Computer turns off, cannot be turned on. It's like no power gets to it...

[DCCFan]

Then suddenly, a day or two later it turns on. It's like power is getting to it once again but nothing's changed, just time. Very mysterious stuff  

This has happened several times over the past few months. Turn on, work well (does not seem to overheat) for a few days/weeks. Turn off, no power gets to it. Few days later able to turn on. Repeat. Had several acquaintances look at it but they're mostly newbies like me.

 

If you guys have any suggestions, please reply. Here are some observations:

 

1) When I say it won't turn on I don't mean that Windows won't start, I mean that absolutely nothing happens (except for the tiny mouse light turning on).

No case/mobo lights or fans turn on at all. It might also be relevant that 2 of my case fans are connected directly to the PSU, and those fans won't power up either. 

 

2) We did have the motherboard tested by someone fixes motherboards for a living and he said it's not the mobo or CPU. Both are working fine. But he said he doesn't fix or diagnose other components, so he could not help me any further.

 

Does this all point to the PSU or is there anything else that I should be considering?

Thanks!

 

PS: Forgot to mention that someone told me it could be the power button on my case, as it's a pretty cheap case and the button is a bit flimsy. Could this be  possibility? 

 

Mobo Z170 Asrock Extreme6

CPU 6600k

Cooler Cryorig H7

PSU Seasonic Gseries 650W

Ram GSkill 2x8GB DDR4

[Sat1600]

Only way to be sure is to borrow a psu, wait for the problem to happen, swap the psu and see if it turns on

[Mo5]

Random suggestions:

1. If you assume its the case power button try using the button on your mobo to turn it on (if it has those) or short the pins yourself

2. If there is some weird short happening inside the case then take the components out and test them on a cardboard box or sth to see if they work outside

3. If they still don't work try a different psu 

4. If you don't have a different psu try minimizing the load on this one by taking off as many components as possible (going with onboard gpu too) 

 

And always test with as little IO plugged in as possible. At the end of the day it could be some USB device shorting it too (happened on my dad's laptop when he had some random USB mouse plugged in and it just died and wouldn't boot while it was plugged in) 

[paddy-stone]

17 minutes ago, Mo5 said:

Random suggestions:

1. If you assume its the case power button try using the button on your mobo to turn it on (if it has those) or short the pins yourself

2. If there is some weird short happening inside the case then take the components out and test them on a cardboard box or sth to see if they work outside

3. If they still don't work try a different psu 

4. If you don't have a different psu try minimizing the load on this one by taking off as many components as possible (going with onboard gpu too) 

 

And always test with as little IO plugged in as possible. At the end of the day it could be some USB device shorting it too (happened on my dad's laptop when he had some random USB mouse plugged in and it just died and wouldn't boot while it was plugged in) 

Agree, they are pretty much exactly the steps I would be doing to try and diagnose the problem. Honestly I expect it to be a short or button problem, but have known motherboards to be incorrectly disabling power as it thinks it's a surge.

[Mo5]

Also since your mobo has it, check the debug code. Might give you an idea where it gets stuck.

[DCCFan]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone! I've been real busy with school, but I did get another PSU. It's kind of a long story but my dad has it and won't travel home for a couple months so I'll still be without a PSU for a bit.

 

So I was wondering, can I use a 4-pin generic PSU that I already have, by buying an adapter for it? I know it's technically possible, but I saw a thread (on a different site) where someone said it was a terrible idea. I don't plan to use this generic 600W PSU for a long time and I plan to use it without a GPU (intel graphics). Will it still be super risky?

 

Anyway, if I do this I still need to find the best adapter for it. I saw 3 different types and I don't know which would be more appropriate.

 

- 2-molex to 8 pin? 

 

- 1-molex to 4 pin (and use it along with the 4-pin connector that the PSU came with)

 

- 4-pin to 8-pin, which uses the PSU's 4-pin connector and turns it into an 8 pin.