[bongrod69]

Hello everyone I am brand new to the forum and need some expert advice. I just built a new computer last night and ran into some unexpected problems. I have built plenty of computers in the past and I am a IT tech guy but have never came across this. When I finished the build last night I went to turn it on and it powered on for less than a half of a second then shut off. I tired to turn it on again but was unresponsive unless I cleared the cmos (I have a button on my motherboard) and did the same thing when I did that. I am guessing my power supply isn't big enough. I tried to do this 8 or 9 times and unplugged some fans for less power consumption but still had no response. Now the computer wont even boot up for a half a second and I think I blew the PSU. All the lights on the board are still lit up when it's plugged in the board and not on which doesn't make sense if the psu is bad. But I tried unplugging everything and used a paper clip method to try to fire up the psu and got no response. Any guesses on what the problem could be??

Specs:
Board: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 AMD 890FX
Card:SAPPHIRE FleX 100312FLEX Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit
PSU: 750w (couple years old, cant think of the name I'm at work)
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
CPU:AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz
Liquid cooling: ThermalTake Big Water 760i Liquid Cooling System Kit
Peripherals: NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller, CD-RW.
Fans: Scythe "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm Case Fan 120mm, 2x NZXT FN-140RB 140mm Case Fan, XIGMATEK Cooling System XLF 140mm, Thermaltake 230mm fan, another 140mm fan.(I went overkill on the fans)
Case: Thermaltake Armor Full-Tower ATX Case

Thanks for your help!

I forgot I also have these led's from xoxide.com if it :
12in Dual Red Cold Cathode Kit
Logisys 15in Cold Cathode w/ Sound Module
LED Acrylic Footstep Mod
Logisys Jumbo UV Lazer LED

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First thing I would check is make sure you don't have a standoff in the wrong place under the mobo. The next option which you did not mention in your post is to bench test the mobo outside of the case to make sure it works.

Disconnect everything from the Motherboard except

• keyboard
• mouse
• video output
• 20+4 powercable
• 4/8 pin 12v wire both coming from the powersupply,
• Cpu fan wire
• power and reset button to the case
• case speaker

Now you should have NOTHING connected to the motherboard except what was listed above.

The goal here is just to test the mobo:

If the computer still will not boot up the please remove the motherboard from the computer along with the power supply

place the motherboard on a piece of card board larger than the motherboard,

this will eliminate a short from the mobo to the case which could be a possibility

Install the cpu with, 1 stick ram in dimm 1, power supply, case switch and case speaker
Connect ps2 mouse and keyboard along with the monitor
Repeat the above and power on
If the computer now boots into bios you most likely had a case short so make sure when installing the motherboard in the case that you use standoffs,
and they line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard and none of the standoffs touch anything else on the underside of the board.


Thanks to Cbarnard for these instructions

[rshaffer61]

First thing I would check is make sure you don't have a standoff in the wrong place under the mobo. The next option which you did not mention in your post is to bench test the mobo outside of the case to make sure it works.

Disconnect everything from the Motherboard except

• keyboard
• mouse
• video output
• 20+4 powercable
• 4/8 pin 12v wire both coming from the powersupply,
• Cpu fan wire
• power and reset button to the case
• case speaker

Now you should have NOTHING connected to the motherboard except what was listed above.

The goal here is just to test the mobo:

If the computer still will not boot up the please remove the motherboard from the computer along with the power supply

place the motherboard on a piece of card board larger than the motherboard,

this will eliminate a short from the mobo to the case which could be a possibility

Install the cpu with, 1 stick ram in dimm 1, power supply, case switch and case speaker
Connect ps2 mouse and keyboard along with the monitor
Repeat the above and power on
If the computer now boots into bios you most likely had a case short so make sure when installing the motherboard in the case that you use standoffs,
and they line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard and none of the standoffs touch anything else on the underside of the board.


Thanks to Cbarnard for these instructions

[bongrod69]

Okay I will do that when I get home. From your experience do you think 750w PSU is good for my specs?

[rshaffer61]

Other then the PSU which you don't know what make and model I would say yes.
I am running almost the exact same setup except for the Crosshair III and a 5570 video card and I am running a 750 PSU with no problem.

[bongrod69]

Thanks for the advice! I tried booting outside the case and did the same thing. I just decided to go buy the exact same power supply and it booted right up!

[rshaffer61]

Great to hear it was a bad PSU all this time. Congratulations bongrod69. for a successful resolution for your issue.

I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed us to assist you with your issue and for your patience.
Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help.
This issue now appears to be resolved.


If other members are reading this and have a similar problem please begin a New Topic and someone will assist you as soon as possible

[bayernmunich]

Hi rshaffer im a fan of geeks to go because im learning a lot of troubleshooting pc from here i just want to ask about checking the motherboard where you ask to attached just the mouse, keyboard, video output, 20+4 wire, 4/8 wire, cpu fan wire, power on and reset and case power....pls i know it sounds stupid but i want to ask because im confuse does it mean i dont need to attach the cpu, memory and hard drive???? but i thought a computer to boot you need to have cpu, memory, motherboard and the power..... pls correct me if im wrong... if i didnt attach the cpu and memory with it how can i go to BIOS? or boot is not the same as entering the BIOS?? i actually tried what you suggested (i mean you suggested it to others because this is not my thread and my pc is working great but i just want to learn) without the cpu and memory but what to check from that??? the only thing i can think of is the cpu fan is spinning is that what i should check?? thanks..

[rshaffer61]

No you have to have the basic components connected.

CPU
Fan
Memory
Keyboard
Mouse
Video
PSU



These are needed to see if the motherboard boots or not. CPU fan spinning only means the motherboard is getting power but does not justify if the motherboard or any of the other key components are working. You have to make sure that they all work to test the motherboard.