Computer doesn't boot anymore

[Sifa_Dias]

Hey everyone,

I've got this problem that's driving me mad and I can't seem to figure it out.

I have an Intel P4 3.0ghz on a Intel D865GLC motherboard.
It's about a year and half old and a couple of weeks ago I started noticing problems with booting and it seemed to be power related.

It won't start up anymore. The green light inside goes on, so it does have power, then when I push the power button, there are 2 ways it responds. 1) Either the green powerlight goes on and stays on and the cpu fan wil rotate once or twice and then stops, it won't do anything else. 2) nothing happens at all, not even the green light goes on. It alternates between these two situations.

It seems like it gets a short boost of power and then stops.
I had the power supply checked and it was fine and I just replaced the fan and the power cable as well, so that's not it. The processor seems fine, no bend pins or burns.

This is really frustrating me and I would really appreciate it if anyone has any input. I could bring it in, but these people charge 70 bucks just to look at the thing.

 

[peterdiva]

In response 1 does the green powerlight stay on after the cpu fan stops.

 

[Sifa_Dias]

In response 1 does the green powerlight stay on after the cpu fan stops.

Yes it does, from the moment I hit the power button it stays on, untill I turn it off again.

 

[mailpup]

If the power supply, power cables and connections and CPU are okay, then perhaps it's either the RAM or motherboard.

 

[Sifa_Dias]

If the power supply, power cables and connections and CPU are okay, then perhaps it's either the RAM or motherboard.

I was afraid the motherboard would come up!
Anyway I can check this?

 

[topsites]

sounds like it's out of gas LOL!

The only way I know of to check mobo/cpu is to either plug another mobo/cpu in your computer OR to plug YOUR mobo/cpu into a test-bench pc, some computer shops might still be around have one. Basically all it is, they connect your mobo/cpu to a ps, a keyboard, mouse, monitor... They stick in a ram chip and hook up a hard-drive (some don't even go that far). It's just enought to 'test it,' basically.

As for me, before you go out and buy another mobo/cpu (as you will most likely have to buy both the mobo and cpu), I would spend the 30-40 dollars on a new power supply as there are only two ways to test it:
- With diagnostic tools.
- In a real environment.
To me, the real environment is the true test. You can test a car battery and it tests fine but put it in the car, and nothing... So get a new PS (500w would be good), and install it.

Now if after you get the new PS you still have the problem, then you have a spare PS you want to keep that around and you've ruled out the easy solution.

Always go the easy route first, I say.
But yes, it could very well be the mobo/cpu... Who knows?

 

[mailpup]

If you have two RAM modules, you can try booting with only one of them installed (in the proper slot - according to your manual) and then the other. If one works, the other is bad. This method makes the assumption that it is unlikely that both RAM sticks have gone bad at the same time (but it's possible). If nothing happens, it could be the motherboard. Take a good physical look at it and see if any capacitors are leaking or are bulging. That would be one non-technical test.

 

[doomsweek]

Could be a short-circuit somewhere?