No post -- cpu, mb, or?

0

01101001

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
102
My 5 mo old computer had been sitting idle for about an hour when
I was alerted to a problem by a loud hissing noise coming from the
speaker system. The machine was locked-up tight and I noticed a small,
weirdly pixelated area in the display. I hit Reset but nothing happened
so I powered the machine off and let it sit for several minutes.

When I started it up it refused to post. The mb light is on but there is
no beep. The fans are running and the memory LEDs show activity. There is
no HDD access. When I power up, the LED on the case blinks twice then stays off.

Up until now, I have never has a single issue with the system.

So I guess my question is how do I discern where the problem lies? My first
thought was that this is the last thing I need right now LOL, and my second
thought was that either the mb or cpu has failed -- but I don't know enough about
these things to know for sure.

System:
Q6600 (Not oc'd), Zalman HS&F, Asus P5K Premium, 2Gb Crucial Ballistix
Tracer, 2x Seagate SATA hdds, Corsaire 629w psu, EVGA 8600GTS, XPPro.

Thanks in advance
 
Electronic interference (hiss) in the sound system would cause me to suspect the PSU. Maybe you have a rail failed or going bad? Do you have a PSU tester or multi-meter?
 
Unfortunately I have neither ... or the 1st clue on how to test a psu. I don't even have a spare laying around that I could switch out. I could get the machine to a local Ma & Pa shop to test if need be.

The PSU has been rock stable for me -- but I suppose anything can fail at any time.
 
The power supply is a good place to start off with and check. If not that, then you can go with a process of elimination with each component and see which component is the cause. If you have another video card, try swapping that out. If you have 2 memory modules, try removing one and swapping them to see if a memory has gone bad. A computer can be full on running with all the fans spinning and lights on and the PS can still be the problem. I had this happen to me before. Most people wouldn't expect the power supply mainly because of the fact the PC is running.
 
The PSU wasn't in my top 5, just for that reason ... the machine was 'running'. I'll have it checked.

I can swap the ram sticks around to see what happens -- but I have no spare vid card.

If it comes down to it, how would I find out if the cpu or even the mb is the culprit?

Thanks so much for your input, I appreciate it.
 
If you have 2 memory modules, try removing one and swapping them to see if a memory has gone bad
Click to expand...

Bingo! One stick is shot but I'm up and running on the good one. It's RMA time.

Thanks again!
 
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