[SOLVED] PSU passes pin test, but PC won’t turn on

[I don’t know jack]

Hey all,

I had some issues with my PC lately. Thought I had a failing hard drive, and never got around to testing it.

Fast forward 1 week, PC was stuck “updating” for two days. Forced a restart reluctantly. Had some failed boots to windows. Would post but not to the login screen. Powered off, then the PC wouldn’t turn on.

Disconnected everything from the PSU and jumped pins 4/5. PSU turned on. Checked a few voltages, had 5v and 12v. Didn’t check all pins.

I hook everything back up, still won’t turn on. Checked the power butting switch wires, 4ohms when pressing the power button. Tried jumping the power pins on MOBO. No luck.

Removed 24 pin and had all hard drives and DVD drive hooked up, all of those powered up. 12v connectors to MOBO hooked up as well, PSU runs.

Removed graphics card, ram (tried alternating each stick) no luck in booting.

I’m thinking to load up the 12v circuit with a 40w 12v light to see if it’s the power supply or not.

I think my MOBO finally kicked the bucket, it’s 7 years old.

Specs below:

• MOBO - ASUS M5A97 R2.0
• CPU - AMD 6 core 3.8ghz??? Can’t remember the exact model.
• 500w EVGA PSU

Please let me know if there’s any other specs that can help out here.

 

[I don’t know jack]

Just to update, I tried powering a 40w 12v light with the 12v side of the power supply. Kept the HDD’s in my tower running while powering the light.

pretty sure my MOBO has pooped the sheets. Any one care to confirm my suspicions?

 

[Grobe]

I had some issues with my PC lately. Thought I had a failing hard drive, and never got around to testing it.

Well, you could simply check for s.m.a.r.t. data - from another computer if you have easy access.

Had some failed boots to windows. Would post but not to the login screen. Powered off, then the PC wouldn’t turn on.

By this point, it's about anyone's guess what is the faulty part.

Checked a few voltages, had 5v and 12v. Didn’t check all pins.

And you don't need to. In most PSU there are a common rail (a thicker track on the pcb).

I hook everything back up, still won’t turn on. Checked the power butting switch wires, 4ohms when pressing the power button. Tried jumping the power pins on MOBO. No luck.

4 ohm would do for a closed circuit, and probably there are less since many multimeters are calibrated with no wires attached. There seems to be no problems regarding the pwr button, although you should repeat that test to verify (since all mechanical components may have a fluke of working fine moments).

Removed graphics card, ram (tried alternating each stick) no luck in booting.

Ok, in most cases that rules out GPU and RAM.

I think my MOBO finally kicked the bucket, it’s 7 years old.

Agree. A normal cnsumer mobo typically last between 6-12 years depending on usage and quality.

 

[I don’t know jack]

Thanks for the reply. Is it possible to back probe and jump pins 4/5 on the 24 pin connector while everything is hooked up?

I’m thinking the motherboard is not allowing the PSU to power up.

 

[Grobe]

Thanks for the reply. Is it possible to back probe and jump pins 4/5 on the 24 pin connector while everything is hooked up?

Not really. Of course you can mod it, but then you run the risk of feeding full power into a defective mainboard, that in turn may destroy other components connected, including the psu.

I’m thinking the motherboard is not allowing the PSU to power up.

Yes, that is one typical behavior for a defective motherboard.

 

[--SID--]

500w EVGA PSU

It's probably crap but what's the exact model?

 

[I don’t know jack]

It’s labelled as an “80 plus” with a PN 100-W1-0500.

I got a refurbished MOBO and hooked everything up. Still same result. So frustrating!

I removed the MOBO from the case. Hooked up the power supply and still nothing. Removed RAM, still nothing. Removed GPU, still nothing. Removed CPU, still nothing.

Really don’t know if I want to spend money testing a new power supply.

I guess if it doesn’t work, I have a new PSU for my new PC build.

 

[DSzymborski]

Still have no idea what the GPU is. The PSU is junk in any case, but whether this is a 1050 Ti or something that requires supplementary power is useful information about just how likely it is the junk PSU is causing this specific problem.

 

[I don’t know jack]

Sorry, my terminology may be off. I meant Graphics card.

even with jumping the pins to power up the PSU and also putting a 12V load on the PSU and still being able to power that?

 

[DSzymborski]

The pin test can only verify if a dead PSU is in fact completely dead. It can't verify anything else.

I didn't mean I was unaware what the GPU is but what the specific GPU is. If you have a 1050 Ti, a junk PSU is less dangerous -- though still a general problem -- then if you're running a 1080. There's just a shortage of information here; a question mark CPU, no information as to the replacement motherboard, no specific information about the GPU.

 

[Karadjgne]

W1 500, that's usually a 500w evga, non 80+ rated psu. Usually good enough for an office pc stock replacement psu, but that's as far as it goes.

If you use the refurb, 1 stick of ram in A2, cpu, cpu cooler and that's all, out of the case with only the EPS and 20+4pin installed and it doesn't boot, safe bet it's one of 2 things. Cpu or psu. As for cpu on that board, it's an AM3+, so the cpu is most likely a FX 6300, but could be a FX 6100 or FX 6350. Either way, they are roughly 200% slower overall to a Ryzen 5600x, for perspective.

 

[I don’t know jack]

I have a GTX650TI for the GPU. The FX6300 sounds like the CPU I have. Been a while since I built this, 7 years ago.

When it was running, it ran fine. It was fast enough for me to use picture editing programs and play some games. I just don’t have time to play games or do photo editing anymore. So it just my basic office PC now and my Kodi server for my TV.

Also, for the motherboard, I bought the exact same one, just refurbished. Can’t go wrong with 90$, but apparently it did go wrong 🙁

My PSU is 80+ rated. I just bought a new one, it’s on the way. I will test soon

 

[DSzymborski]

It's hard for me to offer anything more with a lack of specific information, but hopefully you will fix your problem!

 

[I don’t know jack]

It's hard for me to offer anything more with a lack of specific information, but hopefully you will fix your problem!

Sorry, thought I gave some pretty specific info at the beginning of the thread.

 

[I don’t know jack]

It’s now fixed. Turned out to be the power supply after all.
I guess you can’t always trust a pin test to prove the power supply is good or not.