Right, fellas, my big rig has just bit the dust. Won't even power on, never mind POST: i7-920 P6T Deluxe V1 4GB Kingston Hyper-X 1800MHz Sapphire Vapor-X 5870 2GB Full CPU/chipset watercooling Be Quiet DPP 850W Just been plodding along testing the new graphics card, and my normally-stable overclock started throwing a wobbler (3.6GHz, stock volts of 1.2V, LLC enabled, everything else default). Tried tweaking it a little (raising PLL etc) with no joy. Dropped back to a 3.2GHz overclock, and booted with success. Now, after a restart, my PC won't even turn on. I've tried: Resetting the CMOS - no joy. Removing 3 sticks of RAM - no joy. Switching GPU slots, and indeed GPUs - nothing. Shorting the PSU (green to black on 24-pin connector) - everything spun, so not the PSU. Unplugging the case power button in case it was sticking/shorting and turning on from the mobo - nothing. I'm inclined to blame the motherboard, though it could equally be the processor. Regardless, I'm rather bummed, to say the least, and so I turn to you, my fellow Bit-techies, for help in solving this one. Any suggestions? Will
Yeah that scenario is a bummer, usually either the CPU or the mobo as you suspected. Do you have a spare one of either to test?
Nope, I don't have any spare components to check with. Though I'm obviously willing to accept donations! ;-)
get yourself a case speaker and plug it in. remove ram, graphics card, HDD's and anything else connected to the mobo (Except the power cables). turn it on and hope it beeps. if it doesn't beep, reseat the CPU and clear CMOS. if it does beep, the first beep code (1 long, 2 short) will be complaining about no RAM. so put 1 stick in. if it beeps again with 1 long, 3 short beeps, try a graphics card. if it's 2 short beeps, it may be either the RAM module, or Ramslot is knackered.
I've tried removing/reseating the CPU (a mammoth task considering my cooling layout) with no joy. The power/reset buttons are lit up on the bottom of the board, but won't turn the machine on when I press them. Oh well... anyone in Sunderland/Newcastle with a spare LGA1366 i7 to loan me for an hour or 2?
It could still be the PSU. Can you try another? One of these is useful to have in your toolkit http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=98829
I'll second what Wing Zero said, sometimes a storage controller can go funny. Or USB can go dodgy... Just unplug everything from it but CPU and power. Failing that, crying lots will help...
Right, on disassembly and further inspection. I've spotted something looking suspiciously like a drop of liquid on top of one of the capacitors around the CPU socket. Didn't seem to look like my coolant, but just to make sure, I've removed the whole cooling system from the mobo, and am currently running it in the case alone to check for leaks. As far as everything else goes, seems to be fairly standard. PSU works fine - swapped out for a 500W jobbie and still no power to the mobo or even power draw from any other components. I'll be taking a cool hair dryer to the mobo, then! Would anyone object to me waiting till my oven had cooled down to about 50 degrees and bunging the board in?
Compressed air would be better, blast any water out... or just leave it over night in the airing cupboard...
