PC Won't Turn On

[jaybird080]

I guess I should start off by saying I am just a tad frustrated right now. I recently built my first PC about 1 week ago and everything worked fine. Then 2 days later I decided to reroute the HD_Audio cable through a different cutout so I turned off the PSU, and rerouted the cable only to hit the power button and nothing happened.

I conversed with many forums and deduced it might be the motherboard. So I used my warranty and got a replacement. Reassembled the PC and tried it again only for the EXACT SAME THING TO HAPPEN. At this point the only thing I can think of is it might be a faulty PSU cord to one of the components but I don't have a spare PSU to test it. It just makes it frustrating that only a couple days ago it was working fine and now it suddenly doesn't want to work. If any help can be provided I would be very grateful.

Bonus Info:

• When I turn on the PSU, a small strip of light on my MOBO (B450 Aorus M) flashes, but the manual doesn't even mention what it means or that the light even exists.

• I have checked the CPU and none of the pins are bent.

• When I hit the power button, absolutely nothing happens. No fans, no beeps, nothing. I have the speaker that came with the case but it doesn't make any sounds at all.

• I have reseated almost everything including the GPU, Front Panel Connectors, CPU Power, 24-pin power, and the RAM. 

• I have gone through the no power up post that is pinned, but I only meet 2 of the 3 criteria of no beeps, leds, or fans because of the previously mentioned led that flashes when I turn on the PSU.

[Sauron]

Have you tried shorting the power button headers together? Maybe the case's power button is defective or you accidentally overstretched that cable breaking it in the process.

[jaybird080]

Just now, Sauron said:

Have you tried shorting the power button headers together? Maybe the case's power button is defective or you accidentally overstretched that cable breaking it in the process.

I touched them with a screwdriver earlier and nothing happened. I did the same with the other MOBO that I warrantied and it still didn't turn on. 

[Sauron]

5 minutes ago, jaybird080 said:

I touched them with a screwdriver earlier and nothing happened. I did the same with the other MOBO that I warrantied and it still didn't turn on. 

All right, let's go from the top then.

 

1) Take everything out of the case, and I do mean everything

2) assemble the bare minimum for it to show signs of life (the motherboard, the cpu, one stick of ram and the power supply) on the motherboard's box

3) if it still doesn't turn on reset CMOS and try each stick of RAM (one at a time) in each slot

 

If at this point you still can't get it to work then RMA all the parts you just tested because there's no way to tell which is at fault.

 

If it works with only one stick of ram and not the other, that other stick is the problem.

 

If it works with either stick and with both at the same time then you can move on; test the graphics card. If that doesn't work, the graphics card is dead.

 

If it works, add everything else (storage etc) and see if any of that causes problems.

 

Once you've verified that everything works outside the case you should check that nothing inside the case is mounted incorrectly (standoffs etc) and that nothing could be making contact with the back (or front) of the motherboard other than the cables and the standoffs. Repeat the whole process inside the case.

 

Whatever the problem is it should become obvious at some point in this process.

[jaybird080]

7 minutes ago, Sauron said:

All right, let's go from the top then.

 

1) Take everything out of the case, and I do mean everything

2) assemble the bare minimum for it to show signs of life (the motherboard, the cpu, one stick of ram and the power supply) on the motherboard's box

3) if it still doesn't turn on reset CMOS and try each stick of RAM (one at a time) in each slot

 

If at this point you still can't get it to work then RMA all the parts you just tested because there's no way to tell which is at fault.

 

If it works with only one stick of ram and not the other, that other stick is the problem.

 

If it works with either stick and with both at the same time then you can move on; test the graphics card. If that doesn't work, the graphics card is dead.

 

If it works, add everything else (storage etc) and see if any of that causes problems.

 

Once you've verified that everything works outside the case you should check that nothing inside the case is mounted incorrectly (standoffs etc) and that nothing could be making contact with the back (or front) of the motherboard other than the cables and the standoffs. Repeat the whole process inside the case.

 

Whatever the problem is it should become obvious at some point in this process.

Does the minimum include the cpu cooler or just the cpu?

[Sauron]

12 minutes ago, jaybird080 said:

Does the minimum include the cpu cooler or just the cpu?

You don't need the cpu cooler (you just need to see if it shows any signs of life) but if you want you can keep it on. If nothing works try without it just to make sure.

[jaybird080]

Just now, Sauron said:

You don't need the cpu cooler (you just need to see if it shows any signs of life) but if you want you can keep it on. If nothing works try without it just to make sure.

Without the cooler, isn't the only way to see if it's on is if the PSU fan starts?

[Sauron]

2 minutes ago, jaybird080 said:

Without the cooler, isn't the only way to see if it's on is if the PSU fan starts?

There should be at least a couple of lights on the motherboard. If there aren't then yeah, the psu fan would be the only indicator but it's enough considering it won't even do that right now...

[jaybird080]

23 minutes ago, Sauron said:

There should be at least a couple of lights on the motherboard. If there aren't then yeah, the psu fan would be the only indicator but it's enough considering it won't even do that right now...

Well I did what you said and here's what I found:

• The PSU fan never turned on.
• I tried it with and without the Wraith Spire and neither worked.
• I checked the CPU again and there are no bent pins.
• I reset the CMOS by touching the pins and removing the battery and neither worked.

So from here, I have a couple of questions.

1. If the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics, do I need the GPU to show signs of life or no?

2. In every test and even when I first built it, the light on the left side of the motherboard flashed when the PSU is turned on (picture below). Does this mean anything like the motherboard is receiving power? Or can that part be receiving power and just the power cord to the CPU or something like that is defective?

3. My Ryzen 5 2600x, EVGA 600W BR, and my ram is covered by a limited warranty. Since it was working then randomly stopped, do you know if they could have been defective and still falls under the warranty.

4. Lastly, do you know what could've happened? Cause all I did was reroute the HD_AUDIO cord through a different cutout on the first motherboard which somehow caused the other components not to work.

 

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, jaybird080 said:

1. If the CPU doesn't have integrated graphics, do I need the GPU to show signs of life or no?

No, it should do something anyway. It should definitely turn on the power supply. Which leads me to believe the power supply may be dead. Try turning on the power supply by jumping the power pins https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-power-up-an-ATX-Power-Supply-without-a-PC/

1 hour ago, jaybird080 said:

Does this mean anything like the motherboard is receiving power? Or can that part be receiving power and just the power cord to the CPU or something like that is defective?

I suspect it's getting standby power but the power supply isn't turning on (as in it's not giving out enough power to run the computer - only enough for the motherboard to receive the power on signal).

1 hour ago, jaybird080 said:

3. My Ryzen 5 2600x, EVGA 600W BR, and my ram is covered by a limited warranty. Since it was working then randomly stopped, do you know if they could have been defective and still falls under the warranty.

If you just bought them then yeah, they're all still covered - I suggest you RMA the power supply if you can't get it to turn on even manually.

1 hour ago, jaybird080 said:

Lastly, do you know what could've happened? Cause all I did was reroute the HD_AUDIO cord through a different cutout on the first motherboard which somehow caused the other components not to work.

Hard to say, it may just have been a coincidence. Maybe the PSU was defective from the start and turning it off and on pushed it over the edge and killed it. I doubt it had anything to do with the audio header.

[jaybird080]

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

No, it should do something anyway. It should definitely turn on the power supply. Which leads me to believe the power supply may be dead. Try turning on the power supply by jumping the power pins https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-power-up-an-ATX-Power-Supply-without-a-PC/

I suspect it's getting standby power but the power supply isn't turning on (as in it's not giving out enough power to run the computer - only enough for the motherboard to receive the power on signal).

If you just bought them then yeah, they're all still covered - I suggest you RMA the power supply if you can't get it to turn on even manually.

Hard to say, it may just have been a coincidence. Maybe the PSU was defective from the start and turning it off and on pushed it over the edge and killed it. I doubt it had anything to do with the audio header.

Alrighty, I did the manual PSU thing with a paper clip and lo and behold the fan never turned on. I even held it and felt no shock through the paper clip. The thing is, I only noticed now that the motherboard flashes the same light just when plugging in the power supply as well. But, I think it's like you said.

 

I'll just use the warranty and say it was defective. Thanks for all your help! Honestly, people like you are the ones that keep me motivated to join the PC gamers instead of using console because I know there's always a group of people to help with issues like this.

Before I RMA this, is there anything else I should be aware of or know?

[Sauron]

8 hours ago, jaybird080 said:

I even held it and felt no shock through the paper clip.

Well that doesn't mean much, the voltage is too low for it to shock you - but it not turning on is a pretty bad sign.

8 hours ago, jaybird080 said:

I'll just use the warranty and say it was defective. Thanks for all your help!

You're welcome

8 hours ago, jaybird080 said:

Before I RMA this, is there anything else I should be aware of or know?

Nothing I can think of, good luck.