Need help troubleshooting

[Steve]

So my buddy ordered parts for a new pc a few months ago, since then he has had nothing but problems.

First the hard drive came to him in two pieces(lol..)
Second(and 3 weeks later..) we discovered the psu also was DOA(ended up RMA'ing both the Mobo & PSU).
Finally he got the parts back this week, put it all together, now the bitch powers down 2-3 seconds after power up. Fans, LED's, Mobo lights start, screen never reaches bios.

First things I plan to try are: test ram, clean cpu and rethermo(not sure if he did this when installing the cpu on new mobo...) and reseat the cpu fan.

I am wondering if this could possibly be the case shorting the mobo? I was reading on toms hardware to try get the system going out side of the case, what is the best way to do this?

Problem is he is 90 miles away so helping is hard. I think I will just have to steal the rig from him for a week or so and bring it back here.

Any ideas?!?!

Parts list:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115072)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P ATX Intel Motherboard(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128506)
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139021)
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Case
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820233198)
COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835103057)
EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 560(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814130661)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822148697)

 

[KUSH]

So my buddy ordered parts for a new pc a few months ago, since then he has had nothing but problems.

First the hard drive came to him in two pieces(lol..)
Second(and 3 weeks later..) we discovered the psu also was DOA(ended up RMA'ing both the Mobo & PSU).
Finally he got the parts back this week, put it all together, now the bitch powers down 2-3 seconds after power up. Fans, LED's, Mobo lights start, screen never reaches bios.

First things I plan to try are: test ram, clean cpu and rethermo(not sure if he did this when installing the cpu on new mobo...) and reseat the cpu fan.

I am wondering if this could possibly be the case shorting the mobo? I was reading on toms hardware to try get the system going out side of the case, what is the best way to do this?

Problem is he is 90 miles away so helping is hard. I think I will just have to steal the rig from him for a week or so and bring it back here.

Any ideas?!?!

Parts list:

I would doubt that the case is shorting anything unless when you built it you never installed the stand-offs properly into the mobo/case.

That or the screws are too tight, or too loose, etc.


The computer doesn't post? What happens when you turn it on, everything starts to hum except it powers itself down before you can make it into bios?

 

[KUSH]

So my buddy ordered parts for a new pc a few months ago, since then he has had nothing but problems.

First the hard drive came to him in two pieces(lol..)
Second(and 3 weeks later..) we discovered the psu also was DOA(ended up RMA'ing both the Mobo & PSU).
Finally he got the parts back this week, put it all together, now the bitch powers down 2-3 seconds after power up. Fans, LED's, Mobo lights start, screen never reaches bios.

First things I plan to try are: test ram, clean cpu and rethermo(not sure if he did this when installing the cpu on new mobo...) and reseat the cpu fan.

I am wondering if this could possibly be the case shorting the mobo? I was reading on toms hardware to try get the system going out side of the case, what is the best way to do this?

Problem is he is 90 miles away so helping is hard. I think I will just have to steal the rig from him for a week or so and bring it back here.

Any ideas?!?!

Parts list:

I would doubt that the case is shorting anything unless when you built it you never installed the stand-offs properly into the mobo/case.

That or the screws are too tight, or too loose, etc.


The computer doesn't post? What happens when you turn it on, everything starts to hum except it powers itself down before you can make it into bios?


Issues like this are usually related to Mobo/PSU/Switches.. etc, you said you RMA'ed the Mobo and the PSU?


Anyways, here's what I would do;

Try booting computer with one ram stick at a time, to see if there's a trouble with your RAM.
Re-Apply thermal paste to CPU, if it wasn't done properly or at all there's a big chance that it's getting too hot and turning itself off immediately.
You can try and rebuild the computer outside of the case, "bench testing", to see if somehow you're grounding inside the case (again not likely if your stand-off's are right)
Double check PSU is fine by trying a different one.

Good luck though man, probably wasn't any help

 

[Cock]

#1 Take it out of the case - just put it on top of the cardboard box the mobo came in.
#2 Change the GPU to a different PCI-E slot if possible

 

[KUSH]

#1 Take it out of the case - just put it on top of the cardboard box the mobo came in.
#2 Change the GPU to a different PCI-E slot if possible

Good point, I would also try taking the GPU out all together if your computer has an integrated GPU and just try using that, even if it means you have to use a VGA to connect it

 

[Lacrimosa]

Sometimes ppl forgot to plug CPU or VGA power connectors from PSU. Simple, but it also possible.

 

[Steve]

Not sure what it is exactly doing before boot down, I just know it never makes it past a few seconds or too bios.

Apparently his friend who just put the cpu into the new mobo absolutely didn't clean off the old hardened paste or apply new stuff.. figure I will start there when I get the pc regardless of whether that is the exact problem. If the guy didn't use thermo paste I would not be surprised if he left shit unplugged like Lacrimosa mentioned.

 

[KUSH]

Not sure what it is exactly doing before boot down, I just know it never makes it past a few seconds or too bios.

Apparently his friend who just put the cpu into the new mobo absolutely didn't clean off the old hardened paste or apply new stuff.. figure I will start there when I get the pc regardless of whether that is the exact problem. If the guy didn't use thermo paste I would not be surprised if he left shit unplugged like Lacrimosa mentioned.

No paste/old paste without reapplication is cause enough for the shutdowns. Don't be surprised if applying thermal paste and re-seating the HSF fixes your issue. Good Luck

 

[Steve]

No paste/old paste without reapplication is cause enough for the shutdowns. Don't be surprised if applying thermal paste and re-seating the HSF fixes your issue. Good Luck

*Crosses fingers*

 

[KUSH]

Yeah man, if there's no paste that things probably getting hot enough to cook an omelette.

 

[$alvador]

Have him check if he remembered to hook the graphics card up to the PSU, I sometimes forget to plug in those 6-pin connectors.

 

[OG buckshot jr]

Things I would try:
1 ) Boot the computer with NO ram installed. If it beeps, you're OK (or at least mostly out of the woods, cause mobo should be working). If it doesn't beep -> shit/dead mobo, don't even read any further. ***Make sure he's either got a built-in speaker to the motherboard, if not he has to connect the case speaker in***
2 ) Take mobo out, sit on cardboard, hoot it all up
3 ) Put in much slower, shittier RAM just to see if it posts. If it does, then you might need to set the voltage/timings of the new RAM, SAVE the bios, shut down and try new RAM. (Odd, I know, but happens from time to time)
4 ) Double-check ALL connections, even moving things if you can to rule out slots/shit connections
5 ) Reduce the computer to the bare essentials (graphics, psu, ram, cpu, hard drive), and leave out all non-essentials like dvd-drives, other data drives etc.
6 ) If all of this fails, return all parts for a full refund because the supplier must have it's head up its ass. Buy the shit somewhere else, who cares if you lose your $45 savings, at least shit will work

Good luck Stevie!

 

[Steve]

he saved like $300, and ordered from newegg back in november.. no way they refund him. anyways I picked shit with bomb RMA's just for this reason.

 

[OG buckshot jr]

Fack, it's very unfortunate, the luck he's having so far

 

[Steve]

Yeah he had more issues with this single pc than I have had with the the 4 I have built for myself/family.

Sucks for him. but we'll get that working at the end of the day he will have a sick pc for a sick price.

:\

 

[OG buckshot jr]

but we'll get that working at the end of the day he will have a sick pc for a sick price.

:\

For sure man, I'll try to help no doubt. I'll keep my eyes peeled on this thread, if for nothing else than to at least bounce your ideas off of... good luck stevie!

 

[Glocky]

Ugh. I thought I could contribute, but it seems everyone else has thought of anything I could think of. The only extraneous thing that maybe left is stray PSU wires making some kind of short. That PSU isn't modular, so is it possible that some of the unused wires are pinched enough to make a short? Real long shot I know... but dang, if you're done everything else listed here might as well check that.

My system is 3 1/2 years old from NCIX, I RMA'd with free shipping my 1st G9 mouse as it wouldn't run the profiles (whole reason to get that mouse) and the 2nd one has been aces since.

How's your buddy's karma? Might be easier to explain this that way than what's actually wrong with his rig... haha

 

[B.From.Acc]

my first guess would be power, or lack of it. or some circuitry on one of the pieces of hardware.

-i had to RMA my corsair 850 also, bad capacitors apparently. but your friend just RMA'd his so i don't know about that.
-the OTHER power issue i'd check is the connectors like mosa said, my board has 3 connectors in order to make it run. the sneaky one i missed was the SATA power connector (6 pin on other boards).

second, but unlikely guess would be heat.