Troubleshooting after thunderstorm

[Martin]

A thunderstorm recently killed my computer, and now I'm trying to
figure out what I need to replace.

When I press the power button, all fans and HDDs start spinning, and
the green LED on my Abit NF7-S mainboard lights up. However, I get
no video output, and no beep codes. I tried taking out one and both of
my RAM modules, and also the video card, but the symptoms are still
the same. That made me think it was the mainboard that's broken.

But then I also tried to connect the PSU (an Antec NeoHe 430) to an
older (known good) computer. Then I got the same results for that
computer too. Fans and HDDs spinning, but no video and no beeps. Does
that mean that the PSU is broken? Even if I obviously do get power out
of it? Or is it even likely that it is the PSU /and/ mainboard (and
CPU?) that's broken?

 

[Mike Walsh]

You need to check the power supply with a voltmeter. You probably have 12 volts but no 5 volts or no 3.3 volts.

 

[***** charles]

A thunderstorm recently killed my computer, and now I'm trying to
figure out what I need to replace.

When I press the power button, all fans and HDDs start spinning, and
the green LED on my Abit NF7-S mainboard lights up. However, I get
no video output, and no beep codes. I tried taking out one and both of
my RAM modules, and also the video card, but the symptoms are still
the same. That made me think it was the mainboard that's broken.

But then I also tried to connect the PSU (an Antec NeoHe 430) to an
older (known good) computer. Then I got the same results for that
computer too. Fans and HDDs spinning, but no video and no beeps. Does
that mean that the PSU is broken? Even if I obviously do get power out
of it? Or is it even likely that it is the PSU /and/ mainboard (and
CPU?) that's broken?

The wealest link in the power surge process is the ps and the mb. You will
probably have to replace both. CPU's and ram are a bit more sturdy, then
finally hd's. PS's nowadays especially the cheaper ones don't take much to
knock them out.

later,
charles......

 

[DaveW]

Well, you are correct in thinking that with those symptoms either your PSU
and/or your motherboard are fried. The simplest test is to replace your PSU
with a known working one and see if that fixes it.