Posted: 6/2/2011 5:49:49 PM EDT
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So my gf claims it was fine when she went to eat then came back to it & it would not come back on.
It turns on, but does nothing. I get absolutely nothing on the monitor. I swapped monitors to rule that out. I know its not booting to windows b/c I do not get the standard audio when windows boots. I reset the PC 50 times, I removed & reinserted the video card, etc. Still nothing. |
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Does anything display on the screen when you first turn it on? like the manufacturer splash screen, push del for setup or anything like that? Yeah, are you seeing POST or nothing at all? Are there any sounds? beeps? If you aren't seeing POST then your video card is probably the culprit. Do you have a spare or have access to one for testing purposes? |
| The most common thing that I see causing that is failed capacitors. They may be on the motherboard, on the video card, or in the power supply. If they're on the mobo/vid, they're easy to spot. In the power supply, only if you open it up. One thing you can check without opening the power supply is to take your voltmeter and see if the "power good" line is being asserted - the wire should be grey, pin number 8. If it's not being asserted, the PSU is definitely bad. If it is being asserted, the PSU might still be bad, but not as likely. |
| The most common thing I see with no video is memory popped loose, video card unseats, or bad power supply. Years ago, we lost a bunch of motherboards because of some bad capacitors from over seas, but haven't seen that forever. I'm really curious if it's posting or not. As far as checking the power supply, I have one of those cheap gadgets that plug into the power supply to test it and it saves me a TON of time. Our company isn't even that big, but there for a while I was probably replacing ten power supplies a year! |
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The most common thing I see with no video is memory popped loose, video card unseats, or bad power supply. Years ago, we lost a bunch of motherboards because of some bad capacitors from over seas, but haven't seen that forever. I'm really curious if it's posting or not. As far as checking the power supply, I have one of those cheap gadgets that plug into the power supply to test it and it saves me a TON of time. Our company isn't even that big, but there for a while I was probably replacing ten power supplies a year! That's crazy. I've worked in IT for almost 10 years, 6-7 of those were mostly desktop support and I've probably replaced 1 in all that time. That's a crap load of bad power supplies you've got there. |
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The most common thing I see with no video is memory popped loose, video card unseats, or bad power supply. Years ago, we lost a bunch of motherboards because of some bad capacitors from over seas, but haven't seen that forever. I'm really curious if it's posting or not. As far as checking the power supply, I have one of those cheap gadgets that plug into the power supply to test it and it saves me a TON of time. Our company isn't even that big, but there for a while I was probably replacing ten power supplies a year! That's crazy. I've worked in IT for almost 10 years, 6-7 of those were mostly desktop support and I've probably replaced 1 in all that time. That's a crap load of bad power supplies you've got there. Wow, I'm kind of amazed. I wonder if it is because of bad power here in Indiana from thunderstorms in the summer and ice and crap in the winter? I know we have VERY bad power at our plant here, but I've also replaced them for family members and stuff. It used to be modems.... After a thunderstorm would go through the area you couldn't find a modem on store shelves for a week or two! lol All kidding aside, the power supply tester I have is probably my most valuable tool! |
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The most common thing I see with no video is memory popped loose, video card unseats, or bad power supply. Years ago, we lost a bunch of motherboards because of some bad capacitors from over seas, but haven't seen that forever. I see at least a few failed vid cards, power supplies, or motherboards per month because of capacitors. The caps don't have to be faulty, exactly, just under-spec. Aluminum electrolytics have a finite lifespan, and the hotter they're run, the shorter. The size of the can affects how much heat can be dissipated, and the combination of the ESR and ripple current determine how much heat is generated. And a LOT of companies are very willing to spend $1 less per product to use fewer caps, higher ESR, or just lower-quality caps. Even when you're talking about good quality caps, if run at full ripple current and temperature, the lifespan will generally only be in the range of 2,000 to 6,000 hours. Even when the caps have good specs on paper, there is a very wide range of how well they actually meet those specs. If you're buying Nichicon, Panasonic, etc., they WILL meet the specs. But I can't tell you how many CapXon caps I have replaced which, on paper, looked terrific, but failed very quickly, when similar-spec caps from decent manufacturers far outlast the product's usefulness. These days, a lot of stuff uses organic polymer caps for the hard-driven POL converters, but not everything. (The polymer caps also have finite lifespans, but it's many times longer.) And I've seen one company that uses aluminum electrolytics that are made to look like organic polymers, but the vent lines and oozing electrolyte reveal the truth. I could go through a list of all of the stuff I've seen die from crappy caps, or simply riding them too hot and hard - but the post would turn into a novel. The next time your power supply tester shows you a bad PSU, crack it open. Look at all of the caps, even the little ones. You'll see the bulges. 
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That's crazy. I've worked in IT for almost 10 years, 6-7 of those were mostly desktop support and I've probably replaced 1 in all that time. That's a crap load of bad power supplies you've got there. Wow, I'm kind of amazed. I wonder if it is because of bad power here in Indiana from thunderstorms in the summer and ice and crap in the winter? I know we have VERY bad power at our plant here, but I've also replaced them for family members and stuff. It used to be modems.... After a thunderstorm would go through the area you couldn't find a modem on store shelves for a week or two! lol All kidding aside, the power supply tester I have is probably my most valuable tool! It could be bad power, or it could be bad PSUs. Cheap PSUs are junk, and I've seen a few brands that, quite literally, rarely lasted a year, even when only run at 1/4 of their rated output. On the other hand, one company that I support is in a section of town with overhead lines, and they have so many power issues that it's crazy, and I've seen them blow out just about anything plugged into the wall. Regular line-interactive UPSs may save you from brownouts, but not necessarily from a high-energy transient coming down the line. Most surge suppressors clamp at too high of a voltage (can be 400V!), and don't necessarily absorb the full brunt of a good surge. |