[RESOLVED] Bad PSU or what?

I got back home from work and when I got on my computer, it was hung, non responsive. CTRL+ALT+DEL wouldn't do nothing. I hard-booted it and this time, it got stuck on the ASUS welcome screen. Usually, it would stay there for about 3 seconds.

So now, I turned it off, unplugged the PSU, plugged it back in and pushed the power button on in the front panel of the case. This is when I took it seriously :). It started blinking on me every 2 seconds or so. Blinking means, the power would come on and all the fans would turn on for about a second and then it would turn it self off. It would repeat the patern every 1.5-2 seconds.

I started unplugging all the wires/cables to no avail. Have 4 hard drives in there so I was thinking that maybe there isn't enough power. But even after disconnecting everything, it still blinks. Removed and placed back in the mobo 24 pin power cable, did the same with the 2 RAM sticks. Nothing seems to matter.

I don't have another 24 pin PSU to test it with.

What do you think it might be???

The timing couldn't be worse.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sure seems like the PSU. The only other thing you might check is for bad caps on the motherboard.

By the way, here are the specs on the computer:

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...9&postcount=25

and here is the specs on the PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817190007

Ok, so I tested the PSU with the paper clip method (one end in the green wire and the other in the black wire). The PSU came on with blue light and fan spinning. Does it REALLY prove that my PSU is alive and peachy? I was kinda hoping that its my PSU and not my mobo or something else. BUMMER!!!! PLEASE HELP.

No. Just because it powers on, that doesn't mean the voltages/amperages are correct. I've seen PSUs pass "continuity" tests, but fail under load.

If you have, or can borrow, a multimeter, here's how to test the power supply:

Testing PSU Voltages

ATX Power Supplies

Trigger Power Supply for testing

In depth look at the power supply

Or alternatively you can buy a proper PSU tester, they don't cost much:

PSU Tester

ATX12V PSU Tester

But as Midknyte says, even that doesn't absolutely prove that it's good. I too have seen them pass those tests with flying colours, but still refuse to boot the PC.

I went and bought a new PSU and it did the same thing as the old one. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

So I am going to have to return this $100 PSU.

Now, I started removing all the PCI-e and PCI cards, I had a few. That is to no avail. Then I removed the RAM and turned on the PSU. Still the same thing.

The last thing I did was remove the heatsink and PSU. Guess what, the PSU stays on, now. I haven't put the CPU back on yet but what does this mean????? Did my CPU die?


There is hardly any paste left on the CPU/heatsink join. Could this be an issue?

I need some advise as to whats next fairly quickly. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

You guys are AWESOME!!!!

"There is hardly any paste left on the CPU/heatsink join. Could this be an issue?"
You bet it can be an issue. Clean all the old stuff off the CPU and the heatsink with alcohol and apply new thermal compound and make sure the heatsink is correctly installed.

Good luck

Best instructions for using the paste.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Just select you cpu.

When they say thin, we are talking paper thin too. >5/thousands of a inch.

Went to Radioshak and bought thermal grease. Applied it, put the heatsink back on. Doesn't do anything to the behavior.

I know that the compound is important but does it really have anything to with the problem at hand?

Agian, the problem at hand is when I turn on the PSU, the power comes on and off. Well, it just comes on once and thats it. It dies in a second. Is my CPU fried???

I have spent more time on it than it is worth. I am almost at a point where I am thiniking that may be I just need to replace the mobo or the CPU. Which one do you really think is the culprit here?

Sorry that I'm getting in here late. I had a problem somewhat like yours years ago. The Motherboard went bad causing symptoms like yours. I wasn't sure what the problem was Motherboard or CPU. I decided to replace the CPU. More bad news, the Motherboard fried the new CPU too! I ended up replacing the CPU again and the motherboard this time too. Then the computer was back to normal. Guess what I'm saying is that if your not sure which one is causing the problem to replace both for fear of frying another CPU. If you have the proper equipment you can check them but that's usually the problem no equipment. BTW it's a very, very long story and I won't get into it, but it worked both ways and the CPU fried a second motherboard (this was very costly to me)!

1. Motherboard fried CPU (but I wasn't sure which was bad)
2. Old CPU didn't work with New Motherboard and fried New Motherboard(wasn't sure which was bad)
3. Bought New CPU, then New Motherboard (fried above #2) fried New CPU
4. Bought New Motherboard and New CPU again

Something shorted the Motherboard causing all of this with the original Motherboard & CPU. I had Arctic Silver 5 applied properly to the CPU so this wasn't the problem with mine. I wish you good luck with your computer.

^ Thats pretty scary. I hope I don't have to spend a lot of money.

If you haven't already done so, you could check the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors. If you find some, it is motherboard replacement time.

no bulging or leaking capacitors. That was one of the first things I checked actually.

In my experince the motherboard is far more likely to fail than the CPU. Also, I've never heard of a CPU causing collateral damage, whereas, as Bugspop's story shows, motherboards definitely can. For that reason, if you have to choose one or the other to replace, always go for the mobo.

SuperSparks is right about this motherboard being more subject then the CPU. This was the first time in 20 years of working on computers that I had run into a CPU causing a motherboard to fail. Although at first the motherboard had caused the CPU to fail. Like I had said in my earlier post, this was a very long story that I don't have time to get into.

I am up and running after a new mobo. My computer is a monster and putting everything back together tool a few hours.

Excellent news! I'm glad to hear you are up and running again :)

Thanks for all the help everyone!

I am one of the old timer (joined back in 1998) and have always counted on the help I get from here. Thanks again

Glad to here you're up and running again!