Think mobo/CPU fried??

[Valcor]

Hi all,

Having had the power supply go pop in our PC, I bought a new case with
a new power supply, and installed the mobo with CPU and ram still on
into the new case. A sound card, dvd rom, graphics card and hard
drive also installed I turn it on and got a beep and 'no signal' - no
graphics! After a while another beep (all led lights working etc),
then many (not sure how many),beeps. I turned her off, then tried
again and couldn't get anything except the fans - no signal and no led
lights.

I since realised that the mobo was sitting on raised metal areas of
the case without a paper washers and wondered if it had shorted out
and fried things??! If this has happened can either the mobo or the
CPU be saved? How do I find out?

Thanks for any help people

 

[Noozer]

Hi all,

Having had the power supply go pop in our PC, I bought a new case with
a new power supply, and installed the mobo with CPU and ram still on
into the new case. A sound card, dvd rom, graphics card and hard
drive also installed I turn it on and got a beep and 'no signal' - no
graphics! After a while another beep (all led lights working etc),
then many (not sure how many),beeps. I turned her off, then tried
again and couldn't get anything except the fans - no signal and no led
lights.

Remove anything that isn't necessary - disconnect the drives, pull any cards
except the video card. Basically, you want only the CPU+heatsink, one stick
of memory, videocard and speaker connected.

Also, remember to shut off the PSU or unplug it when working inside the PC.
The 5v standby is always on when the PSU is on, even when the PC is off.

I since realised that the mobo was sitting on raised metal areas of
the case without a paper washers and wondered if it had shorted out
and fried things??! If this has happened can either the mobo or the
CPU be saved? How do I find out?

Those metal posts are supposed to contact the circles around each screw
hole. It grounds out the mainboard. You might have put an extra metal post
where one shouldn't be, and THAT would definately be a no-no.

 

[Valcor]

Remove anything that isn't necessary - disconnect the drives, pull any cards
except the video card. Basically, you want only the CPU+heatsink, one stick
of memory, videocard and speaker connected.

Also, remember to shut off the PSU or unplug it when working inside the PC.
The 5v standby is always on when the PSU is on, even when the PC is off.


Those metal posts are supposed to contact the circles around each screw
hole. It grounds out the mainboard. You might have put an extra metal post
where one shouldn't be, and THAT would definately be a no-no.

Thanks alot for reply Noozer - I just tried what you have said (with
only the bare minimum on the board, and still nothing!! I think this
is bad news?!!!

 

[Noozer]

Thanks alot for reply Noozer - I just tried what you have said (with
only the bare minimum on the board, and still nothing!! I think this
is bad news?!!!

Sounds like it...

Have you cleared the CMOS settings with the mainboard jumper? Shouldn't be
necessary, but might help it boot if it defaults to a slower speed.

Also, was the PSU rated high enough for this computer? 400watt is pretty
much the minimum these days.

Pull the mainboard out of the new case and try running it with minimum parts
installed while on your table. Be sure that it's not sitting on anything
conductive though.

At this point my money would be on the mainboard, but can't really say
without seeing it myself. We'll need more info to really help further - CPU,
memory, mainboard, etc...

 

[Valcor]

Sounds like it...

Have you cleared the CMOS settings with the mainboard jumper? Shouldn't be
necessary, but might help it boot if it defaults to a slower speed.

Also, was the PSU rated high enough for this computer? 400watt is pretty
much the minimum these days.

Pull the mainboard out of the new case and try running it with minimum parts
installed while on your table. Be sure that it's not sitting on anything
conductive though.

At this point my money would be on the mainboard, but can't really say
without seeing it myself. We'll need more info to really help further - CPU,
memory, mainboard, etc...

Cheers again Noozer - I will try your suggestions tomorrow, going out
now
PSU is 350w, mainboard is 3yr old ECS M825 =Athlon 2200+512mb DDR
ram.
This gear was running fine in the old case with the 350w PSU that went
bang!
I know I probably should invest in something more up to date anyway!!

Thanks again, I will let you know how I get on...

 

[kony]

Cheers again Noozer - I will try your suggestions tomorrow, going out
now
PSU is 350w, mainboard is 3yr old ECS M825 =Athlon 2200+512mb DDR
ram.
This gear was running fine in the old case with the 350w PSU that went
bang!
I know I probably should invest in something more up to date anyway!!

Thanks again, I will let you know how I get on...

What make and model of PSU is this? Many of today's 350W
came-with-case PSU are pretty poor, not really capable of
350W... some aren't even fit for 200W long-term. At least
your board appears to use 12V for the CPU power subcircuit
which should ease the current per rail demand from the PSU,
but I feel it premature to conclude anything else is wrong
(yet) by only trying it with a 350W PSU that came with a
case unless it's a pretty good brand & model of PSU. Some
like Raidmax are downright terrible.

 

[Valcor]

What make and model of PSU is this? Many of today's 350W
came-with-case PSU are pretty poor, not really capable of
350W... some aren't even fit for 200W long-term. At least
your board appears to use 12V for the CPU power subcircuit
which should ease the current per rail demand from the PSU,
but I feel it premature to conclude anything else is wrong
(yet) by only trying it with a 350W PSU that came with a
case unless it's a pretty good brand & model of PSU. Some
like Raidmax are downright terrible.

Hi kony,

Its a Casecom PSU just says ATX350W, (new from Ebuyer with case,
Casecom KL-787, for £18!!). Abit cheap I know but on a limited budget:
(
(They say made in China with R0HS green sticker on the side?) Thanks
for interest!

 

[kony]

Hi kony,

Its a Casecom PSU just says ATX350W, (new from Ebuyer with case,
Casecom KL-787, for £18!!). Abit cheap I know but on a limited budget:
(
(They say made in China with R0HS green sticker on the side?) Thanks
for interest!

Considering that i just saw a price for a Casecom 400W PSU
w/case for £18.99 (Inc. VAT), I'd have to conclude it's
pretty bad, probably one of those marginal 200W PSU as I
mentioned previously. Might just be defective but either
way you should see if you can get it returned for refund or
credit towards a better brand. Ideally you would seek a
major brand conservatively rated for at least 18A @ 12V,
though odds are fair your system would run from a little
less than 18A @ 12V if the PSU was good but most these days
that are optimized for a lot of 12V current do claim at
least 16A on at least one 12V rail if not multiple 12V
rails.

 

[Valcor]

Considering that i just saw a price for a Casecom 400W PSU
w/case for £18.99 (Inc. VAT), I'd have to conclude it's
pretty bad, probably one of those marginal 200W PSU as I
mentioned previously. Might just be defective but either
way you should see if you can get it returned for refund or
credit towards a better brand. Ideally you would seek a
major brand conservatively rated for at least 18A @ 12V,
though odds are fair your system would run from a little
less than 18A @ 12V if the PSU was good but most these days
that are optimized for a lot of 12V current do claim at
least 16A on at least one 12V rail if not multiple 12V
rails.

Thanks again kony, I will look into this, I had thought a PSU was a
PSU, but obviously some are rubbish! Although the setup I had worked
fine in the previous case with 350w psu, that one may have been
superior, cant tell what make as I have binned it now, but it came
with a MESH pc, so probably of good standard. May have to fork out a
few more pennies!!

 

[kony]

Thanks again kony, I will look into this, I had thought a PSU was a
PSU, but obviously some are rubbish!

I wish it were true and that is the point of a technical
rating, but there are a lot of deceitful people in this
world. Personally I feel these products should be seized at
the docks, not allowed to be sold at all.

Although the setup I had worked
fine in the previous case with 350w psu, that one may have been
superior, cant tell what make as I have binned it now, but it came
with a MESH pc, so probably of good standard. May have to fork out a
few more pennies!!

That's the problem, these deceitful companies deliberately
try to suggest you're getting something just as good for
same or lower cost. They are expecting that in most cases,
it will at least run till the short warranty is over, and
those that fail early will cost them less than the savings
from using cheap parts and selling more volume due to lower
cost even though not a recognized quality name brand.