New Built PC was working until now...

[mowbr4]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to everyones help on this forum, I was able to get my PC up and running. However, I have now run into an issue and have no idea what it might be. I finally built a new computer desk to put my PC on. When I went to move my PC to this desk, I plugged it in and it wouldn't come on. The "Activity" light on the front blinked red for a second and the case fan went for less then a millisecond then stopped. I have no idea why it won't come on. Does anyone have a clue? Could I have shorted something out when moving it? I moved the PC when it was off and unplugged. Here are my Specs:

CPU: i5-2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68AP-D3
RAM - GSkill Rip Jaws 4GBX2
PSU: Antec BP550
Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon 6950 2GB
Monitor: Samsung SynchMaster E2420

Thanks again everyone!

 

[mowbr4]

When you did the paper clip test did all of the fans work or just the psu fan?

I just did it with just the PSU which worked...When I had it connected to the MOBO and tried it, none of the fans spun. But I read you shouldn't try it that way.

 

[inzone]

The connector that is pluged into the cpu power socket is it a 4 pin or 8 pin?

 

[mowbr4]

The connector that is pluged into the cpu power socket is it a 4 pin or 8 pin?

It is a 4 Pin

 

[inzone]

Ok I have a water cooling system for my computer and when you want to test for leaks after putting it together you do the very same thing as the paper clip test and everything is pluged in except the main power connector which you are using for the jumper or paper clip. Everything starts up when the jumper is put in the power socket and that way the pumps and fans work so you can see if there are any leaks without something getting damaged if there is a leak. So you actually want to have a fan or two pluged into one of the cables from the psu so you can see if they work and not just the psu fan.

 

[jsc]

OK. Our "standard" troubleshooting thread didn't work, right?

Do you have an internal case speaker attached to the motherboard? If not, you really need one.

The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. At this point, if you do not have a system (internal case) speaker, you really need one.


Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU. Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps, LED's, or fan activity:

Check for line power at the PSU input. Extension cords, power strips, and power cords do fail.

If you have power and no beeps, suspect components in likely order are PSU, motherboard, and CPU.

Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

 

[mowbr4]

OK. Our "standard" troubleshooting thread didn't work, right?

Do you have an internal case speaker attached to the motherboard? If not, you really need one.

The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. At this point, if you do not have a system (internal case) speaker, you really need one.


Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU. Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps, LED's, or fan activity:

Check for line power at the PSU input. Extension cords, power strips, and power cords do fail.

If you have power and no beeps, suspect components in likely order are PSU, motherboard, and CPU.

Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

Yes, I did follow through this whole guide. I did breadboard and listened for Beeps...I received no beeps. . I truly have NOOO idea what it is.

 

[mowbr4]

Ok I have a water cooling system for my computer and when you want to test for leaks after putting it together you do the very same thing as the paper clip test and everything is pluged in except the main power connector which you are using for the jumper or paper clip. Everything starts up when the jumper is put in the power socket and that way the pumps and fans work so you can see if there are any leaks without something getting damaged if there is a leak. So you actually want to have a fan or two pluged into one of the cables from the psu so you can see if they work and not just the psu fan.

That makes sense. So do you think it is the PSU based on how the fans go on and off constantly?

 

[inzone]

Well it sure seems like the video shows that power is intermittently being applied to the motherboard and thats why I wanted you to do the paper clip test with fans pluged into the cables coming directly from the psu. When you did the test before you only did it to the psu and the psu fan came on so now if you do the test again with seperate fans attached to the psu and if they work along with the psu fan then you end up pointing the finger at the motherboard. The motherboard has voltage regulators on it and that could also cause this problem if one of them was to have gone bad or is defective.

 

[mowbr4]

Well it sure seems like the video shows that power is intermittently being applied to the motherboard and thats why I wanted you to do the paper clip test with fans pluged into the cables coming directly from the psu. When you did the test before you only did it to the psu and the psu fan came on so now if you do the test again with seperate fans attached to the psu and if they work along with the psu fan then you end up pointing the finger at the motherboard. The motherboard has voltage regulators on it and that could also cause this problem if one of them was to have gone bad or is defective.

I did do the Paper Clip test again with the PSU connected with other fans (GPU, HeatSink)...and none of the fans came on including the PSU fan. I hope that I did that right....If that's the case, I would point towards the PSU??

 

[mowbr4]

Hey everyone,

As a status update. I tried the paper clip test again to ensure the PSU was working. The fan was running without any problems. Does this mean I have an issue with my MoBo? It's hard to determine what I should return

 

[bongpacks]

Return the PSU since it's simple enough to remove, you've probably already done something as this thread is a couple months old. If when you get the PSU back and it does the same thing, return the mobo and see if the replacement works. I'm having somewhat similar issues but my system will actually power on 99% of the time and run fine.