Question Computer has died

[absolut saft]

Hi!

Yesterday my computer of 3 years died all of a sudden. I am not sure as to why and are asking for some advice troubleshooting what part(s) is faulty.

I have checked if the psu is giving power by looking if the lights on the motherboard/graphics card are lighting up which it does.

I also checked if any cables or pins has come loose and reinstalled everything.

I tried to see if the power button had died in the frontpanel by manually connecting the power on the board with help of a screwdriver.

None of this has worked and I want to salvage the parts that work and build something for my brother but want to know what part(s) might be faulty. Thanks for any advice!

My specs are.

Cpu: Intel Core i7 8700K

Gpu: ASUS GeForce RTX 2060

Psu: Fractal design Newton R3 1000w

Ram: Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2666Mhz CL16 Vengeance

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-F

 

[Eximo]

Seeing lights on the motherboard is not definitive of a working PSU. There are 3 important voltages. 12V, 5V, and 3.3V. If one of them isn't working, you can still see things light up.

You can take the PSU out and measure the output voltage with no load (Still not definitive, but closer). Only way to properly test a PSU is with a PSU tester or a working computer.

Unplug all drives. Unplug all the fans (don't leave the system on too long) Clear CMOS. Remove the GPU. You should have onboard graphics to see if it boots that way. Next would be the memory, try one stick at a time. If it works at any point plug one thing back in at a time, and when it stops working when you plug something back in, you have identified the problem. Last resort is to pull the CPU and re-seat it, but that means having new thermal compound at hand so you can re-install the cooler.

Sadly you must have a working CPU/Motherboard/Memory to see a working system, so if any one has gone bad, you can't always tell. Some motherboards will have error lights or codes, or beeps to tell you what it potentially wrong. They aren't always right as a separate problem can cause a failure at that point during POST. It going off of how far it gets in the boot process.

Or you can test compatible components in another system to rule them out as points of failure.

 

[Nathkrul]

Replace the power supply, chances are it's blown, they can go pop after even a year.

And like Eximo says, just fans spinning really means nothing, and that's true.

If it's a modular supply, make sure you use only the leads that come with the new power supply.

 

[absolut saft]

Seeing lights on the motherboard is not definitive of a working PSU. There are 3 important voltages. 12V, 5V, and 3.3V. If one of them isn't working, you can still see things light up.

You can take the PSU out and measure the output voltage with no load (Still not definitive, but closer). Only way to properly test a PSU is with a PSU tester or a working computer.

Unplug all drives. Unplug all the fans (don't leave the system on too long) Clear CMOS. Remove the GPU. You should have onboard graphics to see if it boots that way. Next would be the memory, try one stick at a time. If it works at any point plug one thing back in at a time, and when it stops working when you plug something back in, you have identified the problem. Last resort is to pull the CPU and re-seat it, but that means having new thermal compound at hand so you can re-install the cooler.

Sadly you must have a working CPU/Motherboard/Memory to see a working system, so if any one has gone bad, you can't always tell. Some motherboards will have error lights or codes, or beeps to tell you what it potentially wrong. They aren't always right as a separate problem can cause a failure at that point during POST. It going off of how far it gets in the boot process.

Or you can test compatible components in another system to rule them out as points of failure.

Thanks a lot for the advice!

I already was in the process of buying a new computer so once it gets to me i will try the old psu in the new rig and see if it boots. I am assuming booting with a faulty psu even if it starts wont do damage to the new rig? Will take out the gpu to spare some power.

 

[Eximo]

I would test with what you have first. There is some risk of plugging in a damaged power supply to a working system. But if it the PSU is not instantly shutting down, that is a sign there is nothing bad happening like a short.

 

[absolut saft]

I would test with what you have first. There is some risk of plugging in a damaged power supply to a working system. But if it the PSU is not instantly shutting down, that is a sign there is nothing bad happening like a short.

Okay will try unplugging everything and plugging stuff back in 1 by 1 as soon as i am home. Probably be done in 15 mins. Thanks for the help so far!

 

[absolut saft]

I would test with what you have first. There is some risk of plugging in a damaged power supply to a working system. But if it the PSU is not instantly shutting down, that is a sign there is nothing bad happening like a short.

Okay i unplugged everything and started plugging things back but even with just the power cable plugged in, 1 memory stick and the cpu it wont start. Does that point to a fried psu?

 

[Eximo]

Not necessarily.

CPU/Motherboard/RAM.

So one of them could be bad. Did you try the other ram stick? (if you have one) Did you try a different memory slot?

Removing the CPU and turning the motherboard on might show signs of life with a CPU error. That would indicate a bad CPU (Though that is quite rare)

Over time with repeated heat cycles the CPU might just need to be taken out and put back in.

There really isn't a quick fix when troubleshooting. You have to look at every logical possibility.

 

[absolut saft]

Not necessarily.

CPU/Motherboard/RAM.

So one of them could be bad. Did you try the other ram stick? (if you have one) Did you try a different memory slot?

Removing the CPU and turning the motherboard on might show signs of life with a CPU error. That would indicate a bad CPU (Though that is quite rare)

Over time with repeated heat cycles the CPU might just need to be taken out and put back in.

There really isn't a quick fix when troubleshooting. You have to look at every logical possibility.

Yes i tried with different sticks and slots, no luck.

Did not know turning the computer on without a cpu worked but no did not work with that either.

Just to be clear though, when i had the fans plugged in nothing started only show of life in the computer was as said the lights from the motherboard rgb and from the graphics card. Nothing started even for a milisecond.

Also before this happened the computer crashed 2 times in a short amount of time. It crashed, my dumbass just booted it up and did not troubleshoot anything then it crashed again. Next day it worked normally then day after it was totally dead.

 

[Eximo]

Yes i tried with different sticks and slots, no luck.

Did not know turning the computer on without a cpu worked but no did not work with that either.

Just to be clear though, when i had the fans plugged in nothing started only show of life in the computer was as said the lights from the motherboard rgb and from the graphics card. Nothing started even for a milisecond.

Also before this happened the computer crashed 2 times in a short amount of time. It crashed, my dumbass just booted it up and did not troubleshoot anything then it crashed again. Next day it worked normally then day after it was totally dead.

Some motherboards will show a CPU error without one. Not all of them. They can still power up, but obviously the computer won't do anything.

Possible the 5V rail is dead, that can sometimes let the lighting come on and not the fans.

 

[absolut saft]

Some motherboards will show a CPU error without one. Not all of them. They can still power up, but obviously the computer won't do anything.

Possible the 5V rail is dead, that can sometimes let the lighting come on and not the fans.

Will try plugging everything in once my new pc comes and try with that psu. Hopefully that will solve it. Thanks for all the help and have a great weekend!