Did I kill my son's pc?!

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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
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Hi, I'm really not techy so I apologise in advance.

Bought my 11 year old a zoo storm pc at Christmas, think it has 8gb ram, Intel i5, with the intention of upgrading it bit by bit as needed.

For his birthday I got a zotac 1050ti GPU which was the best I could do with my budget. When I actually looked at the box it said minimum 300w PSU needed, I checked the power supply (came with the pc) and it said max wattage 240w, max output shall not exceed 250w.

So, I googled it and came to the conclusion that it should be okay. I haven't added anything else to the pc other than the GPU, no fans, no lighting etc., and when I did the thing to calculate what power supply you need, I'm sure it came in as around 300.

I added the GPU on 21 August and it all worked fine...until this morning when my son turned the pc on and the blue light indicating the tower was running, was on, it sounded like it was running (although maybe it wasn't as loud as it normally is?) But the monitor kept alternating between HDMI and analog (only have the hdmi cable plugged in, to the GPU).

I've now removed the GPU and tried it again, the monitor flashed between HDMI and analog a few times then said check signal cable, and the actual tower keeps switching on and off over and over again.

Have I killed it?!

I'm hoping it's a psu thing and changing it may help, but have I wrecked the graphics card or maybe the whole pc?!

Please help..panicking!

Specs:

Intel i-5 7400 processor
Asus h110m-r motherboard
1tb hdd, it says wd blue on it?
hyper X ddr4 ram 8gb, one stick
PSU - says fsp group ltd on the side, I can't see any other brand names...
 
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R_1

R_1

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Sep 8, 2015
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if the PSU has gone it may have taken the GPU or other parts with it. need a spare to test. the 1050ti should be fine on that wattage PSU at full it only uses 75 Watts..

if you can get a spare PSU for testing you will know quickly. FSP is the PSU maker.
step 1 is to replace PSU for testing.
if PSU is tested to be good, diagnostics on motherboard would be step 2. the front panel connector has a speaker connector. connecting a speaker will allow audio beeps to be heard. the motherboard may be telling you what the issue is via the diagnostic beep codes. Asus will have more information in the downloadable motherboard manual
 
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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
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510
Is there any reason it would have worked for almost a week before crashing?

I can get another PSU, could you advise on the best wattage? Don't want to pay out for one that's still not powerful enough.

Also...what are the chances the graphics card/other parts might be blown?
 
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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
18
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My son did say it beeped this morning but he can't remember how it sounded and I haven't heard anything.... Do you know why the monitor was switching from hdmi to analog before I took the GPU out? Like I said before, this was happening whilst the tower seemed to be operating.

Edit: would a Corsair 550w PSU be okay? Would I need an even higher one than that I figure if I were to upgrade the ram and processor, add fans etc.?
 
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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
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Only a CX but it's all I can spare at the moment!

Partner has gone to collect it now... If I put it in and the pc still doesn't work, anyone have any ideas for the next step?

If it does work...am I safe to put the graphics card back in straight away, or might that fry the PSU of the graphics card is actually broken?

Sorry for understanding so little about this stuff!
 
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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
18
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510
I'm back :(

So. I connected the new PSU (as mentioned above) and the tower is now staying on, no restarting or beeping...but the monitor still keeps flicking from hdmi to analog before saying "check display cable".

I've tried connecting the tower to the TV in my room (which is how I tested it before I gave it to my son at Christmas so I know it works) and same thing - no signal.

Hooked the monitor up to my laptop and that's working fine (monitor shows the laptop display).

Before I take it to the pc repair shop is there any simple solution anyone could suggest?

I haven't yet put the graphics card in, and I did take a photo of the motherboard so someone could check I haven't missed a cable anywhere but don't know how to add a photo on here??
 
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RememberThe5th

RememberThe5th

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Jul 30, 2014
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Unplug psu from wall, switch psu on ,remove shiny battery, press and hold power button for 30s, plug back battery, swtch psu off then plug.
Keep one ram stick, disconnect sata from hdd and remove gpu, plug into igpu (intergrated graphics), switch psu on.

Uf pc still doesnt show signal to monitor after starting up, press restart once and wait 1minute, it should show to monitor.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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upload the photo here

https://postimages.org/

then copy & paste the link it gives you into a reply here

I would be surprised if a fsp made psu has killed the pc ,they are not the best brand but theyre far from the worst either.

 
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K

karens1983

Prominent
Oct 22, 2017
18
0
510
Thanks, I didn't see these messages before now, sorry.

If it's a failed GPU... Would the pc still not work when the monitor is plugged into the hdmi on the back of the tower? (I assume that's what is meant by "plug into integrated graphics"?)

I will follow the steps Robert ban posted and reply back - what does press restart once mean? The power button?

I found something online about taking the motherboard out, plugging just the PSU and CPU in and then using a screwdriver to touch the power button pins.

I did all that and when I touched the pins, the unit came on - but there were apparently meant to be audible beeps and there weren't any? Does this mean anything to anyone?!
I did connect speakers to the mobo as well whilst carrying out the test and the speakers were hissing so I know they were working.
 
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karens1983

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Oct 22, 2017
18
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510
Oh, sorry. Wrong photo! The ATX is in.

I did the steps suggested above but was unsure what connect to integrated graphics meant, and also unplugging the data from the hdd - is that both cables, or just the one with the shiny metal bit on?

As for integrated graphics, I plugged just the VGA cable in, and then the hdmi too and after doing all this, still no signal from pc.

I also didn't know what the reset button is. If I press the standby button on top of the pc once, nothing happens unless I hold it in.

The pc isn't making much noise either - normal start up sound, then a couple of clicks and then just a faint whirring noise, like a fridge. I'm sure it used to be louder than that.
 
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K

karens1983

Prominent
Oct 22, 2017
18
0
510
No, they're all there. I think I'm just wondering whether it could be a fried motherboard or CPU, they both look fine to me but as I have clearly stated, I'm not techy at all!

The button cell battery is definitely back.

I'm taking it to the local pc world today (I think they're cheapest around here) but they charge £60 just to do a diagnostic, parts are extra so I'm hoping it's the motherboard rather than the CPU :(
 
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K

karens1983

Prominent
Oct 22, 2017
18
0
510
I thought maybe the warranty would be void as I have opened it up, removed parts and added a new power supply and graphics card... There is a local computer repair shop we are considering taking it to as well, the other option was buy a new motherboard and try that, if not then maybe it's the processor? Unless there are other parts that could have gone wrong?
 
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karens1983

Prominent
Oct 22, 2017
18
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510
Update:

So, the pc has been with pc world since Monday.

They phoned yesterday to tell me they thought it was the PSU that was the problem, I'd mentioned I had bought the new PSU from them (and that the restarting issue was happening with the old psu plus this new one) so they agreed to exchange the one we bought from them and fit it right away, then call me back to update.

They didn't phone me back so this morning I called in to see them.

They don't know what's wrong :/

They said it seems to now not be the PSU as they can get it to boot to windows, (but that's only happened once in however many times they'd tried to boot it) and are planning on updating the motherboard and bios, plus the drivers and seeing how that goes.

The person I spoke to said if that doesn't work then the motherboard probably needs replacing and that there could be a compatibility issue with the mobo and the psu.

Does all this sound plausible?

He said that if there is a hardware issue then it'll only be the motherboard.
 
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