Build Advice A loud pop and then... nothing

Hello, bit of a scare, and an annoyance.

After finally having F1 2010 unlock yesterday afternoon, I was excited to get started. After a few hours playing, there was a massive problem. There was a pop noise, and the computer shut itself off instantly, no BSOD or anything of equivalent sort of style. I believed I could smell a funny smell, but I may have imagined it. The computer rebooted, and the graphics card fan came on at full. I was too scared to start it again last night, so I left it.
However, when I went to start up this morning, the computer would start, but not POST. I looked inside, to see what I could find, and nothing seems to have blown on the motherboard. I can only assume it was a capacitor on the Graphics Card, but, I can't check with another graphics card, due to not actually owning another one, and I don't want to remove the shroud.
So, I have the problem that it's either a mysterious Motherboard related error (or things appended, CPU, RAM etc.) Or my Graphics.

My Specs are:

Core 2 Duo E7200 clocked to 3.6GHz at 1.3v (Air cooled with generic, yet decent, thermaltake cooler)
Coolermaster HAF 922 Case (So, over-heating's unlikely)
Asus P5QC Motheboard
4GB DDR2 Ram
XFX Radeon 5850 (Which might be the culprit, shame as it's only 6 months old)
640gb Hitachi HDD (which is fine and checked)
OCZ ModXstreme Pro 600w PSU (which I also believe is fine, due to it starting the system up.
Also, A generic PCi wifi card, and Asus Xonar DX

Thank you for your time, and if you need any more info, I 'd be happy to help.

Incidentally, that's how I feel right now; HELLLPPP!

 

Have you tried booting without graphic card to hear if there is mobo beep?

 

Yup, still absolutely nothing. Also removing the RAM since, too, didn't help

 

As you have already mentioned electronic things that break do often smell odd, you may be able to narrow it down somewhat if its lingering a bit.
A good place to start is to remove everything unnecessary, boot it with just the graphics and 1 stick of ram, leave out the hard drive as well, you'll still get the POST and bios flash screen.
Any beep codes are useful but lots of motherboards and cases don't come with a built in speaker, if yours doesn't see if you can get hold of one easily, I stripped mine out of my old case.
Are you getting any sign of a signal reaching the monitor at all? Ie, does it wake up but stay black or just act as if nothing is connected?

 

Also, on further checking, it seems that it mostly a motherboard fault. On the most minimal stripped down boot, it still shows the exact same symptoms

 

If you do manage to get some beep codes, a useful decode is here. Good luck and let us know how you get on!

 

You may be wrong thinking the PSU is fine. I've seen many die just as you described. The fact that it seems to be powering up your system is not an indication that it is ok. If you don't want to open it up and look for any exploded/burnt pieces (warranty period not expired for example) at least borrow another good PS that you know for sure it is reliable (and has enough power to get you machine to boot windows at least), and check if your system works with it.

However, if it turns out it is your PSU that had a stroke, I have to tell you, chances are it also took some other components with it when it died, namely the mainboard and/or the video card.

So, do a quick test with another PSU and see what happens.

 

PSU would be my bet too, sounds like a CAP has blown

 

Ah, excellent, Thank you guys, I'll try a different PSU.... if I have one. It may only be 300w, so I won't be able to boot with the GFX card, I just hope that the amount of times i've tried to turn it on has borked it....

 

It's either the PSU (20%) or the GPU (70%). The 10% are for Murphy.

The best thing you can do is take your card to another PC and see if it posts. If it does: PSU: if it doesn't: GPU (assuming the PSU in the other machine is strong enough).

As long as the PSU is suspect, i'd advice to keep the tests you run trying to use that thing to a minimum. Bad PSUs have the potential to harm other components, making your problem even bigger.

Good luck!

 

YUS! Success! Now I need to get onto OCZ to get a replacement power supply.... I got a random assortment off beeps, probably relating to missing graphics card. But thanks everyone, I would have gone and done a million tests on the Motherboard or something....

 

My bet is on the PSU. Probably blew the hi-pot.

 

graphics failure wouldnt cause a shutdown imo

rule that out

 

try with another PSU if you own one. Even if its a rubbish 400w OEM one, it will still have enough power to boot the system. If it posts then its the PSU died. If theres still nothing, its the graphics card.

Also try scouting with a flashlight about the motherboard in search of a dodgy looking cap, you never know.

 

Checking if the PSU passes the paper clip test may help diagnose the issue..

 

Even if it's a 300W PS, you should be able to boot into Windows, or at least POST and enter Bios setup with your 5850 (it doesn't consume that much power when idling). Return your CPU to default speed and voltage, as it draws significantly more power when overcloked. Take out the WiFi and sound cards, and all but one memory module. Disconnect any optical or floppy drives. See if you can enter Bios setup. If you can, and you're able to return your CPU to defaults, try booting Windows.

If you see any graphical artifacts, I'm afraid your video card is damaged also.

But, whatever you do, do not use that damaged power supply as anything else than a paper weight. If you try to power even a modest or old system with it, it may damage it.

 

I had a PSU blow a cap 6 years ago, machine was sat doing nothing and i was downstairs away from it.

I didn't even get up straight away, just sat there and said 'urgh thats another £50 i need to spend'

 

This is where that extra £50 spent on a decent PSU over a non branded el cheapo one really makes sense. An el cheapo one would have taken out most of your other kit aswell, whearas most branded ones have surge protection to help prevent that happening. I had one go a couple of years back, and even though it was a lowish quality Hiper unit, it still protected all the stuff that really costs the money.

As a comparison, we had an unbranded one go at work, and the only thing that survived was the floppy drive and cd drive.

 

Ah yes, Thank you so much much for all the input guys. I've submitted a ticket to OCZ, and as it's a £65 PSU, i'm pretty sure it has some good protection (it also says on the box) luckily, it also has 3 year warranty, and it's only a year and 1 month old. Thank Goodness.

 

I've had PSUs pop on me.

The sound is quite distinctive. The cats normally flee the house, and all the fuses click. Even after breaking, some PSUs will start and spin up fans and the like, but the voltages tend to be all over the place, so nothing works.