CPU or Motherboard? Who knows?

[NickZ]

Hello there

My PC has died & I'd like to hear some opinions as to whether to replace the
Athlon 1300 CPU or the Gigabyte GA-7ZXE motherboard. It was working OK,
then I shut it down & when I tried to start it again a couple of days later.
it wouldn't. I'll describe the symptoms:

The PSU & CPU fans come on, the LED on the DVD drive comes on, the little
RAM_LED on the motherboard comes on but the drives don't spin up, the CPU
doesn't warm up & there's nothing on the screen. No beeping either.

I've tried pulling all the cards out, including the video card, & removed
the memory & drives. Still the same. I pushed everything back again &
still nothing. I've tried another PSU.

Thanks for your advice

Nick

 

[kony]

Hello there

My PC has died & I'd like to hear some opinions as to whether to replace the
Athlon 1300 CPU or the Gigabyte GA-7ZXE motherboard. It was working OK,
then I shut it down & when I tried to start it again a couple of days later.
it wouldn't. I'll describe the symptoms:

It is very unlikely to be CPU unless your heatsink fell off
or the system had ran for a long time without the fan on.
Since you report the fan runs, of the two parts mentioned
the motherboard is the far more likely suspect without even
needing to consider any more evidence.

The PSU & CPU fans come on, the LED on the DVD drive comes on, the little
RAM_LED on the motherboard comes on but the drives don't spin up, the CPU
doesn't warm up & there's nothing on the screen. No beeping either.

If you have a multimeter, take voltage readings at the
motherboard connector. Examine the board for failed
capacitors, loose cards and cables, etc.

Also check battery voltage, replace battery if nothing else
helps, and clear CMOS while AC is disconnected. Examine
video card too and try anothe one if possible, again
clearing CMOS after swapping cards.

I've tried pulling all the cards out, including the video card, & removed
the memory & drives. Still the same. I pushed everything back again &
still nothing. I've tried another PSU.

Was the alternate PSU known good, adequate for the system or
was it possibly an overrated generic unproven at this system
load?

Without knowing the history of the system or what else
might've changed recently, I'd put odds on it being one of
the capacitors around the CPU socket.

 

[DaveW]

CPU's essentially never fail unless they are overheated due to poor cooling.
More likely the motherboard is gone.