Posted: 7/17/2013 7:16:54 AM EDT
| I've got a Gateway desktop, and it crapped out on me the other day. When I hit the power button, it kicks on for maybe half a second and then nothing. I had upgraded my video card and RAM a few months back, and have a BFG 650w power supply in it, but it was working fine for months. Is it possible the power supply went bad, would that keep it from running for more then a second, or would it not even allow it to spin anything up at all? The power supply is older, probably 4 years old. The other possibility I saw from googling was maybe the motherboard, which is 5 years old. There are no burned smells and I don't see anything visibly wrong, but I'm not really a tech guy other then basic upgrades. Hoping to save a diagnosis fee here. |
| No beeps or anything other then the CPU fan spinning then it shuts down. Trying to find the CMOS battery now, not seeing anything resembling a disc shape in there though. I just googled and saw a YouTube clip, and what he was describing has been happening, computer doesn't remember what drive to boot from or forgets the time and date, so I guess that's it. |
| So I went to the store, got a 2-pack of the batteries, put a new one in, and I am now getting the same problem, even though when I had reset the original battery, it started up. I checked the connections, and tried multiple times, still starts for maybe a second, then shuts down. In order to try again, I have to unplug the power cord, and wait a few seconds for everything to discharge, then I can try again. Does this mean power supply? I'm hoping not as I need one with a lot of juice, probably in the $100-140 range. |
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So I went to the store, got a 2-pack of the batteries, put a new one in, and I am now getting the same problem, even though when I had reset the original battery, it started up. I checked the connections, and tried multiple times, still starts for maybe a second, then shuts down. In order to try again, I have to unplug the power cord, and wait a few seconds for everything to discharge, then I can try again. Does this mean power supply? I'm hoping not as I need one with a lot of juice, probably in the $100-140 range. I hope all this diddling hasn't buggered your hard drive. My on/off switch got a little iffy on startup for a couple of weeks until it didn't do squat. My P/S went tits up and took out my hard drive. And the history of every round that ever went down every barrel and all the maintenance, etc. on my firearms. Which I thought I had backed up somewhere. 
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| Dude, it is your power supply....Mine did the same thing less than a month ago. Push the button and the power comes on for a few seconds with the fans and then "POOF" off again....Replaced the power supply and reset the CMOS and sure enough it has been working like a champ ever since. I sent the old one back and they had to test an ENTIRE PALLET of power supplies to get one that worked as specified and shipped the rest back to the manufacturer due to a bad LOT of power supplies...It happens....power supplies fail unless you clean the power through an UPS with a voltage and frequency regulator....and even then, THEY STILL FAIL! Trust me, it is your power supply....and you can test it with a paper clip....http://www.overclock.net/t/96712/how-to-jump-start-a-power-supply-psu-test-a-power-supply-and-components |
| I actually found that link a few minutes ago and tried it, it powered up my extra fan. I plugged it back in and let it run. I had no video, but when I went back over there and tried turning it on again, it finally let me into the bios. It might actually be fixed. |
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Throw a known good power supply in there (since you've already checked/replaced the CMOS battery). Not all failed power supplies smell of burnt electrical. Once you have a known good power supply, disconnect everything (RAM, harddrives, cards) except the monitor, and power that skeleton up. If you get the boot sequence at that point, that means you have a known good monitor. Power down and replace components one at a time. When you get to a failed boot, the last component (or the cable that attaches it, or the motherboard socket/slot/plug) is your issue. Test a known good cable to eliminate that, same with another known good component of the same type to eliminate that. If you eliminate the component and the cable, and the previous configuration still boots, then bad motherboard socket/plug. There might be some specific exceptions based on your setup, but that's the general idea. |
If it is being "flakey" on you, your best bet is to replace it because you never know when it will get hot enough to fail again and the next time, it might "brick" your hard drive....just food for thought...it is kinda like driving your car with no windshield....you can do it but the first time you catch a rock to the face you'll wish you had just replaced the windshield....
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I know there is a few articles around that I read a few years ago noting which OEM makes what brands. I think Corsair bought PC Power and Cooling after I bought my current PSU in 2007, so I have no idea if the design changed for the worse, but I am running the Silencer 750W. It's still barely under warranty yet, and they still have a 7-year warranty on them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703027 It might be cheaper @ Amazon or elsewhere, but for reference I paid $160 back in '07. I'll try to find those articles, if it helps. |
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I know there is a few articles around that I read a few years ago noting which OEM makes what brands. I think Corsair bought PC Power and Cooling after I bought my current PSU in 2007, so I have no idea if the design changed for the worse, but I am running the Silencer 750W. It's still barely under warranty yet, and they still have a 7-year warranty on them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703027 It might be cheaper @ Amazon or elsewhere, but for reference I paid $160 back in '07. I'll try to find those articles, if it helps. Thank you, I just ordered one off amazon for 120. It seems to have good reviews everywhere, unlike the corsair branded ones. Thank you everyone. |
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Quoted: My first guess would be CMOS battery. Had this problem yesterday. After trying to boot about 15 times my pc went into some default setting and displayed CMOS Checksum failed. Press F1 to continue. Changed the battery on the motherboard and now it is ok again. Easy to change, costs only a few bucks.
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Quoted: Thank you, I just ordered one off amazon for 120. It seems to have good reviews everywhere, unlike the corsair branded ones. Thank you everyone. No prob, hope you like it. It's actually only the 3rd PSU I've bought since I did my first PC build back in 2001. My first PSU was a PCP&C 350W that I bought direct from them and ran that for 6 years. My Silencer probably has somewhere around 50,000 hours on it as it's on 24/7, except for vacations basically. |
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Everything is running fine now except the power supply fan, so I guess that will get replaced. Since its a BFG its hard to find anything on it, they went out of business 3 years ago apparently. I knew BFG got out of the Video Card business, but I hadn't heard they went under. Too bad, they made some damn nice video cards. |
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Quoted: I wouldn't use that pc until you get your new power supply. Consider yourself lucky if the ps didn't damage any components. This too. I ran the bargain barely-adequate power supply from my first build until it literally BANG-POW-SMOKE-CRACKLE-SHORTED died. I was very lucky all I had to replace was the power supply. Now I'm running about 130%-140% over system demands for my new power supply. |