Question for the experts...

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Crowzone

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So, last night my computer died on me. It was on, running fine (temperatures were low 54 degrees under load on either core) when suddenly it simply turned off. No power at all.

So I am trying to determine which component is the culprit. The computer will not even power up at all, like doesn't even begin to post. When I plug it in and press power, I get a half a second of a click/whir, the fans half begin to spin (don't even get 1/4 of a rotation) before everything goes dead again. Unfortunately I don't have a known good powersupply to test on the system because my only other computer isn't using the latest ATX standard (it is 20pin for the mobo and 4 pin for the cpu, my current system uses the 24pins to the mobo and 8pins to the cpu) HOWEVER, I did pull out the powersupply in question and use it in the older computer and it WILL boot up that old system so I am thinking that may rule out the power supply as an issue, anyways I believe the failure must be somewhere in the PSU, MOBO or maybe the CPU.

Edit: I have tried the following - Reset CMOS a few times, I reseated everything at least twice, searched for obvious visible faults in any of the components.
Edit 2: I should also say that i have pulled all extraneous components out to try to get a post (No ram, no vid card, no hd's, just the mobo, cpu and cpu fan are plugged in)

So my questions are:
1. Is it possible for a CPU failure to cause this kind of problem?
There was a mild overclock on the cpu (it was running at 3ghz at the temperature stated above under load using a 120-ultra extreme active cooled HS)

2. If the PSU can power the older computer (the 20pin and 4pin system) does that rule it out as the probable culprit?

3. If those are the case is the motherboard the most likely source of the problem?
(sadly the older system doesn't have a socket 775 mobo that I can test my current cpu in)


Relevant components. :
Asus p5b deluxe mobo
e6600
Enermax Liberty 500 PSU
 
You need the RAM and GPU to boot.

Either way it's the PSU, mainboard or CPU. Something which'd cause instant failure. Try a different CPU, different PSU (PSU first, please :) ) and then a mainboard if you're desperate :p

Good luck :)
 
yeah I know I'd need the ram/gpu to boot -- but I'm not getting that far..

I am just wondering if I can rule out either the PSU/CPU -- unfortunately I have no 'known good' parts to test. I am just wondering if the CPU can cause this type of behavior (no power upon start up)

I should add, that the light on the motherboard DOES light up when the psu is plugged (it glows blue when the system is off) When I try to turn the computer on it briefly flickers red (the on color) then goes back to blue, and as I mentioned before, the fans get about a quarter turn, and I hear a very high pitch whine that lasts less then half a second
 
Far less likely that the CPU failed than the PSU or motherboard failed. RAM may have failed, but it's unlikely. Try with just one stick, then the other, no drives connected.

If you have another video card -- an old PCI card for example -- try that as well.

Does your other machine use DDR2? Do you know someone else who will let you test your RAM? Doubtful it's dead, but worth checking.

If that doesn't work I'd get a new PSU (Corsair 520HX/550VX/620HX -- look around, ClubIT.com, buy.com, zipzoomfly.com -- newegg tends to overcharge). The Liberty series PSUs are an older design and don't have all that many amps on the now all-important 12v rail/rails, so it's probably time for a replacement there regardless.

If a new PSU doesn't solve things next thing to do would be to call ASUS and set up an RMA for your motherboard.
 
The motherboard is less then a year old, but I have no receipt or anything that shows the date of purchase. I bought the motherboard overseas (I was working in Korea) sometime last may/june. Would I still be able to get an RMA from them?
 
Sorry, but highly doubtful in many ways.

1) No receipt
2) If it was cheap, probably doesn't have a good warranty
3) It'll probably cost you more to fix, than to just buy a new $25-50 motherboard replacement (for even cheaper, check the For Sale forum here)
4) If you don't know, always check newegg.com ... they usually have the all around "best deals" with great customer service and RMA as well. One of the best sites in the world for computer parts.
 
You won't find a comparable replacement for $25-$50, lol.

Just try Asus support. They may or may not help you out, but you'll never know unless you try. IF THEY ASK, let them know you moved from Korea -- If they don't ask, don't tell. Asus has a 3yr warranty on their boards. I've never needed a receipt to do an RMA at Asus.
 
Well.. This blew my mind, and I expect it might blow a few of yours..

My no start was not caused by my CPU, MOBO, or PSU..

It was my Vidcard..

I'd get No power whatsoever when I pushed my power button,
swapped out the videocard on a whim, and wham booted right up..

So I bought an 8800GT on sale and that works fine too
 
So a short on the vidcard, eh? weird. Glad you found it. Did you inspect the old vidcard? What model was the old card? I'm just curious.
 
Well, it was an x1950 Pro 256 vidcard -- I couldn't see any visible defects on it that would have caused this to happen -- no blown caps or anything (they're all solid caps) nothing seemed out of place when I pulled off the heatsink either. The manufacturer of said card was from Korea (I bought it while I was overseas teaching English so I don't rightly know what the company was (it's something in Korean heh) and they didn't have brands I was familiar with available there -- interestingly enough, for every other component was brands that are available in North America, it was only video cards that were wildly different.

Anyways -- It was definitely the video card, I took it over to a friends house, and he let me try it in his system and we encountered the exact same scenario -- a full no start..

We speculate that there must be some feature in PCIe that is designed to protect the motherboard from a bad video card problem..

Anyways, learn something new I guess.
 
Actually had something similar happen with an original Radeon 64MB DDR AGP... of course, it killed boards when you installed it after that, so sounds like your friend got lucky. ;)
 
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