[SOLVED] How to know if it's a dead motherboard or dead PSU?

[iamhady]

Hey guys,

Yesterday I was on CS:GO with a friend and I got up to get something got back and found the PC completely off. I tried turning it on but that did not work.
The first thing that came to my mind that the PSU probably died after a couple of years of use. (I had one die before) but I wanted to troubleshoot the issue to be 100% sure before buying a new one because I don't know if I can return it for no reason if it's not the PSU.

Things I noticed,

• My mouse which has RGB in it only blinks for half a second every few seconds when plugged in. (somehow power reaches it but not constant power)
• The case fan, CPU fan, case light strip, LEDs, system speaker all show no response to pressing the power button. (no beep, nothing spinning)

I've been troubleshooting and viewing posts here all night but they all have at least something different (I did check the sticky thread and went beyond what steps are there)
here are the results:

PSU
PSU is not fried, has no smell coming out of it or any weird noises (just the fan's noise)
Tried two power cables on it to make sure the cable is fine
Jumped it with the paperclip method and its fan started spinning normally. (again no weird sounds or smells)
Connected it to the microcontroller that powers my case, the fan spins and lights up.
I know that doesn't mean the PSU is capable of supplying enough power but I don't know what more I could test it on.

MOBO
Assembled it outside the case and made sure everything is connected properly.
Plugged in the system speaker and the power switch from the case and tried turning it on, PSU fan and CPU fan don't spin, no beeps or anything.
Tried with one stick of RAM, tried with none, nothing.
I tried connecting the pins with a screwdriver and a paperclip, nothing.
All with the GPU disassembled.
* My mouse blinks for less than half a second every ~2 seconds when plugged in MOBO with PSU plugged in, don't know what that means but could mean something for someone who's more knowledgable.

The sad thing is, I was starting to upgrade my PC parts. I had already bought an i7-4770 (in shipping) and was thinking of getting a new GPU.

My PC specs are:

• Gigabyte H81M-S2PT (rev 1.1)
• i3-4130 w stock cooler
• 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz Geil memory
• Sapphire Toxic R9 270x 2GB
• Thermaltake Litepower 550W

^ everything listed except the PSU was bought used a few years back, the PSU was new from about 2-3 years ago.
I understand everything has a lifespan and they don't all work for 10 years but I want to identify what's causing the problem so I can replace it
(I can't afford to buy the two of them, not at this time we're going through plus I still want to upgrade my GPU)

How can I make sure it's a dead motherboard for example? It's a LGA1150 motherboard I'll have to buy a used one from ebay or something, and it won't be cheap due to prices increasing.
Can I order a PSU to test and return it if it's the mobo? even though the PSU is fully functional? I've read some people doing so but I'm not familiar with returning items and the policies.
I've Amazon.it and Ebay.it at my disposal thankfully.

Appreciate any help as my PC is my only form of entertainment right now (and freelance work from time to time)
Thanks!

 

[Mrgr74]

One question, on Corsair's site the PSU has a seven years warranty, I still get that 7 years if I buy it through Amazon or any online retailers here?

Yes. As long as you buy it new & from an authorized retail site like Amazon and not out the back of some guys car down on the corner in the middle of the night. It also states as such directly on the Amazon link to the SF600.

Call me paranoid, but I'd take a screen shot of the product page stating the 7 year warranty as well as a pic of the retail box AND save the box, to cover you should that change at some point in the future and the PSU fails, you'l have proof of the stated warranty. Zotac used to have a lifetime warranty on their GPU's and it stated as much on the product box & Amazons site when I bought a new GTX 460 10 or so years ago. I took SS of both as a precaution. The card lasted a long time, but eventually failed 7 years later which was well after Zotac changed their warranty policy. I was told my 460 was out of warranty and so nothing they could do. I forwarded them the copies showing the stated "Lifetime" warranty and so they replaced it with an updated GPU since they didn't have a 460 in stock to replace it with.

Corsair Warranty info and per item coverage.

 

[geofelt]

Perhaps I was not clear on the SFX standard.
It is a smaller dimension psu that will not fit in a standard ATX case.

SFX has dimensions of 125 × 63.5 × 100 mm (width × height × depth), with a 60 mm fan, compared with the standard ATX dimensions of 150 × 86 × 140 mm.

 

[iamhady]

Perhaps I was not clear on the SFX standard.

I understand what SFX means, that's why I've picked it.
You missed my line of buying a new case,

I'll upgrade the PSU and buy a mini-itx case with the itx board I found on ebay.

@Mrgr74 Glad to know, I couldn't find any info about it on the amazon page but I was browsing through the corsair website, might end up buying it directly through them.
I do still have my thermaltake PSU box even though I travelled with the PC disassembled haha

 

[geofelt]

Love those ITX builds I have built several.
What case do you have in mind?

 

[iamhady]

I had the P-ATX in mind for a while (because of my m-atx motherboard) but now since I might buy a new board I'm considering something smaller like ZS-A4 or XQ69 which I know both of them from the sffpc reddit.
I'm not sure which would easily fit in a backpack in case I decide to take the PC with me but I like having the possibility.

EDIT: I also want something that'd fit my huge Sapphire R9 270x Toxic, it's about 305mm or 320 with the ports and the little bent metal part, don't know how to measure it for the specifications listed on the case details.

 

[geofelt]

You might look at the lian li tu150.
It is lightweight aluminum with a handle for transportation.

PC-TU150 - Portable and powerful tempered glass mini-itx chassis

TU150 use of a tempered glass main panel means a modern internal aesthetic along with proper masking to hide internal cabling. Another neat cable management trick is that Lian Li allows the top panel where the handle recesses to hide wiring as well.

www.lian-li.com

That said, for a desktop, you also need to transport a monitor and keyboard.
If portability is a big need, look at a laptop.

 

[iamhady]

You might look at the lian li tu150.
It is lightweight aluminum with a handle for transportation.

PC-TU150 - Portable and powerful tempered glass mini-itx chassis

TU150 use of a tempered glass main panel means a modern internal aesthetic along with proper masking to hide internal cabling. Another neat cable management trick is that Lian Li allows the top panel where the handle recesses to hide wiring as well.

www.lian-li.com

That said, for a desktop, you also need to transport a monitor and keyboard.
If portability is a big need, look at a laptop.

It's too bulky as a change from my normal case, plus that'd never fit in my backpack.
I've got a laptop but it's too weak for any gaming.

I'm not planning to move constantly with the PC or use it while outside but in case I go back to my home country would be useful to have the whole PC in one of my bags without taking all of it. (I had to leave the case when I got the parts from Egypt to Italy so don't want to keep doing that)
Plus the occasional lan party similar to a console, I can just throw it in a backpack and hook it up to a TV with a couple of controllers.

I might end up with the Sentry clone, console-like build and looks pretty good.

 

[gondo]

@geofelt Yes, I judged by the update tier list here (updated one from your link) and figured if I'll keep the PC and not sell it I'll upgrade the PSU and buy a mini-itx case with the itx board I found on ebay.
Also since I'm replacing a possibly fully functional PSU purely based on quality I might as well bite the bullet and shouldn't go for a lower-tier so I checked the tier A ones. (SF ones also tier 1 on the old thread)

Even though there's an EVGA 450 GM for just 75 euros which is also tier A I think 450w are not enough for my current r9 270x or the future rx 580-590 upgrade. 120 euros it is. (this is all on Amazon.it)

One question, on Corsair's site the PSU has a seven years warranty, I still get that 7 years if I buy it through Amazon or any online retailers here?

@gondo I checked the Corsair SF600 and seems to have 3 perfect reviews (9, 9.7+, GOLD) so I'll go off that.

The warranty will be good. Just register your product and keep the receipt. A good idea is to put all receipts in the motherboard/psu/video card box. Then stick those boxes in your case box and store that. If you ever need an RMA you have the receipt plus the box for shipping. You'll notice all products except keyboard/mouse has 3 or 5 year warranties, and some power supplies 7 or 10. That means every component on a system is good for a minimum of 3 years. Build a good computer, sell the parts at 3 years and upgrade. It'll never cost you a cent to maintain except the difference in cost for the upgrade and you always have an up to date system. You only need to replace the board/ram/cpu as a set every 3 years and the video card if yours isn't performing in your games anymore. Very cheap long term computing.

 

[iamhady]

I've got my hands on a H81I motherboard and it works! Thankfully nothing else is ruined.
I'm now looking to get rid of the PSU and the SSD+HDD and already have the Corsair SF750 Platinum and a Crucial MX500 in my Amazon cart. (7 and 5 years warranties, damn nice)

I might list the MOBO+CPU+RAM combo for 200 euros or so if I managed to sell them I'll think of a Ryzen and DDR4 upgrade.

The warranty will be good. Just register your product and keep the receipt. A good idea is to put all receipts in the motherboard/psu/video card box. Then stick those boxes in your case box and store that. If you ever need an RMA you have the receipt plus the box for shipping.

The "Order summary" on Amazon's (my orders) page works like a traditional receipt, right? I've never filled an RMA before so I'm confused haha
Also, your idea is great @gondo but as a uni student w no job it was difficult to do any upgrades before (started freelancing a couple of months ago so at least I can afford the upgrades now)

 

[gondo]

Yeah the Amazon receipt is fine.

 

[gondo]

For portability they make LAN bags the you put your tower in and it has pockets for the keyboard/mouse, cables, etc..... You can even fit a monitor in some of them. Makes carrying very simple.

If it was myself and I had to transport the PC often or going to LANs, I would get a Pelican case. They make them big enough to fit a case, 24" monitor and accessories. They come on wheels and you could throw it in the back of a car in any direction without damage. But for the trouble, today's laptops with a 2080 are more than capable of gaming.