PLEASE HELP!!! NOT A NOOB QUESTION

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sabre181

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Jan 12, 2010
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Hello all,

So this morning, I took apart my rig for my semi-annual cleaning ritual (dusting and other general cleaning) and when I put everything back together, my rig wouldn't start.

Here is where I am. I have cleared the CMOS several times, plugged and unplugged all power cables into all components several times, reseated both my graphics card and my processor and heatsink/fan, switched out my DIMMs in all different configurations, all to no avail.

I know everything in my computer is functional, as everything worked last night. When I power on, everything spins up but after maybe 2 seconds of being on, it seems to restart itself over and over again. I have unplugged the reset button cable from my motherboard and then have tried to power on, which leads to the same effect of the computer consistently resetting itself.

I am on my last strings, hoping that someone out on the internet can guide me in my time of need lol. I can give you the specs of the rig, but like I said, i know everything works as of last night, so unless I broke something (which I am fairly positive I didn't) everything is compatible and functional with each other. Thank you ahead of time for any suggestions, i truly appreciate it!!
 
Solution
There are three things that it sound like it may be: 1) Motherboard, 2) Power supply, 3) Weird short.

What I would do is take out the motherboard, and I would look at the caps and the overall board so see if I noticed anything that look discolored/burnt. When I placed the motherboard back into the case I would check that nothing was touching the board accept the screws where they should and the rear plate where it should. This will reduce the likely hood of a strange short and if you can visually see a bad spot on the board you know it’s the board.

Then I would move onto the power supply. Personally I have a few power supplies sitting around so I would put one in and see if it posts; maybe even a second one if the first doesn’t boot...
So I received the new mobo today after quite an ordeal with UPS, and low and behold, my computer works. So, I'm not exactly sure what happened with my original one, but fortunately I am still under warranty so I RMA'ed it and hopefully should be getting a new one. In the mean time, this MSI board will do. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions and aid! I appreciate it!