I woke up this morning with a goal to clean out my computer. The PC has been having issues lately when regarding to cooling mostly because the amount of dust build up in it. The fans would kick up even when just typing in Word--yeah, it was that bad. Anyway, I began to take everything off and for the first time ever, I decided to remove the CPU. After about an hour worth of Q-tipping and old ragging the dirt away, I was finally finished and began to piece back the computer.
Having no experience with a CPU before, I was having issues putting it back on. Eventually I realized that I could safely twist it off of the cooling that it was stuck to, making it approximately four hundred times easier. Everything is put back together now, but when I go to turn it on it just sits there on a black screen, unable to give a visual on anything. Signs of that may say that the graphics card could be faulty, but this is not the case. After replacing it with a new GPU, the same exact problem occured. This isn't as if Windows boots up, then all of a sudden I'm missing a file or something, I mean it sits there, never even gets to that point or shows me anything with my monitor flashing, "No Video Input Detected" in my face.
After having so much initial trouble with the CPU, I was thinking maybe it still wasn't placed on there correctly. So I tried a few times and checked for any bent pins. There were a few extremely minor bends, but they were easily fixed and I don't think they would have made a difference either way. Not to mention I grabbed an entirely new CPU from an old PC lying around in the attic and still experience the same dreaded black screen upon turning my system on.
What's weird is that the system won't even turn off if I hold hold down the power button, which makes me have to turn off the PSU. However, if I switch the little red voltage switch over it allows me to turn it off correctly, despite it still doesn't fix the problem. Now I was thinking it was my PSU that went up or something, but I yet again tried an entirely different power supply and I'd run into the same problem again. I also switched to my other harddrive with no luck either.
So, what the heck is the problem? Well, I'm pretty sure it's squared on the motherboard now. Perhaps when I was blowing dust away I slobbered all over a part or something, but either way I believe it's the problem causing piece. Most people know I'll be having a new PC arrive in two weeks, so what's the big deal if I can't use this one? Well, it's going to be Blain's (read: blog below) new computer since he was scammed of the only opportunity of purchasing one, so it means a lot to me to get this thing running correctly again, even if that means buying a new mobo. So when does this crap stop happening to me? It just won't stop as even while I was climbing the ladder earlier to the attic, the fifteen pound door decided to fall on my head, making me fall down a step and my jaw meet metal.
As an update with the account issue, Blain returned all of the payment back to me, so I'm no longer in debt to Paypal. We're still working on getting back the account, so I'll try to keep you guys somewhat updated.
Edit: I should probably add that the problem isn't like I can hear everything on my speakers like it does boot up and I just can't see. The PC gets stuck instantly with all of the lights on the front of the case practically frozen, no blinking at all. May I also say that I've probably inhaled a pound of dust today and accidentally eaten too much thermalpaste.
Comments
. I'm not well versed with computers.
.
I'm pretty sure the answer is no, since it's implied in your post, but I figure I'd ask anyway just to make sure: Did you get any POST beeps, and if so, in what pattern (long-short-long, et cetera)? Were any jumper switches knocked loose? Do you know what kind of motherboard you're using, and if so, can you send off the model number? Maybe I can find a PDF manual online -- unless it's from a vendor like Dell or something, in which case... maybe I still can, I dunno.
Did you completely remove the motherboard from the case? If so, are the "feet" that keep the bottom of the motherboard elevated off of the case surface still there? I once had this problem where -- and this was completely idiotic -- I screwed the motherboard down directly into the case. The circuit traces and solder points underneath came into contact with the METAL case, causing a short. Suffice it to say, the motherboard didn't make it out alive that night. Luckily, Al noted that it didn't smell like burning and that the store would probably change it for a new board without realizing what I'd done -- he was right (this was us being dishonest actually...
).If you haven't already, try isolating the potential issue:
Put the CPU in. Put 1 stick of RAM -- if you have multiple -- in. If your motherboard has on-board video, run with that. See if it boots up.
Repeat the above if you have more than a stick of RAM with the other sticks, individually.
Try booting it up by then adding in your video card and nothing else.
One by one, add a new piece into your motherboard while taking out something else to minimize the possible causes. Finally, one-by-one start adding them in and see if any configuration does the trick (of revealing to you the issue).
However, I can't spend a boatload on anything due to a huge opportunity available to me this July, on top of the fact that I'm going to Colorado to visit some GameSpot friends in June. That's like a grand in plane tickets, not to mention that my July trip will require hotel fees. So I need to start saving up soon as possible.
jro2020