90sgamer Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Hey guys! My father is using a desktop I built for him for the last year (everything at stock frequencies): CPU: Core i7 920 Mobo: ASUS P6T RAM: Kingston HyperX 1600 3x2 6GB GPU: Geforce 9800 GTX PSU: 850W ZUMAX HDD: 500GB WD Caviar Blue This computer runs pretty much 24/7 and hasn't had a problem since I built it. He shut it down when he left on a trip for the weekend, but when he came back, it wouldn't boot back on. The lights came on and fans moved for about a third of a second before turning back off again. Trying to boot it up does absolutely nothing. I switched the PSU off and back on again and it booted for a third of a second again before turning back off. Not enought time for POST to identify any problem components, no indicator LEDs come on. There was a fair amount of dust in the case, but not so much it could cause real damage by restricting airflow. I have a CPU, Mobo, and RAM I can switch out to test, but no spare PSU. I suspect the PSU has gone bad somehow, but I wanted to see if you guys have any other ideas! EDIT: Corrected PSU brand from "Galaxy" to ZUMAX Edited June 25, 2012 by 90sgamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJCRO Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Test the PSU first. I really don't know "Galaxy" as being a reliable PSU brand, so I'd try the cheap components first to see if they failed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transk53 Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Hey guys! My father is using a desktop I built for him for the last year (everything at stock frequencies): CPU: Core i7 920 Mobo: ASUS P6T RAM: Kingston HyperX 1600 3x2 6GB GPU: Geforce 9800 GTX PSU: 850W Galaxy HDD: 500GB WD Caviar Blue This computer runs pretty much 24/7 and hasn't had a problem since I built it. He shut it down when he left on a trip for the weekend, but when he came back, it wouldn't boot back on. The lights came on and fans moved for about a third of a second before turning back off again. Trying to boot it up does absolutely nothing. I switched the PSU off and back on again and it booted for a third of a second again before turning back off. Not enought time for POST to identify any problem components, no indicator LEDs come on. There was a fair amount of dust in the case, but not so much it could cause real damage by restricting airflow. I have a CPU, Mobo, and RAM I can switch out to test, but no spare PSU. I suspect the PSU has gone bad somehow, but I wanted to see if you guys have any other ideas! Test the PSU first. I really don't know "Galaxy" as being a reliable PSU brand, so I'd try the cheap components first to see if they failed. More than likely. Also if you have a spare lead, try that and also the wall socket could have gone or extention lead if used. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperk1 Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 I would also recommend cleaning it out with some compressed air if you haven't already. I've had cases where the dust got into unused memory slots, caused a short, and gave me the same issues you describe. A little bit of compressed air got it all running again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigball1 Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 Sounds like a bad PSU. I have had this happen to customers pc before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
90sgamer Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the tips guys! That PSU was a old off brand one, so I think I'll replace it with something a bit more reliable. I cleaned it out with some compressed air too, but I'll go over the RAM slots again to make sure they are clean too! Thanks! Edit: Sorry, the PSU brand is actually ZUMAX. I was thinking of a different computer with a Enermax Galaxy PSU. Still, its an off brand. Edited June 25, 2012 by 90sgamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) 90s, you can pick up an inexpensive psu tester (much less than the cost of a new power supply) and check his current power supply first. Or you can do it the old fashioned way and "jump start" the power supply. Now this isn't fool proof but it will tell you if you're getting power or not. Disconnect power supply from the wall socket. Unplug all power connections from the motherboard and peripherals. Plug a fan into one of the molex connectors coming from the power supply (this is to get a small load on the power supply for when you power it up). Make a jumper wire or even a bent paper clip works. Connect one end of the jumper wire or paper clip to the green wire on the 24 pin atx plug. Connect one end of the jumper wire or paper clip to one of the black leads on the 24 pin atx plug. Plug your power supply back into the wall socket - if the power supply has a switch on the back turn the switch to the "on" position. If the power supply is functioning the fan plugged into the molex connector should fire up. If you have a digital multimeter, it would be a good time to check the voltage on your 12v and 5v rails. They should be withing +\- 5% of the nominal value. Here is an illustration of the 24 pin plug with the green and black wires shown by the red arrows. Edited June 25, 2012 by wevsspot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sword_fish Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 with your PC plugged,PSU powered ON; try to look inside for the motherboard's built-in power button switch LED. if it shows orange/amber, unplug the PC from it's main power source(wall socket/AVR/UPS) for a minute or so then plug it back. motherboard's power button's LED should be on green then boot up. i found it strange and i still don't know why it happened with my rig a couple of times i guess and that unplugging the power cord fixed it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 I have had PSUs short out from the dust inside it...work until they are shut off...and then dead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) Easy things to test, Memory (swap with yours back and forth if juggling around there isn't enough) GPU (swap with yours back and forth) PSU (swap with... blah blah blah lol) My PSU actually went out and I had RMA'd my motherboard and Gigabyte was cool enough to return my board to me and luckily I had my cousin's parts for a build I was making her because the board started up once and then still didn't again. I used her PSU and it worked fine, and my PSU worked in her computer (she had less hungry parts) but still didn't run stable. 90s, you can pick up an inexpensive psu tester (much less than the cost of a new power supply) and check his current power supply first. Or you can do it the old fashioned way and "jump start" the power supply. Now this isn't fool proof but it will tell you if you're getting power or not. Disconnect power supply from the wall socket. Unplug all power connections from the motherboard and peripherals. Plug a fan into one of the molex connectors coming from the power supply (this is to get a small load on the power supply for when you power it up). Make a jumper wire or even a bent paper clip works. Connect one end of the jumper wire or paper clip to the green wire on the 24 pin atx plug. Connect one end of the jumper wire or paper clip to one of the black leads on the 24 pin atx plug. Plug your power supply back into the wall socket - if the power supply has a switch on the back turn the switch to the "on" position. If the power supply is functioning the fan plugged into the molex connector should fire up. If you have a digital multimeter, it would be a good time to check the voltage on your 12v and 5v rails. They should be withing +\- 5% of the nominal value. Here is an illustration of the 24 pin plug with the green and black wires shown by the red arrows. INFORMATIVE PICTURE Would that small load be enough to cause any significant enough draw that the voltage would drop. For instance it may only be enough to run 300W or something which isn't enough for the system but would be plenty for the fan to run and voltage not to drop. Though I guess your advice is more to circumvent the need for a simple PSU tester huh? Edited June 28, 2012 by IVIYTH0S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Though I guess your advice is more to circumvent the need for a simple PSU tester huh? Yes sir. Only to confirm that the power supply actually fires up and provides any voltage whatsoever on the 12v and 5v rails. It's also sufficient to test voltage at idle. Obviously a power supply that's only putting out 11v at idle isn't going to do any better under load. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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