No Beep, No post

[SwankyBarbecue4]

I recently bought a used IBuyPower i-Series 301 from a good friend. The HDD had failed about a year back and it had been in storage ever since. He claimed to had never touched the system since purchase, only to remove the failed HDD. I preceded to buy a new HDD, and after installing it earlier today, found that the system would not post. I have done some basic troubleshooting procedures that i have listed below (not in any specific order). Keep in mind that I have not heard any error or post beeps whatsoever, and have not seen any sort of display (not even a flicker). From what I have found so far, I believe that I might have a dead motherboard on my hands.

 

My specs are...

 

-Motherboard: MSI 760 GMA-P34 (FX) /w duel channel DDR3

-RAM: Two sticks of ADATA DDR3 4GB

-GPU: MSI N610GT-MD1GD3/LP

-Supply: Allied 300W

-HDD: Seagate 1 TB SATA

-CPU: Unknown (Could not find spec sheets online, and I do not want to remove heat sink just yet)

 

Troubleshooting techniques I have used...

 

-Reduced to only one stick of RAM (Tried each stick alone in each slot)

-Re-seeded GPU

-Attempted to boot /w and /wo GPU, RAM, and HDD installed to provoke an error beep

-Reset CMOS using jumper cable with system shutdown and unplugged 

-Plugged HDD into multiple different SATA connection ports on mo board 

 

I am a newcomer to the world of PC and am not very experienced, so I would really appreciate anyone's feedback. Thanks guys.

[Naeaes]

During POST, the CPU is tested first. So if removing everything else doesn't change the symptom in any way, the culprit is likely the CPU (or mobo or PSU).

 

Not all systems have the speaker that does the beeping. In it's place you can use the numlock/capslock/scrolllock LEDs. According to how it's set in BIOS, with power on, they'll either light up of stay off, but you can't toggle them on and off until post passes. 

 

There is one weird quirk of AMD systems that you could use to troubleshoot. While the system is powered on, open the DVD tray. If it instantly pulls it back in, it's likely an issue with the CPU. I have no idea, why this happens, but I've verified with dozens of systems. I used to handle shipping faults where CPU having been pulled out by the cooler is common occurrence. It's rare with the stock cooler, but if it's any bigger, it's literally the no.1 issue. I'd definitely re-seat the CPU. The pin grid array makes it so that the CPU can just come out from the socket with surprisingly small force. For your troubleshooting, you won't have to re-do the thermal paste, but once you get it working, clean out the old and put new in so that it won't overheat during operation.

[Carlos1010]

4 hours ago, Naeaes said:

There is one weird quirk of AMD systems that you could use to troubleshoot. While the system is powered on, open the DVD tray.

So  what do you mean by that, so if you press the button and the tray closes by itself is that a problem or? 

[Naeaes]

9 hours ago, Carlos1010 said:

So  what do you mean by that, so if you press the button and the tray closes by itself is that a problem or? 

Yes it would be a problem. It's nothing official but something I've witnessed. Then when the issue is fixed, whether it was a bent pin or just loose CPU, it'll stay open. Very weird but surprisingly reliable.  So I take it yours is pulling it back shut?

[SwankyBarbecue4]

13 hours ago, Naeaes said:

During POST, the CPU is tested first. So if removing everything else doesn't change the symptom in any way, the culprit is likely the CPU (or mobo or PSU).

 

Not all systems have the speaker that does the beeping. In it's place you can use the numlock/capslock/scrolllock LEDs. According to how it's set in BIOS, with power on, they'll either light up of stay off, but you can't toggle them on and off until post passes. 

 

There is one weird quirk of AMD systems that you could use to troubleshoot. While the system is powered on, open the DVD tray. If it instantly pulls it back in, it's likely an issue with the CPU. I have no idea, why this happens, but I've verified with dozens of systems. I used to handle shipping faults where CPU having been pulled out by the cooler is common occurrence. It's rare with the stock cooler, but if it's any bigger, it's literally the no.1 issue. I'd definitely re-seat the CPU. The pin grid array makes it so that the CPU can just come out from the socket with surprisingly small force. For your troubleshooting, you won't have to re-do the thermal paste, but once you get it working, clean out the old and put new in so that it won't overheat during operation.

Good idea, and thanks man.

[SwankyBarbecue4]

2 minutes ago, SwankyBarbecue4 said:

Good idea, and thanks man.

I will have to try it.

[SwankyBarbecue4]

13 hours ago, Naeaes said:

During POST, the CPU is tested first. So if removing everything else doesn't change the symptom in any way, the culprit is likely the CPU (or mobo or PSU).

 

Not all systems have the speaker that does the beeping. In it's place you can use the numlock/capslock/scrolllock LEDs. According to how it's set in BIOS, with power on, they'll either light up of stay off, but you can't toggle them on and off until post passes. 

 

There is one weird quirk of AMD systems that you could use to troubleshoot. While the system is powered on, open the DVD tray. If it instantly pulls it back in, it's likely an issue with the CPU. I have no idea, why this happens, but I've verified with dozens of systems. I used to handle shipping faults where CPU having been pulled out by the cooler is common occurrence. It's rare with the stock cooler, but if it's any bigger, it's literally the no.1 issue. I'd definitely re-seat the CPU. The pin grid array makes it so that the CPU can just come out from the socket with surprisingly small force. For your troubleshooting, you won't have to re-do the thermal paste, but once you get it working, clean out the old and put new in so that it won't overheat during operation.

After powering on the system and opening the try, the try stays out and does not immediately close. So i will try re-setting the cpu.