Motherboard Fried?

Qonfused

Qonfused

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Asus A8N-SLi Premium
A64 3500+
2GB GEIL PC3200
7800GT 256MB

I was playing Vanguard at 8:00pm last night when my system shuts down randomly. I sighed, because I was right in the middle of something, and pressed the Start button. The fans go, but there's no post and nothing on my monitor. What the ****. This happens about once every two or three months. I just clear the CMOS, and it's fine. Obviously not this time. I tried clearing the CMOS several times. I switched out the RAM from my PC to another in the house and both GBs read in the other PC. The other's RAM doesn't work in mine. So it's not the RAM.

After calling my friend I got a chance to switch out my video card. My videocard works in his, but his doesn't work in mine. It's not the videocard. The PSU wouldn't be the culprit because the fans and everything whirl. When PSUs blow, they don't power up the system at all. I've had a few of mine blow.

I don't know what else to test.

It seems to me that since there's no post, and my components work in other systems that it would be the motherboard. What confuses me is that if the motherboard blew, wouldn't it not send power to the various parts of the computer? Wouldn't the LED on the motherboard NOT light up?

Final question: Why the **** does everything have to break on the weekend?
 
Are you pulling the battery when you clear CMOS? If not I would try that. When you say no image on the monitor, is it still booting up?

I would start it up without a video card or ram to see if the motherboard recognizes there is a component missing. That should tell you if it's functioning correctly. I'm not familiar with that particular board, but I can't recall any board made within the past few years that doesn't offer some kind of diagnostics code to go by, whether it is a series of beeps or a configuration of LEDs on the motherboard.
 
I pull the battery, yes.

I've done a boot without the videocard, and without RAM. I still get a blank screen without any beeps. (Blank screen = monitor in standby mode.)
 
Disassemble everything and look for burns. It could be your CPU.
 
Qonfused said:
I pull the battery, yes.

I've done a boot without the videocard, and without RAM. I still get a blank screen without any beeps. (Blank screen = monitor in standby mode.)
Click to expand...

unplug your computer and take out the cmos battery. wait about 5 mins for the transistors or w/e they are called to drain. then put both things back in place and try that.
 
The jumper should reset the CMOS without having to remove the battery. Given, you should have the power unplugged. I also recommend you check your CPU for burn marks.
 
I can't remember if the power cord was unplugged or not, so I'll try that again when I get home later.
 
My last Asus board did a a similar thing. I was playing CSS and got a BSoD. I reset the computer and it started up again but was acting weird and the USB controller had stopped working. I decided to back everything up incase the computer stopped working all together. I then went back to playing CSS but this time it just froze up about 5 minutes later. I started up again but I didn't play any games this time. I just shut it down and then went to bed.

Next day I tried turning it on and lo and behold it didn't work. I later discovered that my particular board (P4C800-E Deluxe) had a fault with the south bridge chipset which cause a voltage spike in the USB controller to fry the chipset. This actually happened once before to the last one I had (same board) but I was stupid and got this as a replacement. There's no warrenty left on it now so I'm ?110 out of pocket.

I'd check to see if there's a fault with you board that other people are having too.

I know form one thing though is that I'll never be buying Asus again.
 
If something like that happened to my computer I'd poo myself.
 
I tryed unplugging the power cord and reset the CMOS. Nothing. I seem to have the worst luck with computers, I swear.
 
Does anything else spool up? Or is it just the fans?

My sister's mobo fried last year and all that turned on was the power supply fan. Everything else was dead...took out the processor and hard drive when it went :(
 
Check the caps on the mobo. Make sure they aren't kaput. I can't count how many AMD mobos me and my father have worked on now with blown caps.

And don't flame me for being an AMD hater, I own one. I'm just stating the facts that we discover at work.
 
All fans go. I think I can hear my harddrive spinning.

It doesn't make sense to me that if the motherboard is blown wouldn't it NOT send power to the rest of the system?

What do you mean by blown caps?
 
Qonfused said:
All fans go. I think I can hear my harddrive spinning.

It doesn't make sense to me that if the motherboard is blown wouldn't it NOT send power to the rest of the system?

What do you mean by blown caps?
Click to expand...

There are capacitors on the motherboard *Little circle looking things sticking up*. They are blowin if A.) they are bulging. B.) they have shit comming out of it.
 
You could have an isolated problem on the board, which wouldn't keep it from powering everything else. For example your ide controller could go bad, which would stop your ide drives from working, but your case fans, etc. would be fine.

Caps is short for capacitors. They're the cylinder-shaped components all over the board. If they are bad they usually look like they have battery acid coming out the top of them.
 
So it's most likely pointing at the motherboard?

The caps are fine. No bulging or leakage.
 
I go into my room and push the power button. It beeps, I see a flash of the BIOS screen and it crashes. I can't get it to post again.
 
You should really try another power supply my asus p4p800 deluxe did the same until I changed the power supply. Over time power supply get old and don't give enought voltage, the fan turn but there not enought power. Where I work we always try a new power supply when a computer don't boot.
 
I took the heatsink off today to check if the was actually the CPU. I'm not experienced with burn CPUs so, from these pictures, can you tell wether the CPU burnt out?

Misc013.jpg

Misc012.jpg

Misc011.jpg

Misc010.jpg
 
After further review, my CPU is fine. The crap on top is the thermal paste. It was good for me to clear that crap off anyway.
 
looking at the heatsink, its seems that it burned out. you can see all of the burn marks so your cpu must have taken alot of heat.
 
Qonfused said:
About as expensive as the motherboard that I was going to buy ($80-100). But PSUs are SO much easier to install.
Click to expand...

I hate dell and their pointless bolts on the side of the case. I'm surprised they didn't install a c4 bomb inside also, since they clearly don't want you to do anything to your PC. :/
 
I'm glad that it's just your power supply, it's cheaper than a new cpu.
 
Power supply = $100.
CPU = $80.
MB = $90.

Only the RAM and videocard are cheaper than a PSU, sadly. I'm never buying an Antec again.
 
Newegg and UPS are retarded. I ordered it Monday night at 5pm EST. They work until 6PST every weekday. I still haven't recieved it. According to UPS, it hasn't even left the building yet.
 
Qonfused said:
Newegg and UPS are retarded. I ordered it Monday night at 5pm EST. They work until 6PST every weekday. I still haven't recieved it. According to UPS, it hasn't even left the building yet.
Click to expand...

if the orders aren't on shipment in the morning then it wont be shipped that day. so just be patient and most likely it will come tomorrow.
 
I realize this. Having no computer for almost a week makes me angry.
 
The PSU came today, and I am posting from my PC.

It's good to be back.
 
if u get it running again, run a diagnostic
 
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