jnelsoninjax Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 The troubles began about 2 days ago, my daughter was using it for schooling and when she logged off (not shutdown) the display went black and the monitor indicated no signal. Shutting down and reseting yielded no results, so I checked the connection of the GPU and reseated it, suddenly the system booted just fine. Now today she used it, but came in and told me that it had no signal again. I went through the standard gambit of troubleshooting even reseated the GPU, again it came back, now this evening the system had been off for a few hours and when my wife tried to turn it on she got no display. She did nothing but turn the system on, and noticed right off the bat that the LED's on the RAM was on soild, not flashing like they normally do. I powered down and moved GPU to PCI-E slot 2. No display at all in slot 2, returning to slot 1, still no display. I have removed 2 sticks of RAM and unplugged all SATA cables except the boot drive.It is worth noting that I powered the system up without the GPU and the RAM LEDs were still on solid, nothing else has been added or removed from the system. The motherboard is ~3 months old, the GPU is an RMA replacement from XFX that has been used for about the same time. The CPU is old, phenom II X4, the RAM is old, but passed a recent memtest. I have done no modifications in the UEFI so that can't be the issue. I would like to know what else I should check and/or do. I'm hoping to be able to replace the CPU within the next month, but I'm really confused with what else can be the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 1) Does the GPU in question work on another system? Install it temporarily and make sure that it does or does not. If it does, then you can rule out the GPU. IF it does NOT, then you have your culprit. 2) If you have a similar Mainboard / CPU as the problem system elsewhere in the home (for example, DDR-3 1600 or some such), test each stick individually. If the test PC boots up fine with each stick, run them together. If the test PC still boots fine, you cannot completely rule out the RAM but it becomes less of a suspect. You indicated that you ran Memtest recently, but my personal experience says Memtest is NOT completely reliable. 3) Now we're down to the Mainboard and CPU. Chances are it'll be the Board and not the CPU, unless it was allowed to overheat. Were you using the stock heatsink/cooling fan? How dirty/dusty was it when you removed it from the board? What was the disposition of the thermal paste, was it dry and flaking (or nearly nonexistent)? All symptoms of overheating, in which case the CPU is the likely failure point. If all seemed to be more or less fine, then the Mainboard is the likely point of failure and you can re-use the CPU (and save yourself some money). Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 You might want to also check that your power supply is also securely connected to the plugs on the Mainboard where it needs to be. We did a build two years ago and it refused to fully power up, and that ended up being the problem. Sometimes those can move ever-so-slightly for no good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krome Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Yeah either the CPU seating problem or the PSU not giving enough power to CPU problem. You need a new system. Send money this way. I'll rush you new PC parts. j/k Nelson, what's the PSU output juice? Give full spec or brandname of that PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 PSU is a thermaltake 1050 watt. I don't have another system to test any of the components in. The CPU has an after market cooler on it and it's very hard to remove, therefore I'm fairly confident that the CPU is seated. The GPU was not dusty at all when I pulled it, there's nominal dust build up in the rest of the system. Heat is not an issue either as I've got 5 case fans plus 2 on the CPU cooler, the CPU is not currently overclocked, even though it's the black edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Edit: The PSU is a Corsair HX1050 Professional series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 OK, tonight I checked all power connections to the motherboard and reseated them. I reseated all 4 dimms as well. I currently only have the boot drive plugged in, but it still will not POST, the CPU cooler fans are spinning and the GPU fans are moving as well, so I know I'm getting power, but the LED lights on the ram is still on solid. I've not been able to locate the CMOS reset jumper, but again I did not make any changes. What else could the issue be? Could the motherboard be the culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidosho Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 One little thing often overlooked are the crystal oscillators on the mainboard. They normally look like silver pills, they're the board's heartbeat. If the solder joint is weak (moving the GPU about flexing the board) it becomes intermittent. They rarely fail outright, but I have brought dead laptops, and even car ECU's back from the dead by replacing them when heat is involved in the failure, there's sometimes more than one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krome Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 When you turn on the computer, the CMOS (BIOS) makes beeps. Those are the codes to figuring what is wrong. Use micro-speaker and hook it to the mobo and then turn it on and tell us what is the beep that it made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 When you turn on the computer, the CMOS (BIOS) makes beeps. Those are the codes to figuring what is wrong. Use micro-speaker and hook it to the mobo and then turn it on and tell us what is the beep that it made. Don't have a micro speaker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Goodness. Without another (similar) system to test the RAM, there's no other way to test that memory other than one at a time, then two, and so on. Usually symptoms like those (failure to POST) is a sign of a bad strip of memory, blown CPU, a blown board or a combination of the three. Aftermarket cooling is always a good idea, and as long as one is careful with installation usually a blown CPU can be eliminated as a failure point. Sounds like this isn't your first rodeo, so we'll proceed on the assumption that you've installed the aftermarket cooling correctly and we'll eliminate the CPU as the cause. (Tip: Keep AMD processors nice & cool and they will usually last forever, folks). Did you try the PC with a single strip of memory? Try that, with each one, and see if you can get the machine to POST. If you have NO success with any of them, you can safely eliminate the RAM as the failure point. That will generally indicate that the failure point could be the Mainboard, possibly a corrupt BIOS. You should then be able to find documentation online about resetting it to either a stored default one (preferable fix) or force flashing it (not advisable!). On the off chance that it is indeed the CPU (and the Phenom II's can be somewhat flaky the older they get, but outright failing is NOT something I've ever seen), then you have my sympathies but a new processor will certainly not break the bank, especially one that will fit the board. You can find equivalent-power (or better) processors for very reasonable prices pretty much everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Dont use all 4 DIMMS - just 1 - and look in the manual to see which DIMM slot is required when using 1 stick. Unplug everything that isnt necessary for a POST (you dont need HDDs plugged in) Start with the very basics and see if you get anything If you are getting nothing on the screen at all - it can only be a few things - so at least rule out everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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