yea so I've built 10 computers so far, no problems at all... I got too cocky/arrogant/rushy/LAZY and time was of the essence on this build so in all the excitement I decided to put this thing together without grounding myself... Needless to say I think I 'shocked' my motherboard. How do I know for sure? Is there any tests I can do to see if the mobo/RAM/cpu/ etc are still functional? Are ANY of these parts salvageable? I was thinking about just buying a new mobo but I don't even know if: 1. Mobo still works or not... (possible other problems?) 2. Will it affect the other components? meaning, is my RAM and CPU done for also? How do I test them? I mean without buying each item one at a time... Here's the problem... I turn the computer on, all the fans spin and the little green light on the NIC is on... but thats it, no beeps, no post, no nothin... Please help me resolve this the cheapest way possible! and I promise to always ground myself (
take everything except the cpu off the motherboard and try starting it should get a series of 3 short beeps if the motherboard is still working check your psu you never know
I suspect your motherboad's dead,that's bad news but could be true.It did happen to me once,when a very stupid friend of mine opened my case to change the memory rams and stupid as he is,pretending to know everything but in fact is a big zero,did not ground himself,and when turned on the pc,there was one strange sudden "popping" sound which came from inside and nothing appeared,only the fans were on.He switched off and turned it on again but same as your case,nothing appeared on the screen,no beeping sound,nothing,only the fans were on.Then after trying one by one my graphic card,cpu,psu on another system,we found out that it was my board which fried and to make things worst,the rams too were dead.As from that moment i swore that i will never let him get closer than 2 meters from my pc. Vincent.
try clearing the cmos as have found it to work on occasion to kick start a system. try another psu to see what happens.
thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it, but here's the situation. I don't have a spare PSU so I can't "try" another one, without purchasing it... clearing CMOS did not work. still no screen or beeps... I get the NIC light, fans, spin, and the CD-ROM light stays eternally on... Lets assume that I did shock the motherboard... Is there any way for me to know if the CPU/RAM got damaged as well? The reason I ask is, if I am to buy a new MOBO I want to know if I should buy one that will work with my ram (DDR 400) and cpu intel pentium D 840... IF it is safe to assume that nothing will work thanks to my stupidity, then I would rather buy parts that are more upgradeable (ie. C2D ready mobo, DDR2800 ram, etc. etc.) ORRRRRRR.... if there is no way for me to know what will work what will not... then what order should i start replacing? PSU first? mobo first??? any suggestions? Thanks again!
You have double and triple checked everything's plugged in? Graphics power connector if it uses one, and the 4-pin CPU connector. That causes far more "fans on, nothing happens" situations than damaged or faulty components. Also try loosening the motherboard screws a bit, occasionally boards can get so close to the backplate that false connections are made.
@sammorris: I tried it... still the same problems though. I think I'm about ready to give up and start replacing parts. Any replacement order recommendations? Or do you think everything is dead, and I should just buy all new parts? should I start by replacing mobo, or PSU? Any chance of salvaging RAM/cpu? Thanks again!
You should be able to salvage most of it, I'd expect, depending on what you touched. You could try just doing an RMA with the main components (Motherboard, CPU and RAM) and installing the replacement parts.
its likly that if you friend the mobo the cpu is dead as well. this has happend 2 times with me but ive never had a prob with the ram after those types of incidents. but if they are all recent purchases in the interest of time. i would RMA cpu ram and mobo if you still have the option otherwise id start with mobo then cpu then ram
well if you tried starting with just cpu in and got nothing the next thing is take the heatsink off the cpu and turn the computer on if the cpu gets hot it's ok,........ if the cpu stays cold then it's time to upgrade to dual core
That's not really an exact science, and I'd always be way of deliberately running a CPU without the heatsink attached.
they probably will, but the point is, if the CPU isn't wrecked, it probably will be running it with the heatsink unattached.
Thats the difference between experience and book learning I been doing this for 5 years now and i've only managed to kill one computer and that was with esd leaving the heatsink off a intel chip will not hurt it cos when it gets too hot it turns it'sself off i've even left my 6600 without a fan for a day (didn't mean to) stayed working kept the ftp and website going
wow sweet, thanks for the reply guys, I will try to turn my computer back on and take the heatsink off to see if the cpu is working... Unfortunately I cannot RMA because I've had this thing for a little while now... This is my plan: Replace the motherboard, and reinstall all the same parts.... If problem persists: New PSU... again... then CPU... then RAM... Does that sound ok, or is it risky to try bad parts on new parts? Meaning if for instance it's the CPU, my new board can't get jacked right? heh, just makin sure! Anyway, I'm sorry for taking a while to reply, its finals week... I will let u guys know what the deal is after the weekend (meanwhile please let me know if my plan is okay)
You should be able to return your stuff up until you've had it for a year. At least in the UK that's a legal requirement.
