Faulty Motherboard or Power Supply?

[vpro]

Hello,

I've been having issues with my (old) gaming PC and I would like to either replace or upgrade the components but I'm not sure what the issue is.

Here's a list of what happened:

- 1-2 years ago I was experiencing BSODs on PC boot so I decided to check each ram individually to see if one of them its causing the problem. So I found that 2 sticks were faulty, so I removed them and I was left with 4GB ram.
- 2 months ago, I tried to turn on the PC and it was shutting down after 2 seconds, or it wouldn't even start at all ( no signs of power)
- So I decided to disassemble everything and clean my dusty fans(there was a lot of dust inside the power supply) and tried to boot again. This time the PC was booting but with no display.
- So I removed everything expect the CPU, Cooler and fans and tried to boot again. Still no display, no beeps and fans were spinning.

Is it safe to assume that my motherboard is bad? Is there any other way to test it to make sure? Because if it's the motherboard I might be replacing the whole system, unless its the power supply that's faulty so I could replace it with a cheap one at the moment and upgrade the PC later.

Specs

OS: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 555 Processor
Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Memory: 4GB (DDR3 SDRAM)
Graphics Cards: ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1024 MB) (x2)
Cooling: H70 corsair
Hard Drives: WDC WD6401AALS-00L3B2 ATA Device (596 GB, IDE) (x2)

 

[bigmck]

If you can borrow a friends monitor you could find out if the monitor is bad as a start. Assuming that it is not a monitor problem, you could next try a Power Supply. A good one can be had for about $60 from Newegg or Tigerdirect. If you do buy a PSU, get one that would be adequate for your new system because I do believe one is in your near future. Your motherboard is from 2009, so that tells you it is nearing the end of the line. Regardless of he problem, you need to be saving for the new system. Sorry I was not more help.

 

[vpro]

The monitor is just fine. I know the whole system needs an upgrade but I just want to know what the actual problem is before I start upgrading everything.
Anyone else who could give me some insight of what could be wrong with my PC?
Thanks

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hi vpro,

have you checked the graphics cards or do you have the display plugged into the motherboard?

 

[vpro]

Yep I removed the graphic cards and connected the display to the motherboard and still the same.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

HDMI or DVI or VGA?

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Also you made a thread about a BSOD a couple of months ago, there you said that you hadn't tried to update the BIOS, maybe this would be a perfect moment to do it?

 

[vpro]

VGA. Yes I didn't update BIOS before but I can't do it right now since all I get is a black screen with no instructions. One more thing I didn't mention, when the computer starts, the monitor's LED starts blinking so it actually detects something but nothing is displayed on the screen. If the monitor is not connected to any device it usually says "Video not available" or something like that. The monitor is just fine since I used it everyday on another PC.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

vpro,

please still try to get into the BIOS that way we can test what this issue is.

If it is a drivers issue then when entering the BIOS you should get output.

 

[vpro]

It's not possible to get into BIOS, the systems returns no POST, no BIOS, no signs of anything at all.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

It's not possible to get into BIOS, the systems returns no POST, no BIOS, no signs of anything at all.

But you know the key to get into the BIOS.

Just power off the system and when you power it on press the BIOS button.

 

[vpro]

Yeah I know, I tried that multiple times and it doesn't work.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Yeah I know, I tried that multiple times and it doesn't work.

Ah sorry you didn't say so I didn't know.

Have you tried the monitor with different cables?

Also please explain in detail what happens when you power it on!

 

[Wajiema]

First of all is there a speaker connect to the motherboard, if so remove all your ram and see if you get error beep codes. If not it's more than likely the motherboard. Also when you said you connected the monitor to the motherboard did you also remove the video card, if not the bios will still try to boot to it. Also have you tried resetting the bios.

 

[MeOnMine]

Perhaps you have no BIOS because you need a new BIOS battery.
Removing the battery to replace it will reset the BIOS as well (don't put in the new one for half an hour after the old one is removed).

 

[Wajiema]

Perhaps you have no BIOS because you need a new BIOS battery.
Removing the battery to replace it will reset the BIOS as well (don't put in the new one for half an hour after the old one is removed).

If the battery was dead then the bios would still be there and boot it just would not save the setting when the computer reboots.

 

[vpro]

First of all is there a speaker connect to the motherboard, if so remove all your ram and see if you get error beep codes. If not it's more than likely the motherboard. Also when you said you connected the monitor to the motherboard did you also remove the video card, if not the bios will still try to boot to it. Also have you tried resetting the bios.

I tried removing everything (ram/HDD/graphic cards) but still I get no beeps. I just start the computer, the fans start spinning, but nothing is shown on the screen.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

First of all is there a speaker connect to the motherboard, if so remove all your ram and see if you get error beep codes. If not it's more than likely the motherboard. Also when you said you connected the monitor to the motherboard did you also remove the video card, if not the bios will still try to boot to it. Also have you tried resetting the bios.

I tried removing everything (ram/HDD/graphic cards) but still I get no beeps. I just start the computer, the fans start spinning, but nothing is shown on the screen.

Have you tried resetting the cmos battery?

 

[Mellon Head]

I tried removing everything (ram/HDD/graphic cards) but still I get no beeps. I just start the computer, the fans start spinning, but nothing is shown on the screen.

It sounds to me like either your motherboard or your processor is toast. I would suspect the motherboard.

 

[vpro]

First of all is there a speaker connect to the motherboard, if so remove all your ram and see if you get error beep codes. If not it's more than likely the motherboard. Also when you said you connected the monitor to the motherboard did you also remove the video card, if not the bios will still try to boot to it. Also have you tried resetting the bios.

I tried removing everything (ram/HDD/graphic cards) but still I get no beeps. I just start the computer, the fans start spinning, but nothing is shown on the screen.

Have you tried resetting the cmos battery?

Yes.

I tried removing everything (ram/HDD/graphic cards) but still I get no beeps. I just start the computer, the fans start spinning, but nothing is shown on the screen.

It sounds to me like either your motherboard or your processor is toast. I would suspect the motherboard.

If the processor was toast, wouldn't the PC shut down after a few minutes?