Determining which is broken: CPU/Motherboard/Power Supply

[Dr. Prop]

I have a custom built pc that recently clicked off to black without any screen glitching, blue screen, or other intermediate event. It was working fine, then the screen went black and all noise from the computer vanished.

 

 

 

I have subsequently removed the PSU from the tower and tried the below:

• I attempted to restart the computer with all cables still plugged in, but I get no response. The best I can do is unplug the PSU from the wall, hold the power button, reconnect the PSU, turn the PSU on, and then press the computer power button. When I do this, I get a loud click before it returns to silence.
• connecting just the motherboard power to the PSU and turning on the PSU. The result is many RGB leds on the mobo illuminating and going through a default pattern. When I press the power button, I also get a "CPU Code: 00" on the mobo led display screen. While my mobo manual says that code is "Not Used", I figured out that it was complaining that the CPU power was not connected.
• I additionally plugged in the CPU power in addition to the mobo power. Then I pressed the power button on the computer. When I do this, I get the same "click" sound I described in the first bullet. The click audibly comes from the PSU. The mobo continues the RGB default pattern, but nothing else happens. 

 

Is this the power supply not providing power correctly anymore? Is this the Mobo not starting up properly? is this a faulty CPU?

 

Specs

 

• Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X FORMULA ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
• CPU: Intel - Core i7-8086K 4GHz 6-Core Processor
• GPU: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Turbo Video Card
• RAM: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
• Power Supply: BitFenix Whisper M 80 Plus Gold Full Modular 850W PSU, BWG850M
• Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (This is the C drive)
• Thermal Compound: Thermal Grizzly - Conductonaut 1g Thermal Paste
• All-In-One: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
• Case: Cooler Master MasterCase H500M ATX Mid-Tower

 

[Cryptonite]

3 minutes ago, Erwins Kitten said:

 

 

have you reseated your ram and maybe tried a single stick at a time in the preferred slot? it might be the VRM on the Motherboard, but I doubt it. you could also try removing the Cmos battery for around 3 mins while the pc is unplugged then putting it back in, I recommend this over using the Cmos reset jumper as that is sometimes not enough.

[Sir0Tek]

Your i7 is x86 but not 8086K, I assume you have i7 8700K?

To me it sounds like your PSU can't provide enough power on 12v to feed the mainboard including the cpu. This can be due to a defective PSU or - also possible - a short on the 12v line on the mainboard.

You can try the PSU on a different setup to check if it is working there. Check if you can get a 2nd PSU to try with the mainboard. If it is too low in power for the 1080 you can use the integrated graphics with the mainboad hdmi/dp connector instead.

 

[RadiatingLight]

3 minutes ago, Sir0Tek said:

Your i7 is x86 but not 8086K, I assume you have i7 8700K?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/148263/intel-core-i7-8086k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html

 

He probably does have 8086K if he says he does.

[Dr. Prop]

2 minutes ago, Sir0Tek said:

Your i7 is x86 but not 8086K, I assume you have i7 8700K?

No, I have an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8086K. I have double checked the box it came in. I did not get the 8700K. 

[Sir0Tek]

2 minutes ago, Erwins Kitten said:

No, I have an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8086K. I have double checked the box it came in. I did not get the 8700K. 

Ah, yes, the limited jubilee edition... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086

 

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Sir0Tek said:

Ah, yes, the limited jubilee edition... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086

 

Did you look at my link?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/148263/intel-core-i7-8086k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html

 

Intel made a CPU called 8086K 2 years ago for the 40th anniversary of the original 8086. OP DOES HAVE AN 8086K

[Dr. Prop]

37 minutes ago, Cryptonite said:

have you reseated your ram and maybe tried a single stick at a time in the preferred slot? it might be the VRM on the Motherboard, but I doubt it.

I just tried 1 stick of ram in the preferred slot. No change in response to hitting the computer power button. One click and then nothing.

 

Quote

you could also try removing the Cmos battery for around 3 mins while the pc is unplugged then putting it back in, I recommend this over using the Cmos reset jumper as that is sometimes not enough.

I'll look into the CMOS next

[Sir0Tek]

5 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

Did you look at my link?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/148263/intel-core-i7-8086k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html

 

Intel made a CPU called 8086K 2 years ago for the 40th anniversary of the original 8086. OP DOES HAVE AN 8086K

Yes, that is exactly what is said in the link I've added. So, I recognized my error, and what is your point now?

[Dr. Prop]

5 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

Did you look at my link?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/148263/intel-core-i7-8086k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html

 

Intel made a CPU called 8086K 2 years ago for the 40th anniversary of the original 8086. OP DOES HAVE AN 8086K

 

 

Hopefully this removes the last shred of ambiguity here.

[Dr. Prop]

54 minutes ago, Cryptonite said:

you could also try removing the Cmos battery for around 3 mins while the pc is unplugged then putting it back in, I recommend this over using the Cmos reset jumper as that is sometimes not enough.

I've been looking into what the CMOS is, and I'm not sure I want to try this without some more information. The mobo manual is near useless for this. I know my board has a clear CMOS button. However, I don't know when I am supposed to press it in normal operation.

 

What is the standard procedure for using this button?

What has to be plugged in/powered on to use the button?

Am I in any danger of preventing a boot because of clearing the CMOS?

[Dr. Prop]

35 minutes ago, Sir0Tek said:

To me it sounds like your PSU can't provide enough power on 12v to feed the mainboard including the cpu. This can be due to a defective PSU or - also possible - a short on the 12v line on the mainboard.

You can try the PSU on a different setup to check if it is working there. Check if you can get a 2nd PSU to try with the mainboard. If it is too low in power for the 1080 you can use the integrated graphics with the mainboad hdmi/dp connector instead.

 

Any idea if a Delta Electronics 460W PSU from 2008 is enough to get into the BIOS if I just have mobo and CPU plugged into the PSU? I don't have a great sense for how much power those components need at idle. Should I also remove RAM down to 1 stick?

 

The PSU is coming from my first pc I got in 2008.

[RadiatingLight]

11 minutes ago, Erwins Kitten said:

Any idea if a Delta Electronics 460W PSU from 2008 is enough to get into the BIOS if I just have mobo and CPU plugged into the PSU? I don't have a great sense for how much power those components need at idle. Should I also remove RAM down to 1 stick?

 

The PSU is coming from my first pc I got in 2008.

It's probably not a great quality PSU, but it'll totally work to get into the BIOS.

Your whole computer probably uses only ~150 or 200W at idle AT MOST.

[Sir0Tek]

With 18A/15A/8A on 12v not exceeding 380W, that one? Should do for testing.

[Dr. Prop]

16 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

It's probably not a great quality PSU, but it'll totally work to get into the BIOS.

Your whole computer probably uses only ~150 or 200W at idle AT MOST.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have just tried to use the old PSU, but I can't power the second ATX power connector on the motherboard that powers the CPU because the mobo wants an 8 pin connector, and this old power supply has only 6 pin and 4 pin and is completely non-modular.

 

Any suggestions to get around this? If not, any recommendations for who to call first for support / RMA?

[Dr. Prop]

1 hour ago, Erwins Kitten said:

Any idea if a Delta Electronics 460W PSU from 2008 is enough to get into the BIOS if I just have mobo and CPU plugged into the PSU? I don't have a great sense for how much power those components need at idle. Should I also remove RAM down to 1 stick?

 

The PSU is coming from my first pc I got in 2008.

I can't use the old PSU for diagnosis, so I have opened up a support ticket with Bitfenix.