Guild Wars 2

So a couple months ago, when I was cleaning my 4 year old computer I built, after I was done I turned it on and it turned off after a minute because cpu wasn’t seated properly so it would overheat and turn off to avoid damage, but at the time I thought it was PSU issue and I turned the switch from 115 to 220 and then turned on computer, I think I did this twice, first time it smoked a lil bit and 2nd time I heard a zap sound (you know what it sounds like if you’ve done what I’ve done before). I think I tried second time because I was testing to see if PSU was still working, because when cpu overheats you normally have to wait awhile to try again, kind of like xbox issue with rrod I suppose, but I was impatient and did 220 setting again.

Anyways I went to best buy and had them test my psu, it flickered once then didn’t do anything out of like 9 attempts, by jiggling cord and whatnot. And then I asked them to test motherboard to see if I fried that, and it came on for like 2 seconds and stopped working, we attempted it a few times as well and then they told me they don’t have the supplies to do thorough test after that.

So right now I’m playing GW2 on a laptop, but I miss playing games smoothing on desktop, and was wondering, do you think that it would also have affected my RAM, graphics card, CPU, CD ROM drive and hardrive? I’m thinking that motherboard cant be that expensive now after 4 years, but psu will still cost a bit. I was thinking about buying a new motherboard and psu, but I’m not sure.

I don’t think RAM CPU hardrives graphics cards have capacitors and just not sure if they would have fried as well. I’m in a lil tough situation moneywise, but I wouldn’t mind spending a lil bit of money.

I have to say when I was at best buy they were talking about my motherboard not seated all the way, I have 3 screws holding it on each side, its going to be flimsy so I don’t see need screwing in 3 more screws, I have the big gtx 280 graphics card so its a bit annoying to work with inside my computer. Does anyone know a way to like tell if a capacitor is fried or not?

Sorry for all my questioning, but my main question would be: Whats your take in my situation? Should I buy a new motherboard and psu or should I just keep playing on my laptop until I can afford to build another computer?

Firstly, if you live in the United States, don’t switch it to 220V. You’ll only break things because most of the states use 110V mains.

We have no idea what your setup is…besides your GTX 280. If that graphics card is any indication of the rest of your system…upgrade.

That aside, without extra parts, its going to be hard to say what works and what doesn’t. If you see any capacitors with black stuff oozing from the top then its a sign that the capacitor is going or is already gone. I had an ASUS motherboard with a few capacitors with black stuff on the top, but it still chugged along as if it was alright.

Well, personally I think you shouldn’t be building or working on computers.

However, if you insist on doing so – save up your money and build a new one. Most likely your CPU, RAM and everything else is fine – but there is no way to know that without testing them.

I suggest you go buy a new computer pre-made from a store and don’t touch anything on it :p
If you are lucky it’s just the PSU who is dead since you tried to put to much power in it… (I don’t even know why on earth you did that… that is pretty dangerous and only result you will get is a broken computer)
And yeah there are 6 screws for the motherboard… so use them… And why did you fried your only desktop knowing you can’t afford a new one ? I still don’t understand why you did such a stupid thing. It’s not that it will boost your cpu or anything since the PSU convert it anyway to 12 V (or whatever it says on it)

well I was tinkering with it and I couldn’t recall touching the psu, my computer was running fine for 4 years when I built it, I just didn’t know something silly as 220 and 110 until it happened. my computer would shut off after a min or 2 and I didn’t think it was the cpu overheating at first so I did the switch on the psu.

1 silly mistake is not going to make me not touch computers anymore, all it will make me do is ensure the psu is in the correct setting, 110.

Anyway, if nothing is running when you power the pc up at the correct setting (110)
Then just change the PSU. Or just look in it if you can to see something broken. Mostly it’s a capacitor who popped xD It will be like a popcorn what the amount you putted on it :p

Switching from 110 to 220 will not burn up your PC. (if you have 220 from the wall and switch the power supply to 110 then you fry stuff) The power supply switches the AC power to DC power. With selecting 220 when you have only 110 comming in it will not deliver the required DC volts to run the PC. With that said if the power supply went bad and burnt other things out is anouther question.
Never listen to Best dumass Buy!
Best thing to do is remove the video card, memory, and mother board look at the mother board on both sides for a burnt looking spot somewhere or a blown cap. If you find nothing discolored or busted get a new power supply or try a friends.
EDIT 3 screws is OK not what it calls for but nothing wrong with that but board stability.

I did this once to a computer, about 12 years ago before PSUs had a built in protection to keep the surge from taking our your MB and everything else. Since then I’ve learned some nice tricks.

First to tell if your PSU is alive or not you want a PSU tester, these are about $10-20 from newegg or tigerdirect. You can also attempt to test using your current or an old MB.

To test the MB, pull everything RAM, CPU, and all other cards. Hook up a known working PSU and using a non-magnetic screwdriver, rub it over the case hookups on the MB itself. If it squeals, the board is good. If nothing happens your board is dead.
If the board is good you can start adding your RAM, CPU and other stuff back in. Watch to make sure you get a good set on each.

Also my biggest tip, if the PSU is bad and you have to buy a new one I, Ultra’s X4 series is great. The reason I say this is 1) they are modular making cable management easy 2) Lifetime warranty with registration.

Hope some of this helps, and GL getting your system back online.

“Hook up a known working PSU and using a non-magnetic screwdriver, rub it over the case hookups on the MB itself. If it squeals, the board is good. If nothing happens your board is dead.”

Uhhhh…what?

The normal way is to shake a package of frozen chicken over the motherboard and listen for the ID ten T error sound.

abomally.2694:

“Hook up a known working PSU and using a non-magnetic screwdriver, rub it over the case hookups on the MB itself. If it squeals, the board is good. If nothing happens your board is dead.”

Uhhhh…what?

The normal way is to shake a package of frozen chicken over the motherboard and listen for the ID ten T error sound.

The person you quoted gave sound advice, it is done to ensure that static does not damage components.

When repairing hardware, ensure an anti-static process is used and wiki that info if desired (tho I don’t use an ant-static mat to work on.)

Meili Var.4179:

The person you quoted gave sound advice, it is done to ensure that static does not damage components.

When repairing hardware, ensure an anti-static process is used and wiki that info if desired (tho I don’t use an ant-static mat to work on.)

A grounded wrist strap works best for that. Also, the part I quoted makes no sense at all.

Changing the voltage from 220 to 110 can damage computer components. One of the worst situations you can put electronic through is lack of power or brown out.

As stated earlier in this post getting a known good PSU then removing the components, visually inspecting them and testing them, preferably outside the computer case is your best bet.

Thanks guys, I’ll buy a new PSU and try from there. I’ll keep you updated on my results!

So I got a new psu today, tested it and it turned on the mobo, so I went ahead and tried the old psu and it worked too. ***It works with everything but the 4 square pin connecter, and it wont turn on when I plug it in with the psu (it will briefy turn on then turn off and wont allow you to turn it back on)

So my issues now are:
1.)its not detecting my keyboard and mouse when I plug them in hdmi ports
2.)cant tell if my hardrive is working or not
3.)it wont display anything for me
4.)my gtx 280 fan wont spin (not sure if it changes speed and needs memory to start making it spin or what)
5.) I can turn ON my computer but cannot turn it off with the button or the button on the mobo, reset doesn’t work either. (have to turn off psu to turn it off)

My mobo is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284, the booklet is rampage formula e3559, psu is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152036 (that’s my old one), my new one is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182044.

I cant remember when if I had the 4 pin connecter plugged in a long time ago or not (pretty sure I did), but I did some research and came across http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2029864 and http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/251178-30-power-socket-boot. My computer is having similar issues as his and it wont beep at all when it boots up.

But I’m going to go ahead and look at my mobo where the cpu is and try it all over again, my cpu fan was running and it didn’t overheat so I thought it was good but I’ll go ahead and try again. If it doesn’t work I’ll try using the new psu with the cpu and 4 pin connecter. I hope it works out eventually and that I don’t have to buy a new mobo or cpu or something like that.

Just giving you guys heads up where I’m at, if you can think of something else that would solve my issue please give me some feedback!

Thanks!

Edit: So I looked at mobo and couldn’t find any bad spots on it, also it just turns on for 1 second then turns off when I test cpu with the 4 square pin slot. Tomorrow I plan on cleaning the cpu and putting thermal grease on it to see if that’s the case, before I start thinking about buying a cpu then a mobo, or maybe both.

Ermmmm… give up and take it to a specialist … you clearly lack the basic competency imo.

I would seriously not even let you wire a plug up… By the time I got to the end of your postings I was expecting to read something like the CPU was still getting to hot so I cooled it off with a glass of water….

If you swithced it from 110 to 220 and it went zap why would you do it a second time, its like a person putting thier hand in a fire and trying it again to see if it would hurt,

Anyway back to your post, you have fried the system, end of story, the 4 pin plug you are talking about is the 12V rail that the CPU needs to run, if you dont plug it in the system will not boot up, chances are you have fried the socket and maybe the CPU aswell when you tried,

Your overheating of the CPU was because the headsink was not in place, not that the CPU wasnt in place,

Your motherboard that you linked is a 775 socket, intel board, its several generations behind where we are today in terms of hardware, even if you could salvage anything from the system, chances are you would be hard pushed to find replacement board to fit it into, you may beable to salvage the HDD and the GFX card depending on how far the surge went threw the board when you turned it on,

Its nothing against you but i would agree with the people in this topic, going on what you’ve posted so far, you should not attempt to fix this system any further (yourself), nor attempt to build a new one yourself, where they are not hard to build for someone who knows what there doing, if you plugged something in on a new system in that wrong place etc you could fry a brand new system, either get a pre-built one, or have someone else build it for you.

And FYI on your OP you said

I don’t think RAM CPU hardrives graphics cards have capacitors and just not sure if they would have fried as well. I’m in a lil tough situation moneywise, but I wouldn’t mind spending a lil bit of money.

You are wrong, every internal part is subject to a power surge and be damaged beyond use because of one.

I am conserned too… You just said that its not detecting my keyboard and mouse when I plug them in hdmi ports… Since when does a keyboard and mouse use hdmi plugs ? Do you have a lcd screen on both too or something ?
If it doesn’t work with a new PSU, then try the motherboard alone, if you can go into the bios then it’s fine, next add the CPU, and running it without heatsink is a pretty bad idea.
If that is still working, and you can go into the bios, then add the GPU, so you can test every piece you have. Use the manual if you have some trouble with the power connections. Plug every single one you can find on the board. So that the system has enough power for everything.
And at last, why did you bought a 500W psu when the old one is a 750W one ? You should have bought at least the same one, or a beter one. It may cost a little more, but you could use it to upgrade later. Now you will have to buy again a new one if you want a more updated system.

The PSU is fine, I meant usb ports not hdmi, and the cpu I had heatsink in when testing it, hence why I could see the fans running on it. But when I plug the 4 pin cpu power cord in, the computer turns on briefly then I hear a slight zap sound and it turns off. exactly like http://www.overclock.net/t/895670/pc-wont-start-when-4-pin-cpu-power-is-plugged-in, now I’ve been doing a lot of research on this 4 pin cpu turning off computer, for some reason people say that little cmos chip replacing it fixes it so I’m going to give it a try, but I got a feeling I’ll have to go buy a new motherboard and theres not many motherboards with DDR2 ram, VGA 775 cpu slots and quad core, I don’t really like ASROCK but they only ones selling them for $45.

I’ve did a lot of research and read a lot of threads about this issue, but almost every single thread doesn’t have an answer of what the issue is when the 4 pin cpu cord doesn’t work on a known good psu. And yes, I have taken everything out of motherboard and just had the cpu with the heatsink on top of it when I plugged in 24 pin connecter and the 4 pin cpu connecter and it just briefly turns on and turns off, without the 4 pin cpu connecter in, everything will turn on but I will get no display and my usb ports will not work, and the computer wont shut off when I press down on the power button on the motherboard or when I press and hold it.

Edit: When I turned it to 220v a long time ago, I’m guessing it was because that 4 pin connecter wasn’t working so I thought it needed more power or that something accidently flipped it, so I flipped it to 220v, at that time it stayed on longer, but you could smell something burning. I’ve checked my motherboard and I don’t see anything burnt on it, same thing on the cpu chip. So many the old psu is bad at the time (it turned on everything but that 4 pin cpu), maybe that 4 pin just decided to die out, and me charging it 220v did no better (it didn’t make it come back to life). The only thing I remember from a long time ago is I was cleaning and reapplying thermal grease to cpu, and I think when I put it all back together it didn’t work and I just gave up for that day and didn’t have any luck, and then I went on a 9 month deployment and came back and haven’t touched it a long time because I didn’t have a video game craze like I do now and my laptop cant run the best settings in GW2.

So I’m going to clean off cpu reapply thermal grease and reseat the cpu heatsink fan (if any of you have 775 you know its a pain because those stupid plastic connects like to bend and that black pin doesn’t like to go down and whatnot, but I’ll make sure its perfect this time) and I’ll go buy a new battery chip (not sure if this will do anything but heck I’ll try it out) and try to get a motherboard beeper.

If all of that doesn’t work, I’ll buy new motherboard and use old stuff, and hope cpu works. Or maybe I’ll just go AMD motherboard because there 6 core processors are like $100 while INTEL is $500 LOL, and I’ll have to get RAM because DDR2 isn’t compatible, and I KNOW GTX 280 still runs all games at maximum settings even if its 4 years old. So it’d be like $350 for upgrade or $50 just to use my old stuff, which ran everything max settings at its time a year ago (just wont have 8 audio i’ll have 6 instead).

I am telling you, the system will not boot up without the 4pin plug plugged in, its the power that the CPU needs to post, without it all your getting is system fans spinning as they pull power from the MB power not the CPU,

CMOS chip, do you mean the CMOS battery?

If you are not going to update the system and go with an older board, then get the ASROCK one you do not need an all singing/dancing one as it will not be overclocked etc, but id suggest if you can afford it, to go with a newer system, the hardware out now runs cooler and faster.

uber -

Obviously – your motherboard and/or CPU is bad OR you did something wrong. Replacing the battery will not fix it!

Maybe you forced the CPU in the wrong way (hey, I’ve seen it)?

Honestly, we are trying to help you but you don’t seem to be paying attention. Replace the motherboard. You are just spinning your wheels and getting nowhere instead of fixing the problem.