Question Power Surge broke my PC, What could be the faulty part?

[Mirsi]

1. • So, one night I went to sleep, I turned my PC off. Next morning I woke up, and decided to clean it. After cleaning it I tried turning it on. I heard static, and a few minutes later the entire houses electricity was gone for a week. After that week, I gathered my courage and turned the PC on. It started working, fans started spinning, the light on my GPU was lit, but there was a slight problem. HDMI no signal, I tried many things, such as : testing my monitor, resetting CMOS, reseating RAM, using only 1 ram stick, reseating GPU. I was in shambles, with no success until I realized something so important that I hadn't noticed.. The PC turns off after 3 minutes. That gave me more info, I thought it would be an PSU problem since the PC got hit by a power surge, so I hurried to order a new PSU, sadly it didn't fix it. I no longer know what the problem could be. It could be the motherboard, but I have no idea if it really is.
     On the website of my motherboard, It says that it has Full spike protection, so that would mean PSU > (Protection Layer) Motherboard > CPU, RAM, GPU
     so Shouldn't the motherboard be fine? what else could be causing this
     
     
     SPECS
     Asrock H410M-HDV
     Xilence 600w PSU (Hot garbage but brand new)
   • I5 10400F ( No IGPU SADLY)
     GTX 1650 Phoenix
     Ballistix Crucial 2x8 DDR4 2933MHz
     
     

 

[geofelt]

The connection to everything starts with the PSU.

 

[Mirsi]

The connection to everything starts with the PSU.

As i said, I bought a new PSU on it.

 

[geofelt]

As i said, I bought a new PSU on it.

You asked what could have caused the problem.
My suspicion was the original psu.
Once the damage was done, likely to, the motherboard, your problem now shifts to the motherboard as a suspect.
What was the make/model of the previous psu?
Cheap units can cause all sorts of problems.
A cheap psu can become very expensive.
I do not know about the quality of your new Xilense psu.

 

[DSzymborski]

You asked what could have caused the problem.
My suspicion was the original psu.
Once the damage was done, likely to, the motherboard, your problem now shifts to the motherboard as a suspect.
What was the make/model of the previous psu?
Cheap units can cause all sorts of problems.
A cheap psu can become very expensive.
I do not know about the quality of your new Xilense psu.

Unfortunately, the OP is correct that the new PSU is garbage. I'm not sure why we're diagnosing PCs by inserting junk parts.

 

[thx1138v2]

The connection to everything starts with the PSU.

Not necessarily. You assume his statement about the power surge is correct but he says he was asleep at the time so that's just a guess.

Anything that connects to the computer can be the entry point. Keyboard, mouse, network cables, printer cables, modem cables, headphones, monitor cables, etc.

I actually, literally saw a lightning strike across the street spider its way from that lot to my house and into my computer while I was working on it. It also took out the refrigerator and cable box. So if lightning was involved the entry point could literally be anything.

 

[drea.drechsler]

@Mirsi : I agree...it probably starts with the PSU, but that's been replaced and even a low-quality unit should start up a low-spec system. Longevity and utility is another matter, but it seems to be starting it up...as far is it can be right now at least. Since spinning fans and lights seem to be coming on...and staying on... I'd suspect the GPU right now. If you've have another one handy or can acquire one, even an old dusty one, try swapping it in. Aside from being functional, all it really needs is PCIe so it slots in; all you're looking for is to get into BIOS. If you can and can see all your hardware has been identified (drives, memory, cpu) you'll have confidence it's the GPU.

Turning off after three minutes suggests the system is simply powering down after delay...possibly BIOS-level power management. Possibly Windows after nobody logs in. That's actually a good sign that everything else (CPU, memory, motherboard) is working.

Another idea is get a PC system speaker and listen for beep codes to tell you what's failing at POST if your motherboard lacks troubleshooting LED's.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yes, a low-quality PSU can start up a low-spec system, but if new parts are going to be bought, I certainly don't want to subject them to the OP's new junk PSU. If he just bought it, he may very well be able to return it for a refund now, an option that may not be available later.

 

[Mirsi]

@Mirsi : I agree...it probably starts with the PSU, but that's been replaced and even a low-quality unit should start up a low-spec system. Longevity and utility is another matter, but it seems to be starting it up...as far is it can be right now at least. Since spinning fans and lights seem to be coming on...and staying on... I'd suspect the GPU right now. If you've have another one handy or can acquire one, even an old dusty one, try swapping it in. Aside from being functional, all it really needs is PCIe so it slots in; all you're looking for is to get into BIOS. If you can and can see all your hardware has been identified (drives, memory, cpu) you'll have confidence it's the GPU.

Turning off after three minutes suggests the system is simply powering down after delay...possibly BIOS-level power management. Possibly Windows after nobody logs in. That's actually a good sign that everything else (CPU, memory, motherboard) is working.

Another idea is get a PC system speaker and listen for beep codes to tell you what's failing at POST if your motherboard lacks troubleshooting LED's.

It's the same psu as before

 

[Mirsi]

Not necessarily. You assume his statement about the power surge is correct but he says he was asleep at the time so that's just a guess.

Anything that connects to the computer can be the entry point. Keyboard, mouse, network cables, printer cables, modem cables, headphones, monitor cables, etc.

I actually, literally saw a lightning strike across the street spider its way from that lot to my house and into my computer while I was working on it. It also took out the refrigerator and cable box. So if lightning was involved the entry point could literally be anything.

The power surge happened after i turned the PC on