Computer problems

[svance76]

Hello again,

A friend of mine unplugged his computer from the wall cause it froze up and then plugged it back in. I know I already educated him. But when he tried to turn it back on the computer acted like it was turning on. All the fans turn the PSU's fan is turning and I can feel the HDD running. There is just no picture on the monitor. I took his GPU out and stuck it in mine and it worked. I stuck one of my GPU's in his and nothing. I have cleared the CMOS. I'm starting to think its either the MOBO or the CPU. I really think its the CPU cause the MOBO is distributing power. There is no flash screen or going into the BIOS, which is why I think its the CPU. I just wanted to run this by you guys and gals before I pulled out the CPU and sent him to where he bought it to get a new one. As always thanks for the help.

[soaringchicken]

Bad luck

[svance76]

do you have any other opinions or suggestions?

[TheArmChairGuru]

Try a known good power supply, other than the current one that's in the machine.

Make sure it has enough juice to run his machine properly.

If it boots fine, it's the PSU.

If it doesn't, then his PSU is probably ok.

At that point, you can start worrying about whether or not it's the cpu or board.

If you have a compatible cpu laying around, swap it, if it doesn't work.. could be the board is bad, etc.

If you don't have a cpu to swap... do you have a different board to try his ?

 

Everything with a situation like this is a process of elimination.

Determine what it isn't, and you'll find what it is.

[svance76]

The only thing that I have extra was the GPU, I don't have another CPU or MOBO. I guess I could take my PSU out and check it on his but that's going to be a job and a half. Not to mention I really DONT want to have to do that. The three we put warranties on were the GPU, MOBO, and CPU. I guess I could tell him to just take both the MOBO and the CPU back. The PSU has more than enough power to run his machine so I know that's not it.

[TheArmChairGuru]

It could be the PSU if it was unplugged, it's unlikely but there are no guarantees.

 

You could also try taking out his boot devices and starting it to see if it goes into BIOS ok.

If it does and it seems to work ok, then it's likely not an issue with the CPU or MB.

If it doesn't, then if you have a warranty, I would at least try to swap the MB.

It's tough to damage an installed CPU from just an unplugging, if i had to bet money, my bet would be the MB if all the above pointed to the MB / CPU.

[svance76]

if it was the HDD wouldn't there at least be a screen that said something like no bootable device detected, on a black screen with white letters. the issue is there is no screen being shown with any kind of info. I can turn my monitor off and then back on just to make sure and there is nothing.

[svance76]

I just wanted to let everyone know what the problem was. It was the CPU, which suprises me cause they are supposed to be really hard to kill. But at least I figured it out and got it fixed. Thanks to all of you that replied it helped with diagnosing the problem.