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PSU OR MOTHERBORAD?

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I have just built my first pc - everything was fine - installed windows xp and xp2 - the next day whilst i was using the machine the power just cut off

i have tired rebooting the machine but the led's and fans just switch on for half a second and die!

The motherboard lights are blue and the amber light appears when the power button is pressed but nothing else - the psu displays a red led after i have tried turning the machine indicating a power failure, overvoltage, overcurrent .etc

is it the psu or the motherboard that is failing?

i have setup the parts out of the case to make sure there is no short to the case, i have also tried booting with just the cpu installed and the same thing happens

spec:
q6600
evga 680i
asus 768mb gtx
coolmaster 700w
4 gb cosair mem

cheers in advance

15 replies

by robo_dev

My thought is that since the PSU is showing signs of life, that the mobo has failed.

The best test, obviously, is to try an alternate power supply.

Sorry to hear about your first build gone wrong.

by xshuttyx

thsnks for the reply...

how common a faulty products when build your own system?

by clarkd038

Some times the cause is the processor is overheating, i had that problem a while ago. Did the CPU come with thermal paste already on it? and did the CPU come with a fan already attached to it?

by xshuttyx

thermal paste already on,and i had to fit the fan myself, what would the signs be if it was the cpu?

by robo_dev

But if you stick to more of the brand names, you will have better luck.

by xshuttyx

i thought i had done but it hasnt helped!!

by clarkd038

If it was the CPU it would boot up, and probably be running for a longer period of time than you are explaining before shutting down. Is it giving any beeps before it is shutting down?

-sorry that you are having trouble on first build

by xshuttyx

no beeps

basically i press the power button and the front led's light up for half a second as do all the fans (cpu fan and gfx fan)- then it powers everything off - mobo shows blue and amber led and then the power supply shows the red power failure led - any futher presses of the power button has no effect

thanks for ur time

by m61

...symptons to this, and it was the PSU, and as stated above, best way to test is to get an alternate [preferably known good] PSU to test

by xshuttyx

i really do hope its ONLY the PSU.

did ur psu take anything else with it

by m61

nope, was just the psu, swapped it out for a new one and away i went

by oh smeg

But everything else well what's listed at least isn't or may not be. The Video Card could be made by anyone with that chip set so the Makers Name helps.

The Power Supply is another story not a Name Brand but a No name brand that is overrated for what it is unless Coolmaster is a Model and not the makers name. For any product you need to look at who actually made it.

While Faulty parts are not uncommon what isn't common is that have a unit work after assembly and then stop several hours latter.

Generally if you have got faulty parts they do not work out of the box. however having something go bad isn't unheard of either it all depends on where the parts where purchased.

To Trouble Shoot you need to check the individual Components in another system all except the Power Supply should be fitted one at a time if possible and tested so that you know that they are good. You can also remove all but 1 Stick of RAM and try again to see if it will start up.

AS the Power Supply is starting but not running if I had to guess I would say M'Board as this isn't providing the signal to the PS to keep it running but that is just a Best Guess and shouldn't be considered as the be all and end all. It could be the CPU has failed and not providing anything to the M'Board to allow it to run.

Or the Power Supply may have gone bad and no longer be producing enough current to run the M'Board. You could try testing just the M'Board, CPU and Video Card with no power Hungry devices plugged in.

Did you plug in a Power Lead to the Video Cards Power Socket [if there's one on the Video card] if you didn't that would take out a M'Board.

Col

Post back if you have any problems

Col

by xshuttyx

firstly thanks for reply

to give a more detailed spec of my system

INTEL QUAD CORE SLACR Q6600
CORSAIR TWIN 2 X 2GB http://www.corsair.com/
COOLERMASTER 700 http://www.coolermaster.com/index.html
EVGA 680I SLI MOTHERBOARD http://www.evga.com
ASUS NVIDIA 768 GTX DDR3 http://www.asus.com/
LG DVD RW
WESTERN DIGITAL 500GB SATA II

i will try the above - regarding the gfx card it requires 2 6pin connectors that hace been connected at all times

by mjd420nova

The short soin of the fans and stopping does indicate the P/S is sensing a fault. Too many of the P/S units I've had to replace have had sthe output specs rated in PEAK ratings and not average. This results in a P/S that really don't have the power to drive an average sized system. It is possible that you may have reversed a drive data cable, check for proper pin one positioning. Eliminate all the plugin cards and try the P/S that way first, then double check that the CPU fan is properly mounted and that if it has a sensor circuit it is plugged in correctly as this would stop the P/S from starting.

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