MOBO or ram that is faulty

[maplecrete]

I'm having a problem with my computer turning on. Yesterday it would turn on but no display, post, beeps,anything but the computer turns on okay. Even if i leave it on for a few minutes, nothing happens. Today I decided to reseat everything and still the problem persists.

My first thought was GPU but that's unlikely. It cant be PSU because it turns on fine, fans, lights etc. So that leaves motherboard or ram. I tried each stick individually on each slot and when i tried that the problem became worse and the computer would just turn on for a second then off and would repeat until i manual shut down by holding the power button. Both sticks and each slot does this so finally i just put it back into it's original configuration of slot 1 and 3 and to my (un)surprise it turns on and off for a second and repeats; no longer the on but no display.

My specs are as followed:
i5-3570
MSI z77a-GD65
ATI 7890
4x2gb ddr3 ram

I don't have additional memory to test. Is there a way to confirm whether its mobo or ram without trying new sticks? Are there physical indications on the mobo itself? This a 2 year old machine that hasn't had any problems in the past.

 

[swifty_morgan]

what power supply do you have?

what gpu do you have? check the number on the tag on the back of the card.

what happens if you pull the card and hook to the motherboard?

 

[drtweak]

do you have a friend with another PC with DDR3 that you can test it? That would be the easier way to test them with out having to get new ones first.

 

[maplecrete]

what power supply do you have?

what gpu do you have? check the number on the tag on the back of the card.

what happens if you pull the card and hook to the motherboard?

PSU us Antec Truepower 750

GPU is Gigabyte ati 7890

I tried disconnecting the gpu. In fact i'm barebread right now with only psu, 1 hdd, cpu connected. I do have another psu to test and even though i'm pretty certain it isn't the cause i'm out of options and in process of swapping them. Will report back results.

do you have a friend with another PC with DDR3 that you can test it? That would be the easier way to test them with out having to get new ones first.

I do have a friend with another pc but he isn't exactly available right now or even in the next few days. Which leaves me with what I have. I was planning on upgrading my memory anyway so i may go out and buy new ram but i really want to leave buying new hardware out until i've exhausted every possiblity.

 

[swifty_morgan]

the mini 7950............. forgot about that.

so the video works on the motherboard- (on board ). . try another power supply .............. and if you can, try another card.

if the card is in the first slot............. also try it in the second slot.

 

[maplecrete]

the mini 7950............. forgot about that.

so the video works on the motherboard- (on board ). . try another power supply .............. and if you can, try another card.

if the card is in the first slot............. also try it in the second slot.

Just tried another psu. Same problem, turns on for a second then off.

I really doubt it's a gpu problem. As far as i know a gpu can't cause a computer to turn on for a second then off again. Not to mention it isn't plugged in and the problem still persists.

 

[swifty_morgan]

gpu's sucks power straight from the pci-e bus................. pull the card from the machine and hook the monitor to the back of the motherboard. try both power supplies again.

 

[maplecrete]

gpu's sucks power straight from the pci-e bus................. pull the card from the machine and hook the monitor to the back of the motherboard. try both power supplies again.

I already tried that. Switching the hdmi to the mobo was the first thing i did upon a blank screen.

 

[swifty_morgan]

so the monitor worked?

 

[maplecrete]

Just an update it seems this is a BIOS problem. I very coincidentally found out this board had 2 BIOS ROMS and switched to the second one and it consistently turns on just fine. So thank god this is not a hardware problem at least so far. The problem now is trying to fix the broken BIOS and nothing i found online seems to work so i'm resorted to waiting until monday to call MSI support to see what is going on.

 

[swifty_morgan]

thanks for the heads up.