Confirmation of issue

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Durntdude

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Messages
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I need a couple of opinions regarding some trouble I am having with hardware on a friends computer.

Basically what ends up happening is the computer turns on just fine, all fans and drives/ect... The issue is that the monitor will show its getting a signal but it will just display black. On occasion after fiddling with turning the power on/off and clearing cmos, the display may show the bios splash screen for about 5 seconds or so before it goes black again.(most of the times it doesn't)

Things I've tried:
clear CMOS
reset bios to default manually (managed it once)
different monitor
different monitor cable
different video card
different PSU
reseated all power plugs and cards
tested video card in another machine (works great)

Odd notes: I can remote into the machine with Teamviewer and it displays everything fine. I can see the mouse/keyboard respond on the machine while remoted in and everything seems to work. Using Teamviewer, I've uninstalled/reinstalled video drivers successfully but it didn't fix the problem. On occasion, if i toggle the inputs between projector (tv) and monitor or change the resolution then the screen may display for about 3 seconds or so then go black again. The really odd thing is that I managed to (with the different power supply hooked up) get the computer to work properly. Screen displayed during the entire boot process and prime 95 worked for 15 mins and furmark ran 15 mins without issue. Rebooted a few times without issue. PSU is issue right? Nope. Bring the computer back to friends house and it has the exact same problem that it originally had. At this point, I think it has to be the motherboard.

Anyone agree or have other things to try?
 
The board must only have 1 pci-e or AGP slot or you would have mentioned testing another. That's almost assuredly where the problem is, and you seem to think so too...

Isn't it a total PITA when it's the motherboard and isn't it unfair how often it is the motherboard? I think it's just because they have so many different things bolted and crammed, glued, soldered, melted and forced onto them. Every other component is less vulnerable with the possible exception of the power supply, which could try to kill you while it's dying. Tell your friend he's lucky to be alive. :rolleyes:

Doesn't mean that's the end of the road. If it is the graphics port someone could probably repair it. But if it's only got one slot, it may not be worth the trouble of even looking into it if you can't see what it is and fix it for them yourself.
 
Sorry if i was a little unclear, the motherboard that I believe to be bad has 2 PCI-E slots, both of them do not work with either my friends nor my backup video card. My friends video card works in a separate machine (my old gaming machine) just fine.

Since both ports have the issue, I am guessing it may be an issue with the traces, not necessarily the ports themselves. Even if it was the port, I would rather spend $100 for a new mobo than risk screwing up a circuit and frying a $150 video card.
 
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Probably not the exact cause of your issue but you should probably look at a new PSU soon since that Ultra PSU is more than likely crap. Ultra PSUs were rarely good quality. For that kind of system, the Corsair CX500 would be more than enough.

Anyway, take apart the PC and reassemble it on a cardboard box or the motherboard box. Start it up using the screwdriver method. What this test will show is whether or not there's a weird short going on between the case and the rest of the system. It happens, a bit rarely though, but it does happen as this recent thread has shown.
 
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I believe i mentioned it in the first post, I already tried a known working PSU(same wattage) in the computer and it had the same exact issue.
 
Durntdude said:
I believe i mentioned it in the first post, I already tried a known working PSU(same wattage) in the computer and it had the same exact issue.
Click to expand...
Yes and I'm still recommending to replace the PSU as a preventative measure, after you've figure out the cause of the issue, since that PSU is a known crap PSU. It may not be harming hardware now but it can in the future. Also, saying "same wattage" doesn't mean a lot since there are still plenty of other shitty to crappy 750W PSUs out there.

Anyway, like I said, try reassembling the PC outside of the case.
 
Alrighty, so when I head over to my friends house again, I will first try the computer outside the case (Antec 300, didn't mention it earlier) to see if its a grounding issue. If it still fails then most likely a mobo issue? I will bring up the shoddy PSU info. Also, since i forgot to mention it earlier, this is not a new build. This computers been running strong for a year or so already. Not sure if it is significant.
 
and I am an idiot. Issue resolved. For those interested, the monitor backlight went out. When I tested the other monitor I must've had it on the wrong input or something.
 
.......hahahaha.

Don't worry man, shit like that happens to everyone. I still remember the time I thought my PC was dead until I realized I hadn't turn on the monitor.......eight hours after troubleshooting.
 
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