My computer may be toast

[RAF74_Stew]

S!

Returned home from work this evening to find the computer would not start when I pushed the button. Asked Mrs Stew what might have happened and she said we had a brown out during the day but she had been using email throughout the day and didn't notice a problem before the brown out.

General diagnostic question: this generally would mean a fried mobo, right? I checked the surge protector and confirmed it did not switch off (other things plugged into it are powered up). Also confirmed cables are plugged in, etc.

I have a new power supply in a box that I bought for the new rig I am going to build but in my experience ps's are less susceptible to power surges than mother boards. Think I'm on the right track? I don't really have much spare time these days and unless I've missed something obvious it looks like I am going to build my new rig after all.

There was a time a month or two ago that I would actually be happy given the age of my rig, but I have been keeping an eye on SSDs and they are just starting to come down in price and improve in quality...Really wanted to ride this 6 more months! Not to mention Intel is rolling out a new chip and I was hoping this might bring prices down on the I7 920. There's never a perfect time to upgrade but I just had a feeling in my bones that spring of next year would be as good a time as any in the past couple of years.

Could I be missing something obvious here?

[RAF74_Winger]

S! Stew,

Not sure really. Does the PS fan start up when you press the start button? What about the other fans in the box?

I'd be tempted to at least try the new PS in the rig, and see if that fixes it. PS units have been known to conk out occasionally.

W.

[RAF74_Winger]

S! Stew,

I had another thought: Is there any chance that your CMOS battery has run down? You've had that MB for an awfully long time, might have happened.

W.

[RAF74_Dharmaboy]

I would suggest unplugging all non essential items attached to the keyboard ie DVD Burner, extrea HD's etc. Even unplug your System OS drive.

all you need is the mobo powered with the cpu installed, cooling fan plugged in, PSU plugged in with the RAM. Now if you have 2 sticks of RAM, then try with 1 at a time.

Also when you turn on the PSU (new or old PSU) check mobo for the green power on light which is pretty standard on most new mobos.

Then after it posts. shutdown and plug in the power for your vid card. boot up and hear for post.

Then plug in your DVD Drive. Hear for Post.

go step by step and plug in 1 device at a time.

I have been doing this way too long and have seen a ton of wierd stuff in my day.

good luck.

[RAF74_Stew]

Thanks, Guys!

Well, I'm glad to report the old clunker just won't die :)

I unplugged everything, confirmed power strip power was ok, checked all switches, cleaned the innards, and put her back together again. Hit power on and it worked, after hitting the PS switch.

Turns out the PS switch must have reset itself. It was still in the "on" position but flipping it back and forth must have done the trick.

Pretty darned pedestrian solution if I must say so!

I had pretty well braced myself in the meantime to build a new system and was almost ready to go the SSD route. Kind of early on the "curve" but what do you guys think of SSD? The read/write times put the velociraptor to shame. Was thinking of an SSD for OS and game while using a HD for storage. IMO this is where we will all be going before long.

Stew

[RAF74 LoyalNine]

SAD is the future for certain I just wish I could afford it for the build I am currently working on. Prices are certain to drop like crazy on those things. I have my eye on one of those new cards ATI is releasing at the end of the month and I guess the price is supposed to be at the $300 mark. So I was thinking if I can mannage to embezzle that much money out of the budget in a month or so that might be fun. The thing I like about SSD is no more defragging!

I am glad to hear your of woes have worker out. For what it's worth my mb and ram are due to get delivered today so mine have still not ended...

[RAF74_Dharmaboy]

I found SSD to be very good for installing OS and software. Boot up times are amazing. I actually did a Win7 64bit install in under 9minutes.

Its the way to go down the road, if it becomes cheaper.