Dead computer Troubleshooting

My 1 year old computer died, and I have been trouble shooting what happened (not the one in my sig line). I have a MSI 770G45 Mobo (which died the first month and I previously replaced) with an AMD Phenom II Black Edition 965, 8 of RAM, and a radeon Video Card. I have used this machine literally for hours playing Crisis II at a very high resolution without any problems. Down loaded grand Theft Auto IV and was playing it for about 30 minutes and my computer went black...power light was the only thing on. I then noted a burnt electrical smell.

I let the computer stand for about 3 hours. Took canned air to everything. Booted up the machine and it went through the whole boot process, but when all the tasks in the task bar were complete, it went black again. Booted fine into the BIOS, which showed the CPU temperatures rising to 45C in about 5 minutes. So I replaced the cooler with a Corsair 60 water cooler. This did not help.

Took it to a shop for diagnoses. Tried four different video cards, no change. Tried different memory, no change. Tried a different power source, no change. They noted that the black out/turn off was happening faster with each attempt to re boot until it would not even boot into the BIOS.

I bought a new MoBo...ASUS Sabrtooth 990FX and I get a Power Light on the MoBo. When I turn it on, nothing comes up, and it shuts itself off in 3 seconds.

My guess is that I originally fried my MoBo. I think the shop, in trying to diagnose the problem, most likely fried my CPU by trying to re start the system over and over when the MoBo was fried. Does that sound right? Am I missing anything else? Any input is appreciated.

Is something in the case like a loose screw or a bent standoff, grounding the motherboard?


I would take the mobo out of the case, place on anti-static sheet/bag and disconnect/reseat everything, then reconnect and jumper reset the bios .....

Updated Sig Line.

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Originally Posted by wh666-666

Is something in the case like a loose screw or a bent standoff, grounding the motherboard?


I would take the mobo out of the case, place on anti-static sheet/bag and disconnect/reseat everything, then reconnect and jumper reset the bios .....

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Good ideas, but I don't think this is what thte problem is. The system, after it burnt, would go through the Boot process and die. After trying many things, and re booting multiple times, it would no longer even boot. Push the power on button and 3 seconds later (before anything starts to boot) it now dies. Can not even start the BIOS. So, I replaced the MoBo from a MSI 770 to the Sabertooth...the later being brand new. The MoBo fit nice in my case and the case mounts lined up nice. I connected all the connections, then installed my old Phenom II 965 Black Addition and again, push the power on button, nothing happens, and the machine dies. Nothing on the monitor. No way to go into BIOS. Dead. I have order a new CPU (1100T) and hope to have it this week.

My new Sabertooth is really sweet. When you plug in the power cord, a green LED comes on to say there is power. When you push the Power On button, a Blue LED lights up to say the Power is on, and a Red LED comes on saying there is power to the HD. My MoBo has another Green LED that comes on to say the Memory is working, another for the Video Card, etc.. None of these other lights come on, indicating to me that nothing is even starting. My MoBo also is suppose to have Beeps to help indicate problems, but the start is so short I don't even get a Beep.

Ergo, my best guess is a fried CPU. I am not sure what re setting the CMOS would do...but that is why I am asking on this forum. Thanks for the input.

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Originally Posted by Roger45

Good ideas, but I don't think this is what thte problem is.

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Maybe not, but laying everything out on a table and reseating everything sometimes does the trick.

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Originally Posted by Roger45

My MoBo also is suppose to have Beeps to help indicate problems, but the start is so short I don't even get a Beep.

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Have you looked through the mobo manual to see if it has a light or beep sequence for a bad cpu?

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Originally Posted by Roger45

Ergo, my best guess is a fried CPU. I am not sure what re setting the CMOS would do...

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CPU does seem like a likely option.

However if you set it up on a table and make sure everything is hooked up properly, starting from scratch, it can only logically be the cpu or the motherboard. Some motherboards are faulty/DOA.

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Originally Posted by wh666-666

Have you looked through the mobo manual to see if it has a light or beep sequence for a bad cpu?
Some motherboards are faulty/DOA.

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There is a Beep code for a bad CPU, but since iit quits before anything happens, there is not enough time for a Beep to happen.

This MoBo was "tested" before being sent...that said, yeah, it could be DOA too. I will try and check that at as well.

Thanks for the feedback...it really helps to have someone else's ideas.

Merry Christmas:D

Merry Christmas to you too :D:cool:

I pulled my memory and tok a closer look. I chcked the compatability chart and found that the modules above and below (1333 & 2000) are compatable, but the 1600 is left out. I have written an Email to ASUS with the specs to see if that my be the problem. I hope my new CPU will be here this week!

My new MoBo has multiple LED lights to diagnose problems. Green indicates good/hot. Red indicates an error/fault. No light indicates the process (booting) failed (?) before it got there. The MoBo lights are for StandBy Power (electricity is running in the computer); Memory; CPU; VGA; and Boot Device. The only thing that is not 100% clear is the 4/8 pin power connector...my Corsair Power Supply has a split 8 pin (two 4 pins zipped together) and the instructions state I can use either a 4 or 8 pin configuration and I chose to connect both 4 pins to make an 8 pin power connection. Everything else is connected.

I check the compliance of my memory, right down to the base numbers. I have A-Data memory that my board clearly is compatable with the 1333 and 2000 version, but does not specifically note the 1600 that I have...so theoretically this could be a problem.

My Case has two front panel lights, a Red and a Blue. Red indicates Power On, and Blue indicates power to the Hard Drive and it is spinning up.

When everything is plugged in, the MoBo StandBy green LED comes on when I turn on the Corsair Power Supply. Pushing the front case ON switch, both the Red and Blue lights come on. Withing three seconds everything shuts down and the Red/Blue lights go off. Checking the MoBo closely, none of the other LED lights come on, neither red or green. To me, that indicates the Boot process never got that far. Two possiblities, a DOA MoBo or a DOA CPU. Since this happened before the new MoBo, I go for the later (a bad CPU).

What else could I be missing???

Just out of curiosity, have you considered the PS???? This is curiously acting like a bad PS scenario...

If you can borrow or have another PS, give it a try....

I have been where you are before...

Just sayin'....

laterzzzz....

I have tried two different power sources, and a techy friend came by last night and fully tested my Corsair 80 Plus 650W PS and gave it 100%. I wish it could be that simple.
My CPU is at a Postal check point 60 miles from home...hope it gets here today. Look like the CPU will be the answer...I hope!

Please do follow up , this is a good read.

Okay, new CPU came today. System is still dead. No change. Since this new MoBo has the ability to flash red (bad) or green (good) LED lights in the Boot process, I know that the power/boot process is failing at the beginning, before any of these lights can even turn on steady. I have replaced the MoBo, the CPU, the CPU cooler, different Power Source, and have pulled all but one stick of RAM. That only leaves my Video Card, HD, and DVD. Only the Video Card has the ability to fry a new MoBo. I have RMA my MoBo and ordered a new (better) Video Card, EVGA GTX 560TI. I hope next week to have this system up and running ($700 and counting)ergggggg

UPDATE!!! Well I RMAed my MoBo and its replacement came this morning, along with a new EVGA GTX 560Ti video card. I installed the new MoBo, Video card, and one stick on memory...plugged it in, hit the start button, and the exact same failure happened again! What the ...???

Next, I went to the power on 2 pin and swapped them to see if maybe the + and - were reversed. No go.

Flash of insight...the other new thing I had installed at the beginning was the Corsair CPU water cooler...so I pulled that and installed the AMD CPU cooler that came with my new CPU. EUREKA!!!! I started it up in the BIOS and told it to ignore the CPU Fan speed and re installed the Corsair cooler...still no go. Looks like the Cooler was my major secondary problem.

Now, for some reason it is not recognizing the Hard Drive for booting. Not sure what is going on there...but I need to back away and give my head a rest for a while!

Geez, I feel for ya. And I've been there so many times I can't even count. Back when I did corporate video I had a situation where a teleprompter was scrambled on a camera setup. I had replacements for everything in the chain, and one at a time, replaced it all. First the cables, then the monitor, etc. ...and it was still scrambled. I thought I had defied the laws of physics in my bad luck. The gods had intervened just to mock my meager logic! Every piece of equipment had been replaced and still it didn't work! How could this be possible?!! Then I accidently kicked a power strip on the floor next to a video cable and it all cleared up. AC interference.

there's some settings your can try with your HDD like legacy IDE and AHCI (also try a different SATA port/controller. i know my mobo and hdds are really flaky when it comes to that thing. i had to play musical ports to get everything running fine.

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Originally Posted by Roger45

I bought a new MoBo...ASUS Sabrtooth 990FX and I get a Power Light on the MoBo. When I turn it on, nothing comes up, and it shuts itself off in 3 seconds.

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Hey Roger;

I bought 8 of those Sabertooth mobos along with I7 950's - out of 8, I had to RMA 6 of them as DOA.

Asus made good and the returned boards have been fine, but that was a flawed board.

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Originally Posted by Geforce255

Hey Roger;

I bought 8 of those Sabertooth mobos along with I7 950's - out of 8, I had to RMA 6 of them as DOA.

Asus made good and the returned boards have been fine, but that was a flawed board.

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So far my new MoBo, new CPu, and new Video Cad are working well. some quirks though: 1.) At first, the Sabertooth screen would pop up, then freeze at times, and I would have to ReSet up to 6 times, but that seems to have righted itself; 2.) periodically, the video driver freezes up for 3-6 seconds while doing Email and stuff, but never when I am gaming....huh?

MSI sent me a new Mobo and I think I am going to put it in another case that I have. I have a 700 watt PS, and I am going to try out my old CPU to see if it burned out or not. The only problem so far is that HIS wants CyberpowerPC to RMA the Video Card, while CyberpowerPC wants HIS to RMA:mad: Same with AMD. Frustrating.

Hi Roger;

Since I had bought all 8 at the same time, I always figured it was just a bad batch. As I said, the replacements have been trouble free.

You might consider a video driver update. I'm not using any of the Sabertooth machines for gaming, so they have fairly low end video cards on them, I picked up GTS-420 cards for $20 each and slapped them on. I have the planning group using them, heavy processing, but not much video. I haven't had any complaints of video freezes. (And these folks love to complain!)