[terry1966]

remove the graphics card and take a close look inside the pci-e slot to see if any contacts are bridged or touching something they shouldn't be when it is removed or if there is any thing in there that shouldn't be.

 

check the onboard graphics ports to see if anything with them is bridged or touching something they shouldn't be or if there is any debris in them.

 

does the graphics card work in another pc?

 

to be honest i don't see a solution to your problem except buying a new motherboard, in my opinion from what you've said there must be a major hardware fault in the onboard graphics circuitry that is blowing your psu's when it switches to that from the graphics card, that fault is also probably the cause of the graphics card not working too. 

 

[Advertisements]

Giveaway signs that a PSU has failed are 1: You hear and/or see them spark out and the computer is dead. 2: The PSU will not activate and has a horrible burnt plastic type smell coming from the inside of it, do either apply to your two PSUs.

 

As terry has pointed out a close inspection of the MB is in order, apart from the graphics port and the PCI-E slot you should check out the MBs capacitors as anything strong enough to knock out two PSUs would be expected to blow at least one or two caps, to help with checking the caps see here 

 

You may recall from my reply #23

 

Before making any purchase I would suggest that you ask a local tech store (many do it free or for a small fee so please ask first) or an electrician to test the present PSU to confirm that it is bad, not doubting your ability just wanting you to have it confirmed before any outlay of cash  

 

 

Would having the PSUs tested be an option, this would confirm if they had blown or not.

 

FWIW: If the original PSU had been tested and proven to have blown then hooking up any new PSU would not have been suggested without first trying to find out what caused the PSU to blow in the first place.

 

From your thread recap;

 

Now with new power supply: When I installed it, and wanted to test with a screen, I absolutely plugged into the video card screen plug. I only plugged into the built-in one when I saw that wasn't working, just to test. I understand from your explanation that this wouldn't have shown me anything more. But rest assured I first plugged it into the card and nothing happened so we were exactly where we were in the first place before. So nothing to have uncovered there.

 

 

 

Unless I have overlooked it elsewhere in the recap I do not see it mentioned that you first removed the add on video card before trying the screen direct to the MBs integrated video port, please clarify.

[phillpower2]

Giveaway signs that a PSU has failed are 1: You hear and/or see them spark out and the computer is dead. 2: The PSU will not activate and has a horrible burnt plastic type smell coming from the inside of it, do either apply to your two PSUs.

 

As terry has pointed out a close inspection of the MB is in order, apart from the graphics port and the PCI-E slot you should check out the MBs capacitors as anything strong enough to knock out two PSUs would be expected to blow at least one or two caps, to help with checking the caps see here 

 

You may recall from my reply #23

 

Before making any purchase I would suggest that you ask a local tech store (many do it free or for a small fee so please ask first) or an electrician to test the present PSU to confirm that it is bad, not doubting your ability just wanting you to have it confirmed before any outlay of cash  

 

 

Would having the PSUs tested be an option, this would confirm if they had blown or not.

 

FWIW: If the original PSU had been tested and proven to have blown then hooking up any new PSU would not have been suggested without first trying to find out what caused the PSU to blow in the first place.

 

From your thread recap;

 

Now with new power supply: When I installed it, and wanted to test with a screen, I absolutely plugged into the video card screen plug. I only plugged into the built-in one when I saw that wasn't working, just to test. I understand from your explanation that this wouldn't have shown me anything more. But rest assured I first plugged it into the card and nothing happened so we were exactly where we were in the first place before. So nothing to have uncovered there.

 

 

 

Unless I have overlooked it elsewhere in the recap I do not see it mentioned that you first removed the add on video card before trying the screen direct to the MBs integrated video port, please clarify.

[maximem]

Thanks everyone for the continued support! It's really fantastic to get this kind of assistance and I appreciate it very much.

 

I think we were clear that the first PSU had blown. The paper clip test showed that it didn’t boot up. I know that we could get a more precise test in store but wouldn’t something have happened with the paper clip test if it worked? So I’m not sure we would have done anything differently here, but I acknowledge that I still should have done it to rule it out! There is no horrible smell, I can double check if there is a lingering smell if I really sniff in there. My only sign was that it booted up fine before, and then with the graphics card changes, it tried to boot up and failed and now no longer boots up at all.

 

I will get the new PS checked out at the store and see what I can do about a possible refund. I’ll see if they can test it also.

 

Happy to take a closer look at the motherboard as instructed, I will report back later tonight once I have looked over the points you all suggested.

I don’t have another PC to test the video card in unfortunately.

 

As for my steps with the new PS, I'll go over them again, let me know if anything is unclear.

First I started the computer WITH thread-on video card, screen plugged into the slot on the card. The PS booted up fine, nothing on the display (and beep code as explained).

Since that didn’t work, I plugged the screen directly to the other screen slot, the one that is on the mother board. PS booted up fine, nothing on the display.

Since that didn’t work, I removed the add on graphics card, and booted the comp up (screen was still plugged into the integrated one). That’s when things turned maybe once, and stopped.

Tried to boot it again, same thing (I think).

Then, put the add-on card back in, booted the computer up, and nothing happened anymore. I think I was still plugged into the on-board card when I did this final boot up.

 

IMPORTANT – with the first PS, I did the exact steps as above, but I DID NOT HAVE A SCREEN PLUGGED IN.

So I: booted the computer. Booted fine, wouldn’t turn over. Didn’t bother with a screen because I knew nothing appeared on it (this is how it was at my parents’ when it was set up).

As instructed, I removed the add-on graphics to see if it would boot. No screen ever connected. Fans did one turn then stopped.

Re-added the extra graphics card, and nothing booted up. No screen ever connected.

 

So I’m not sure the screen is a factor at all here, since the same thing happened to the other one?

[phillpower2]

First I started the computer WITH thread-on video card, screen plugged into the slot on the card. The PS booted up fine, nothing on the display (and beep code as explained).

 

 

 

This suggests that either the video card or the MBs add on card slot are bad.

 

Since that didn’t work, I plugged the screen directly to the other screen slot, the one that is on the mother board. PS booted up fine, nothing on the display.

 

 

As previously explained this is normal behaviour by the MBs integrated video port when an add on video card is detected, troubleshooting wise, at this point there is/was no reason to suspect that the MBs integrated video port is bad and the only thing that can cause any damage would be swapping video ports while the computer was powered up resulting in a system short, you have already told us that you turned off the computer** before swapping out anything so that apparently rules that out.

 

Since that didn’t work, I removed the add on graphics card, and booted the comp up (screen was still plugged into the integrated one). That’s when things turned maybe once, and stopped.

 

 

As long as no power was still present in the MB nothing done there that would blow a PSU, can I ask if the I/O plate at the back of the computer case is fitted securely, if not it can short out the system, another reason why no power should be present when swapping video ports.

 

Then, put the add-on card back in, booted the computer up, and nothing happened anymore. I think I was still plugged into the on-board card when I did this final boot up.

 

As per the above.

 

IMPORTANT – with the first PS, I did the exact steps as above, but I DID NOT HAVE A SCREEN PLUGGED IN.

 

 

Again as long as there was no power of any kind present there is no reason why a PSU would blow and certainly not without you hearing a pop or getting a burned plastic type smell.

 

** Ordinarily, the computer should be turned off, all power cords disconnected and the power button on the case depressed for 20 or so seconds to get rid of any residual current in the system such as the capacitors on the MB and the stand by power from the PSU.

 

To summarise, there is nothing in the information you have provided that would explain one let alone two PSUs failing, this only if no power at all was present when swapping video ports though.

 

We now need to wait on the outcome of the MB inspection which may I add is best removed from the chassis so that beneath the board can be checked and you can look for any bared wires or stray screws that could have shorted things out.

[phillpower2]

Not heard from you for a while maximem, do you still require assistance or is the issue now resolved, an update would be appreciated.

[maximem]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the delayed response. It has been a busy week at work with the Nepal Earthquake! Means less time for at-home computer fixing

Last week, I went back to the store and tried to see if I could get the power supply refunded. Well, you won't believe it. They tested it in store, and as you may have suspected Phil, it actually worked. I was completely stumped!! I was very happy to know that I hadn't blown a power supply but quite weirded out that my paper clip test failed me. Maybe I had non-metal fake metal paper clips?? Thanks for being so smart and knowing that this simply couldn’t have happened.

Now, I still returned the power supply, which I think made sense (just lost a small 15% restocking fee, but was much happier with that than losing the 70$). Unfortunately I did not bring in my old power supply to test it (mostly because I was worried they'd tell me it was my fault if it was fried, I was trying to sneakily return it). But I suspect it may also not be blown, since the steps that made me call it dead were the same with this new one.

At this point, I’m not sure how much time and effort I can put into this computer. I feel quite out of my depth already and I have a feeling that next steps may be more complicated for me. Buying a new motherboard certainly isn’t worth it, as I’m trying to convince my parents to simply buy themselves a decent 300$ laptop that will serve all of their needs!

Thanks Phil for the link you sent to help me know what to look for. I’ve given it a thorough inspection and nothing seems out of the ordinary, no leaking, bulge, burn etc. I have not opened the underside of the MB though ie. removing the other side of the case.

I checked the video card and nothing strange, including the slot itself. Nothing is touching anything it shouldn’t be as far as I can tell.

I really appreciate all of the support I’ve been able to get here. I couldn’t be doing any of this without your continued help!

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update and pleased to hear that the new PSU was not blown 

 

Repeating the test with a known metal paper clip and/or having the store test the original PSU are IMO the most appropriate steps.

 

NB: The tech store staff seem a good sort to me as they could have refused to accept the PSU back for any reason that they could have come up with, they didn't and to me that is how reputable tech/tech stores behave, try the test again yourself first and take the PSU to the store only if you have to.

[phillpower2]

How are things going maximem.