slots a good clean with a toothbrush while you are at it.

then check all the cable connections.

but i suppose the technician would have done that...

 

[Deathgazer]

No beeps, no fans spinning, nothing. Just refuses to power on at all. The technician said he tried everything with the cables, and took out the graphics card, changed the battery, reseated, etc. Couldn't get it to boot.

 

[mickey megabyte]

i really couldn't say without having the machine here, i'm afraid...

maybe someone else will be along soon with some more ideas.

good luck!

 

[James Colbert]

Did you bring it to the technician, or did he come to your house? If he came to your house, did he (or you) check that proper voltage was supplied to the outlet the machine is using?

James

 

[Deathgazer]

I brought it to the technician, in-store.

 

[polarbear]

Hi Deathgazer, sure sounds like you live in the same one horse town as me. Went through many PS in my days. Can be many other things but if you have one to try do so. I unplug my puter when I'm not on it for all the reasons you posted above. GL

 

[AstaLaVista]

When you say a "Surge Protector" do you mean one of those long strips that you can plug a bunch of things on or a Full Battery Back Up (UPS system)? with as many light flickers as you have I would have invested on a good UPS by now.

What I would do? I would unplug the pc, open the case, take everything out, test to see if the board would light up and start plugging things back again one at a time.

I would then plug the PC into a battery back up (UPS) and plug this one direct into an house power socket and I would leave the surge protector for other things.

 

[James Colbert]

I would buy a PSU tester (generally inexpensive). If you can't find one locally, you could order one from various sources:

power supply tester - Google Search

Or, if you have a VOM meter, most PSU mfrs have charts specifying what voltages should be read at what pins (but I find a tester much easier).

Also, you may want to try a different video card if you have one laying around or if you can borrow one. And, once you are up and running, I would definitely look into a UPS, such as can be found here:

Newegg.com - UPS, Surge Suppressors, Backup Power Supply, Surge Protectors, Power Strips


James

 

[polarbear]

Buy a power surge protector for the house. ( very cheap ) They work great for just that but a brown out is just that without a UPS. The way I see it, lighting travels miles to reach earth, another 1/8 of an inch isn't going to stop it! GL

 

[Deathgazer]

I have and use a surge protector (not a UPS). Pretty sure the technician used a PSU tester and said it seemed almost dead. Replaced PSU, computer still does nothing when you push the power button, does not turn on. Also replaced cmos battery.

Took out my video card, reseated, etc, didn't help.

Could it be the motherboard?

 

[SledgeDG]

Is there the slightest chance, that the tech accidentally installed a dead PSU ??? because even with a dead board and CPU, the fans should start up spinning for half a second or so
If not then it most likely is the board check for damaged capacitors like on those 4 pics in the top right
Badcaps.net - How To Identify

-DG

 

[Deathgazer]

Well, the warranty covered the psu so they sent me a brand new one in the box. But I'll have him use his psu tester on the new one as well just in case.

Don't think I saw anything out of the ordinary on the mobo, but I'll give it a good look-through again tomorrow. Thx for the info.

-other DG

 

[James Colbert]

Simplistic, and likely you have checked it with a VOM, but you never answered the question of proper voltage to the outlet?

James

 

[Deathgazer]

Sorry, back now. After replacing the power supply, AND the motherboard, it fired right up. Guess the power surge killed both. Thanks for the info.

 

[SledgeDG]

Glad you got it sorted out

Thanks for the feedback
-DG