[SOLVED] I need help troubleshooting why my PC wont turn on.

[M3rci0]

Hello everyone,

I need help troubleshooting what's wrong with my pc (desk top) I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post it so I do apologize if I'm in the wrong one.

So basically it was working fine last night although it was acting a bit laggy but was working none the less, then I put it to sleep mode and turned in for the night. when I woke up this morning it wont wake up from sleep no matter how many buttons or mouse movement I tried, so I turned the power off (PSU switch from 1 to 0) unplugged it and waited for a bit then tried to turn it back on again but nothing happened. no light where on inside the case when usually when you turn PSU switch on there would be a beep or some lights showing.

Next I tried to troubleshoot the PSU using the clip test and it passed it (PSU fans turned on) but when I try to connect everything to the pc again and switch on the PSU I get no response (the PSU fans are not running). Therefore I'm not sure if this guarantees that its not the cause. If the PSU is indeed fine then is my motherboard the cause? my motherboard doesn't seem to be receiving any power as no lights or sound could be heard from it. its just static.

As a note, I have been using the pc for over 3 years now using the same components so I know at least the PSU is capable of powering and running the system.

I don't have another pc that I could try the PSU on so is there any other things I can do?
or is there any other obvious possible cause that I may have missed?
Please help and thank you in advance.

The PSU I'm using is a Corsair CX 750M and the motherboard is a Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5.

 

[mamasan2000]

Have you connected the PSU straight to the wall? Maybe some safety got tripped in the power strip if you use one. Or it just broke. They don't last for long. Usually a year for me.
Have you taken out the battery from mobo? Leave it out for 30 secs or short the 2 pins for 10 secs for CMOS reset. Check mobo manual where those pins are.
Other than that, I don't know. I would have to start changing parts. Borrowed or old.

 

[M3rci0]

Have you connected the PSU straight to the wall? Maybe some safety got tripped in the power strip if you use one. Or it just broke. They don't last for long. Usually a year for me.
Have you taken out the battery from mobo? Leave it out for 30 secs or short the 2 pins for 10 secs for CMOS reset. Check mobo manual where those pins are.
Other than that, I don't know. I would have to start changing parts. Borrowed or old.

Yes, I tried various outlets in the house, and no response from the pc when PSU is switched on (no sound, no lights, no PSU fan, nothing). I'll try the CMOS reset and see if that does anything.

 

[MeanMachine41]

Hi M3rci0.
It comes down to 3 components. IMO
The only other possibility is a short to the the MB standoffs and that would require Breadboarding.

Well as you said it is either the PSU, the MB. or the 24pin power cable which you can test with a multimeter.
Establish that the 24pin cable is in fact providing correct voltages within tolerance and plugged in correctly or if you have a replacement cable then test for that possibility. I can direct you to a good vid should you need the pinout information and should you have a multimeter.

You can try swapping out the PSU for a known working unit of the same or higher Wattage.
You can take the PSU to a technician to have it tested under load.
If all of the above fails to identify the culprit then it must be the Motherboard.

Clearing CMOS will not help with this situation.

 

[M3rci0]

Hi M3rci0.
It comes down to 3 components. IMO
The only other possibility is a short to the the MB standoffs and that would require Breadboarding.

Well as you said it is either the PSU, the MB. or the 24pin power cable which you can test with a multimeter.
Establish that the 24pin cable is in fact providing correct voltages within tolerance and plugged in correctly or if you have a replacement cable then test for that possibility. I can direct you to a good vid should you need the pinout information and should you have a multimeter.

You can try swapping out the PSU for a known working unit of the same or higher Wattage.
You can take the PSU to a technician to have it tested under load.
If all of the above fails to identify the culprit then it must be the Motherboard.

Clearing CMOS will not help with this situation.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could please direct me to that video. I'm not familiar with how to do it but I will try breadboarding and changing the cable. Thank you for the advise.

 

[mamasan2000]

I interpret breadboarding as in taking the system out of the case. Like placing the motherboard on top of motherboard box. Have the CPU, maybe GPU, RAM and PSU connected. Turn the system on. GPU is not strictly necessary but I like to have output. If the system works, it's something to do with how you connect stuff in the case or the case itself. If it doesn't, dead PSU, PSU cable or Mobo IIRC.

 

[MeanMachine41]

I would greatly appreciate it if you could please direct me to that video. I'm not familiar with how to do it but I will try breadboarding and changing the cable. Thank you for the advise.

Here is the pinout you requested for the 24pin connection.

https://www.lifewire.com/atx-24-pin-12v-power-supply-pinout-2624578

 

[alexbirdie]

Could be, that an internal power supply fuse is gone. But it is very dangerous to open a PSU, even if unplugged, because of the capacitors.

Best would be to get another PSU for testing or take the PSU to a hardware-shop for testing.

 

[M3rci0]

After all the testing, I can finally conclude that the motherboard was the problem and it seems to have died. Thank you all for the various advice on what to do as well as taking the time to help out.