Question Motherboard Faulty (MSI z270-A pro)?

[computer of computers]

So, there is a long story behind how I got here but I'll keep it short and simple. I got intel optane memory and dropped a screw into the PSU (the power cord was plugged in but the switch was off on the PSU, I ended up unplugging it before the screw fell in). I took the power supply out and shook it around while frustratingly smacking it trying to get the screw out and it ended up coming out. I then unplugged all the cords and did a little cable managing but to my dismay, the computer did not turn on when it was all put back together. I did the little green and black wire short on the PSU 24 pin connector and the PSU fan spun up for a second then shut off. The case fans and hard drive were all working. I then plugged the 24pin connector into the motherboard and hit the power button and nothing happened. Not a sound, or light, or any sign on life. The PSU seems to be working fine considering it could run everything until it was plugged into the motherboard. So it seems like a definite motherboard problem but I'm just perplexed as to how the motherboard could've gone bad when I never did anything to it? If it's the motherboard then when it got fried there wasn't a sound or smell, and there are no capacitors that I can see that has gone bad. Any thoughts?

 

[Aeacus]

If you see 0 life out of your PC then it's the PSU issue. If it were MoBo issue, you'd see some life out of your PC (e.g MoBo/GPU LEDs, fans probably spinning but no display).

Also, just because PSU fan did spin once, doesn't mean PSU can deliver the necessary power to boot up the PC.
What paperclip test does, is to power on PSU but it won't put any load on the PSU itself.

Since you dropped a screw into live PSU, despite it being turned off, inside the PSU are several capacitors that store the voltage for a long time. My best guess is that this screw shorted the PSU and now you have a nice paperweight.

So, replace your PSU.
Without knowing your full system specs but given that you have single GPU setup, max PSU wattage you'd need would be 600W range unit. For a good quality PSU, look towards any Seasonic unit, e.g: Focus 650 (80+ Gold), Focus+ 650 (80+ Gold), PRIME SnowSilent 650 (80+ Platinum) or PRIME Ultra 650 (80+ Titanium),
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/WrNypg,qn7v6h,yJgzK8,fnjJ7P/

Warranty wise:
Focus: 7 years
Focus+: 10 years
PRIME: 12 years (includes all PRIME models: regular, Fanless, AirTouch, SnowSilent, Ultra)

All my 3 PCs: Skylake, Haswell and AMD are also powered by Seasonic. Full specs with pics in my sig.

Note: If you have multi-GPU setup, state so. Also, listing full sys specs helps in PSU suggestion since all you may need is 500W range PSU.

 

[computer of computers]

If you see 0 life out of your PC then it's the PSU issue. If it were MoBo issue, you'd see some life out of your PC (e.g MoBo/GPU LEDs, fans probably spinning but no display).

Also, just because PSU fan did spin once, doesn't mean PSU can deliver the necessary power to boot up the PC.
What paperclip test does, is to power on PSU but it won't put any load on the PSU itself.

Since you dropped a screw into live PSU, despite it being turned off, inside the PSU are several capacitors that store the voltage for a long time. My best guess is that this screw shorted the PSU and now you have a nice paperweight.

So, replace your PSU.
Without knowing your full system specs but given that you have single GPU setup, max PSU wattage you'd need would be 600W range unit. For a good quality PSU, look towards any Seasonic unit, e.g: Focus 650 (80+ Gold), Focus+ 650 (80+ Gold), PRIME SnowSilent 650 (80+ Platinum) or PRIME Ultra 650 (80+ Titanium),
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/WrNypg,qn7v6h,yJgzK8,fnjJ7P/

Warranty wise:
Focus: 7 years
Focus+: 10 years
PRIME: 12 years (includes all PRIME models: regular, Fanless, AirTouch, SnowSilent, Ultra)

All my 3 PCs: Skylake, Haswell and AMD are also powered by Seasonic. Full specs with pics in my sig.

Note: If you have multi-GPU setup, state so. Also, listing full sys specs helps in PSU suggestion since all you may need is 500W range PSU.

Thank you! I’m going to try to check the power supply using a volt meter, just to be sure. Also, is there anything I can plug into my motherboard that would be a sign that it is turned on? It seems like if it can power my hard drive and fans it would be able to power the CPU and ram by itself or at least show life right?

 

[Aeacus]

It's easy to test if MoBo shows any life.

Just above the 24-pin connector, there is EZ debug LEDs (CPU, DRAM, VGA, BOOT). If you were to remove all RAM sticks from MoBo and attempting to power the PC on, the DRAM debug LED will lit up. Of course, PC doesn't boot up at all without RAM in it but with this trick, you can at least see there's power going to the MoBo.
Same trick should also work if you were to disconnect all storage drives from MoBo. In this case BOOT debug LED should lit up. Though, my MSI Z170 MoBo, without any storage drives, boots directly to BIOS and way back when i breadboard that MoBo, i didn't check if my BOOT debug LED also lit up.

 

[computer of computers]

It's easy to test if MoBo shows any life.

Just above the 24-pin connector, there is EZ debug LEDs (CPU, DRAM, VGA, BOOT). If you were to remove all RAM sticks from MoBo and attempting to power the PC on, the DRAM debug LED will lit up. Of course, PC doesn't boot up at all without RAM in it but with this trick, you can at least see there's power going to the MoBo.
Same trick should also work if you were to disconnect all storage drives from MoBo. In this case BOOT debug LED should lit up. Though, my MSI Z170 MoBo, without any storage drives, boots directly to BIOS and way back when i breadboard that MoBo, i didn't check if my BOOT debug LED also lit up.

Okay that’s good to know! I actually did try unplugging everything besides the cpu and tried turning the pc on but again, nothing happened. I just got my motherboard sent in to get RMAd yesterday. Now I put my old system motherboard (ASUS M5A97), ram, and cpu(AMD Fx-6100) in and at first it was working but then trying to turn the computer back on from a shut down the keyboard and mouse had no power and the monitor had no signal. I tried unplugging everything besides motherboard and 1 ram and tried to boot but nothing happened again. All components turn on as if it is working just no signal and no keyboard or mouse. I also tried changing the CMOS battery since it was an old board and the battery was actually dead but still no luck. The motherboards light is solid green at all times even with no drives. I’m thinking it has to be the power supply now even though I tested it and it’s supposedly giving enough power so I’m going to try to test my friends PSU on it.

 

[Aeacus]

I don't think MoBo RMA does any good since like i said in my 1st reply, what you're describing is PSU issue.

I'm curious, what unit you have? PSU make & model (or part number) will do.

 

[computer of computers]

I don't think MoBo RMA does any good since like i said in my 1st reply, what you're describing is PSU issue.

I'm curious, what unit you have? PSU make & model (or part number) will do.

I have a Corsair hx750. I also just tested my computer on my friends power supply. I plugged in the motherboard and cpu power cords and turned my computer on and everything turned on like before but this time the keyboard turned on but the mouse and monitor still didn’t work. The drives were not connected so they didn’t turn on. I saw a few other posts about the same problem I have with the no keyboard, mouse, or monitor working but there has to be more wrong if I went through 2 motherboards already. It’s just strange because it was working perfectly fine for like 2 hours then I come back and it’s just dead out of nowhere.

 

[Aeacus]

When you dropped the screw into PSU and short circuited it, it is possible that your PSU also fried something else at that point. MoBo is usually 1st to go and so is GPU. Though, PSU has the magical ability to fry everything it's connected to and due to that reason, PSU is the most important component inside the PC.

Also, keep this in mind: when your PSU is damaged (which it is due to that screw), and it most likely fried your MoBo; even if you get a new MoBo and plug it to that damaged PSU, PSU can fry the new MoBo as well. So, i'd replace the PSU 1st and go on from there.

 

[computer of computers]

When you dropped the screw into PSU and short circuited it, it is possible that your PSU also fried something else at that point. MoBo is usually 1st to go and so is GPU. Though, PSU has the magical ability to fry everything it's connected to and due to that reason, PSU is the most important component inside the PC.

Also, keep this in mind: when your PSU is damaged (which it is due to that screw), and it most likely fried your MoBo; even if you get a new MoBo and plug it to that damaged PSU, PSU can fry the new MoBo as well. So, i'd replace the PSU 1st and go on from there.

Oh, I didn’t even think about it frying other things. That makes more sense now so I’ll look to get a new PSU, the one I have isn’t too expensive so it should be easy to find.

 

[Aeacus]

I gave you some PSU suggestions above. Seasonic is one of the best (if not the best PSU OEM) in the world and you can't go wrong with Seasonic. But you can go wrong with Corsair or EVGA, especially when you buy their cheaper PSU. Though, your current Corsair HX750 is mid-range unit (build quality wise) and it also reviewed quite well.

 

[computer of computers]

I gave you some PSU suggestions above. Seasonic is one of the best (if not the best PSU OEM) in the world and you can't go wrong with Seasonic. But you can go wrong with Corsair or EVGA, especially when you buy their cheaper PSU. Though, your current Corsair HX750 is mid-range unit (build quality wise) and it also reviewed quite well.

Sorry for the late response but my PSU just came in today so I finally have new information. I plugged the new PSU into my computer and the same problem is happening. No monitor, but everything in the computer turns on as if everything is fine and the LED on the motherboard (old Asus m5a97) is solid green. Since I put in my old rig and replaced the PSU, the only constants left are the case and the graphics card. I suppose it could be that the graphics card got zapped when the screw fell in to the PSU but it seems to be acting normal besides the no video. I’ve also checked all wires to see if any were exposed but they all look to be fine and the motherboard isn’t being touched by any exterior metal. The mobo should be coming in soon so I will make an update when that comes in. I’m going to try to plug everything into my mobo while it is outside of the case to see if the case is shorting it in some place I can’t see.

 

[Aeacus]

I wonder, what's the new PSU make and model?

To test GPU, just simply pull it out of MoBo and connect your monitor directly to MoBo. Intel 6th/7th gen CPUs have on-board graphics which you can use to see the image.

 

[computer of computers]

I wonder, what's the new PSU make and model?

To test GPU, just simply pull it out of MoBo and connect your monitor directly to MoBo. Intel 6th/7th gen CPUs have on-board graphics which you can use to see the image.

The new power supply I got was the same as the old one (Corsair hx-750) I got the same one cause I could plug all my cords back into it easily and it was a good PSU before I dropped the screw in it. Also I’ll check that once I get my new mobo cause right now I’m still on my old AMD cpu without onboard graphics, sadly.

 

[computer of computers]

I put my motherboard in today and it turns out the problem was the motherboard. All is working well now! Thank you for your help!

 

[Aeacus]

Nice to hear that you got your PC fixed.

Though, next time be more careful when servicing your PC, so that the falling screw wouldn't fry your PSU and MoBo again.