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Redeemed
02-18-07, 07:02 PM
I need some help guys.

A friend of mine has been having some problems with his rig. Here are his specs:

A64 3700 (s939)
ASUS A8N SLi Premium
1GB DDR400 (dual channel kit)
ASPIRE 500watt PSU

He original purchased this setup quite some time ago from CyberPower. From the get go the computer had problems- as in just general stability. Mostly it'd be issues like the computer fading in and out from his network (he has it hooked into is LAN for multiplayer gaming), and small issues while gaming.

But none of the issues were bad enough to cause him any concern. Thus he never felt the need to return the computer to CyberPower for it to be "fixed".

Well, the beginning of last week his mobo crapped out on him- so he sent it into ASUS for a replacement. They shipped the replacement and he got it just last night. He didn't have any thermal grease, so he just re-used what was still on the CPU and heatsink. The system loaded up just fine, he re-installed Windows, all the Windows Updates, and re-installed all his games and didn't have a single problem.

But, I had told him that before he did anything to even stress the CPU the slightest bit- he needed to clean off the old thermal grease and then apply some new grease. I'd have told him to do this from the get go, but he called me after he had already assembled his computer using the old thermal grease. So he came by my place last night to pick up some thermal grease and then went back home to clean off the cpu and heatsink base and then apply the thermal grease.

But once he reinstalled the CPU- his system would no longer power up. The fans wouldn't even spin.

So, today I came over to check it out- figuring he probably hooked something up wrong (he is new to building computers)- but nope, everything is as it should be!

We even tried running another CPU, his old 3500 which we know works- still no go.

So, right now I'm gonna' bring over my Silverstone Zues 850watt PSU and some new ram (2GB DDR500 Patriot eXtreme Performance) to try that out- just to cover all the bases.

Is it possible, though, that his mobo might have crapped out on him? We cannot figure out why the system is not powering up. I've checked, rechecked, triple rechecked, and double-triple rechecked :p to make sure everything was installed and connected properly. Everything is installed and connected as it should be. The best way to describe what it is doing would be to say the power butting was broken- as in you push it in but it fails to complete the circuit thus not turning the computer on- know what I mean? Yet I checked the button and it looks fine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have no "special" tools to test each individual piece of hardware, so that is not an option for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance. ;)
Rytr
02-18-07, 07:29 PM
He has reset the CMOS by unplugging the power, removing the battery, and reset the CMOS jumper...and then put everything back correctly including the jumper?
Just a shot in the dark as static electricity could be the culprit.
john19055
02-18-07, 08:41 PM
You did try a different power supply ,and if it is not cutting on at all .make sure the turn on button is working right and is not broken.
Redeemed
02-18-07, 09:07 PM
Thanks guys, but I tried all of that. No go. The green LED on the mobo lights up, but that is all that happens. It is really wierd.

Any other suggestions?
SlieTheSecond
02-18-07, 09:30 PM
The only things I can think of is
A) 4 pin power connector isn't plugged in along with the 24pin. But since you double-triple checked I doubt its that
B) The bios jumper was left in the position to reset the bios. Not the normal operating position
C) Motherboard shorting out.
Redeemed
02-19-07, 01:09 AM
The only things I can think of is
A) 4 pin power connector isn't plugged in along with the 24pin. But since you double-triple checked I doubt its that
B) The bios jumper was left in the position to reset the bios. Not the normal operating position
C) Motherboard shorting out.

Again, it wasn't any of those except for possibly C. The strangest thing was it was working fine untill he took it apart to clean the old thermal grease off his proc and apply the new thermal grease. Afterwards it wouldn't fire up. I'm completely stumped as to what could have happened.

Well, unless anybody else can think of something... he's gonna' send the mobo back for a replacement. Thanks for all the help guys, I do appreciate it. Hopefully this second replacement mobo will actuall work. ;) :D
buffbiff21
02-19-07, 01:25 AM
So, right now I'm gonna' bring over my Silverstone Zues 850watt PSU
Good choice. :)

Is it possible, though, that his mobo might have crapped out on him?
Absolutely possible. This happened to my mom's P4 system. I at first htought it was a PSu issue, so i jumpered her old PS - it was good; then swapped my old OCZ PS and it still did not work. I replaced her mobo and it worked again.

So, you may just have bad luck with ASUS.

I have not had very good luck with ASUS myself, I literally FLEW through P5B's a few months back.

On a side note... my 680i is messed up now... :(
buffbiff21
02-19-07, 01:27 AM
OH schnap forgot to mention -

That same P4 system mentioned ^ in my previous post had pins on the CPU. MAYBE, your friend could try reseating the CPU, if all pins were not in the socket correctly?
Redeemed
02-19-07, 01:55 AM
OH schnap forgot to mention -

That same P4 system mentioned ^ in my previous post had pins on the CPU. MAYBE, your friend could try reseating the CPU, if all pins were not in the socket correctly?

We did that. Still no go. :( I literally tried every possible thing I could think of. Thanks for the advice though. Well, I'm even more convinced now that it was his mobo- it just stumps me as to how it went bad. I can't think of anything to cause it to just die like that. Who knows? Here's hoping the new one works as it should. ;)