Bring my PC back to life! Power issues?

[Justin]

Faulty slot appears most likely. PSU is more than capable for what's running, overkill if anything

[Justin]

Justin wondering how I can check if it is the AGP slot that's faulty, wonder if something like this would help?

This also looks very interesting.

[JSR]

How old is this "old" PC? In the old days when AGP first came out, it was optional and you could put the more common (of the time) PCI graphics card in a PCI slot. If you can find one of them these days (not to be confused with today's PCI Express cards), it might be an option.

[Justin]

It's a few years now but nothing too antiquated I'm also an idiot btw....it IS a PCI Express slot, not AGP...DOH!

[bikertec]

Could be the reset switch shorting disconnect little wire jumpers on MB. Could be as simple as that.

[Justin]

Nope, pretty sure its the PCI Express slot, going to install another mobo and see what happens

[PetPals]

Not sure if this helps... I had a similar problem a few years ago with an old PC that had not been used for 4 years. I found a battery inside - looked like a large watch battery. I replaced this and the PC worked again.

[Matt Quinn]

First of all thermal paste does NOT act as a heat barrier! Exactly the opposite as its whole purpose in life is to AID thermal coupling to the heat sink!! If the clamps to your heatsink are working properly all excess will be squeezed out; which can cause issues if it gets onto I.C. contacts...

The number of students I see who try to build PCs and wind up frying a CPU because of lack of thermal paste is bewildering!

Firstly check all the fans are connected and running - many MOBOS will shut down if they don't get a 'tach' signal of some kind from the CPU fan. The other obvious thing is dust. Get an airduster Make sure everything is clean.

Remember; PC components are static-sensitive and you need to be grounded as does the surface you're working on. DON'T be tempted to take a feather duster, nylon pantbrush or similar to the components to clean them! - And yes; I've known various assorted Muppets do this! Killing their machine stone dead in the process!

- A airduster or airline from a compressor to blow out the dust! Any dirty contacts need a wipe down on an static-safe surface with IPA ; again, make sure you're grounded when doing this. Fingers of slots can be cleaned with special cleaning strips for the purpose or relay cleaning strips...

Next remove ALL peripherals... Disconnect ALL the drives... Power and data cables. Re-install your AGP card but and see what happens. If IT has a fan make sure that it is working. There's a VERY good chance the card IS the culprit.

If it stays on and goes into the BIOS you have progress...

If at all possible swap out your drive data cables for new ones just to eliminate them ...

Next, going through a careful cycle of re-connecting each drive's power supply in turn... powering down, next connector etc...

If none of them reproduce the fault (dead short/ PSU shutting down as opposed to MOBO) re-connect your Master hard drives data cable, then, sequentially any slaves, then any optical drives... Shutting down before connecting anything of course...


- And yes; some BIOS batteries will cause a shut down if completely dead. Often removing them completely gets the machine going temporarily. If REALLY old/dead they've been known to leak onto the MOBO causing issues... I've only ever seen this with the CR2032 type button cells though.

[Matt Quinn]

Doh! Just looked at the O/P date on this thread and realised the problem was probably solved back in February!

[Justin]

Appreciate you advice anyway Matt! I did finally get around to put another mobo in and this sorted the problem. It was the PCI Express slot that appeared to be faulty, not something I've seen before.