Black screen when turning on the PC, not sure which component is faulty

[dimopeev01]

My PC can't get to the Mobo screen, there is no POST, just black screen. All fans are spinning, CMOS has been reset both with the battery method and the jumper. Here is what exactly happened. One day I turn on my PC and it froze on the Mobo manufacturer screen, I restared with the power button and got to a screen with just a white cursor, familiar from the time I had HDD troubles, I pressed Control+Alt+Del to restart and Windows managed to boot. This was the case for 2 more days until my method stopped working. So I did what every novice does and started messing around with the hardware componets, checked most of the cables, all was fine, but the issue persisted. Then I relocated the RAM and something changed, but for the worst, now it was just a black screen. The system is old and stuff will break down, what bothers me is I am not sure which component is faulty, because I have spend most of my savings and cant changing everything inside. My gut tells its the motherboard, but the blackscreen reminds of GPU failure and I had the CPU reach very temps during the summer so it could have melted.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What are your system specs? Motherboard, CPU, memory, power supply? Exact model numbers would be most helpful. Most components have the model number on the part itself on a sticker or printed on the component if you are unsure.

 

[dimopeev01]

It is really old and never upgraded:
CPU FX 6100 Not OCed, but the heatsink and fan were changed with a parts from an even older PC
GPU GTX 660
ADATA RAM 8 GB
MOBO Asrock 970 Pro3
HDD Seagate Firecuda 1TB bought last year after the old one failed
PSU Cooler Master Thunder 600W

 

[Darkbreeze]

the heatsink and fan were changed with a parts from an even older PC

That was your first problem.

PSU Cooler Master Thunder 600W

That was your second one.

Then I relocated the RAM and something changed

That was the third. LOL.

Honestly, you're probably correct that the motherboard has simply failed due to age, as it wasn't a really high end model to begin with, but it was serviceable and many of them are still running today. A lot of them are not as well.

I think I'd probably start by trying a different power supply, which you will need no matter what if you intend to put a functional system together at some point if you are unable to get this one going. CM Thunder power supplies were always low quality units and if that one lasted more than four years I'm pretty surprised and it was a particularly good sample.

If that's not possible as a first step, then at minimum I'd put the memory back into the slots or slot it belongs in according to the population rules in the motherboard user manual. Those rules are included for a reason. Results when moving RAM around to other slots can vary from not working at all to not working well or normal, and anything in between.

 

[dimopeev01]

Well I checked the PSU, the fan is still spinning and according do the video by Corsair this should mean it is still functioning properly. I moved the Ram back to slots 1 and 3 as they were originally, tried a new monitor just in case, still black screen. I guess I should be searching for a bugdet Mobo.
Are there other PSU tests to do, which could tell me something more?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well I checked the PSU, the fan is still spinning and according do the video by Corsair this should mean it is still functioning properly.

This, is so far from correct that I'm once again not sure how Corsair ever manages to live down some of the things it does and says. It's a good thing they have a lot of good power supplies (And a history of really bad ones too), or I'd simply go full on anti-Corsair when it comes to power supplies.

In any case, there are PLENTY of ways the fan on a PSU can still work and the unit be failing or have already failed entirely in one way or another.

If you have a multimeter or can borrow/buy one, even a cheap model, that would be a good INITIAL way to test the PSU. As follows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw

Briefly, I'll just say that I've seen plenty of systems that failed to boot, or power on, or just had so many different problems it was hard to just pick one out and go from there, that had functional fan operation but had like 8v on the 12v rail, or 11.4v, and anything below 11.5v is likely going to cause something to either not work or work poorly. There are probably about twenty other similar types of problems I could list, but I'll stop there because it really doesn't matter HOW it's not working, if it's not working. Normally we'd try to look at voltages using a utility on the desktop first, and then go to the multimeter, but since you can't even boot, that's where I'd start if you can't simply swap in a known good unit with plenty of capacity to rule out the PSU.

As far as motherboards go, before I go that far I think I'd pull the CPU cooler and make sure it's not packed with dust and hair, etc., in the heatsink. Also, make sure the thermal paste hasn't dried out. You'll need to have new thermal paste to apply in order to reinstall it.

Also, verify that the CPU cooler fan is even spinning.

As for motherboards, any of these should be satisfactory.

These are the boards that I'd recommend as being suitable for use with that FX 6 core CPU. The closer to the top of the list, the better. All of them are members of either the 990fx, 990x or 970 chipsets. This is important because there are other, incompatible chipsets that use the same naming/series schemes as many of these models, but they will not be compatible as they will be different chipsets.

GA-990FXA-UD7
Extreme6
Extreme9
Fatal1ty 990FX Professional
Crosshair V Formula-Z
Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
GA-99FXA-UD5
MSI GD80V2
M5A99FX PRO R2.0
GA-99FXA-UD3
MSI GD65V2
990FX Killer
Extreme4
M5A99X EVO (R2.0 as well)
GA-990XA-UD3
990XA-GD55
GA-970A-UD3P
M5A97 or EVO or PRO (R.2 as well)
GA-970A-UD3
970 GAMING
970A SLI Krait (USB 3.1 supported)
Extreme3
970 Extreme3
M5A97 LE R2.0
970 Pro3 (R2.0 as well)
GA-970A-DS3P
GA-970A-DS3
GA-970A-D3P