I decided to clean out my CPU fan as it was clogged, when I assembled everything again it won’t turn on 🙁
It’s an old desktop PC. There are no lights glowing on the motherboard at all, though there is none specifically labelled “power”. Just CPU, RAM, BOOT. None of these light up, not even a flash when it starts.
I have reseated the RAM, CPU, power cables. Removed the GPU to check.
The cord leading in to the PSU works but I don’t have a way to test the PSU itself or the out cables, but I have reseated them at each end.
This PC was working fine before. But with no lights on the motherboard I suspect either the mobo or PSU?
Mobo is asrock x570 PSU is silverstone 650w strider gold S series
Any help appreciated!
Edit: I made a new post asking for hardware recommendations.
Edit 2: I managed to get a light on the motherboard, going to buy some more thermal paste and keep tinkering to see if I can get it started!
Edit 3: I never got that light to go again. In the end the comments on the other post convinced me that I had all that I needed for what I wanted (no upgrade needed), so I changed tack to seeing how to fix it. I had suspicions about the power connection still, so I bought a cheap PSU and tested it, no change. Then I bought a new motherboard (also a pretty cheap one, the cheapest that had what I needed and was also in a local store) and in the end that was the issue. Everything is up and running again now! Thanks for all the help everyone, you can now settle your bets.
One thing that was only mentioned briefly by someone else is the physical button turning on the computer.
Similar to the paperclip test figure out where the power button goes into the mainboardw and bridge that with a short cable. Is possible that by moving the case the old button lost a cable.
This is just one more thing to test though, it’s really trial and error as you know :)
One of the first things I tested 🙂. I’m almost ready to give up, buy a new mobo/CPU/RAM and then auction the old stuff off online for someone else to work out what does or doesn’t work 😆
How does everyone have spare parts to try, it seems almost every generation you have a new CPU socket and new RAM type so you can’t use the old stuff!
I’ll probably be asking for hardware recommendations soon haha
I bought AMD, and I keep old computers around. Here’s my progression so far:
So, if I needed to, I could:
For extra parts, I have:
If I was doing this solo, I’d still have my old mobo and CPU, so I could at least downgrade to that.
I think your advantage is needing two machines. Then you can swap stuff between them to test as well.
I gave away my previous build in whole and built a new one. No spare parts 🙁. And my SO and I are generally using laptops day to day, no need for more desktop machines and can’t swap pieces between laptop and desktop.
I don’t think having an old mobo/CPU would help anyway, I’m pretty sure one of the two is broken and swapping both out won’t help work out which one.
Sure, but even without a P2, reusing the old PC when upgrading was the main thing. I haven’t actually used my SO’s computer for anything yet, it’s just a hot spare should I need anything.
I honestly can’t use a laptop as my main machine because I (and my SO) play games, and using a laptop would mean a lot more frequent upgrades. I have a laptop, but it doesn’t need very high specs since it’s just for trips (mostly videos and web browsing). My laptop is ~6 years old and still does everything I need it to, whereas I upgraded my desktop three times in 7 years (CPU twice and GPU once).
If you had an old mobo and CPU, you could downgrade and keep the NAS running until you had a replacement. I upgraded my NAS because I already had the hardware and wanted better power efficiency, so I could totally go back if I needed to. In my case, I’d downgrade until I upgraded my desktop, then re-upgrade my NAS. I’d probably use my SO’s old machine, but it works with any spare PC.
I don’t do a lot of gaming these days. When I played Baldur’s Gate 3, once I got to Act 3 I switched to streaming from the desktop to the laptop using the Steam function as my laptop couldn’t handle it. I also don’t do upgrades as frequently as you.
Good point, I didn’t think of that.
I don’t do upgrades very often either. Here’s my rough history:
I’m still using 5 today, so in 10-15 years, I had 3 GPUs (gave 2 to SO when I got 3), 3 CPUs, and 3 mobos, and I only upgraded the mobo in 5 because I wanted to reuse my 1700 in my NAS. My NAS currently has 2 & 4, and 1 & 3 is a hot spare if anything dies.
In that time, I’ve had 3 laptops:
1 & 2 are e-waste and cannot be reused.
If you don’t count my SO’s devices, I think I’ve spent about the same on laptops as desktops, and my laptops have been very budget devices (no dGPU), whereas my desktops have been pretty midrange and I’ve been able to play whatever I want.
I’m thinking of giving my kids a PC, and if I do, it’ll be my SO’s old PC. If I do, 3/4 of our PCs over the past 15 years will still be in use vs 1/4 of our laptops (SO had a laptop that died before I built the first). That’s a pretty good track record IMO.
I use a laptop most of the time because then I can sit in a recliner with my feet up. I spend the day at a desk I don’t much fancy doing the same in the evening.
I have a Framework laptop from the first ones they made, which are upgradeable and repairable. Unfortunately they don’t ship to NZ, I got mine by freight forwarding and also got parts a bit later the same way. But now they have cracked down hard on freight forwarding as I recently learned, so I can’t get any more upgrades until they start shipping here (no announced plans).
That sucks about freight forwarding.
I’m considering getting a Framework for my next laptop as well. But my current laptop works well enough, so I’m in no hurry. If they offered a Trackpoint option or at least put physical mouse buttons above the trackpad, I wouldn’t have any hesitation because I love that on my Thinkpad.
But honestly, I use my laptop a few times/year, other than my kids playing Minecraft on it (hence wanting to get them a computer of their own). Most of my gaming is on my Steam Deck or Switch, so I only really use the laptop when we travel or if we have guests over and I need to get something done when everyone is watching a movie or something, and a lot of the time I’ll use my work laptop instead since my kids often use both my desktop and laptop.