Hi,

I've built a computer recently for a friend of mine, and everything was fine until i installed a video card. The computer would power up for a matter of seconds then totally turn off. I replaced to power supply, replaced the motherboard, and have tested the switch on my case, which works. At this point i only have power going to the motherboard, with no cards installed or IDE's hooked up. And still nothing. So, I'm led to believe that its either a burnt processor or memory. And I can't see memory stopping power. But can a processor? Is there something I'm missing? Thanks for your time.

Brady Webb

One of the tests during POST is to check the CPU. If it's dead, then the computer won't turn on. It's possible that a small static charge knocked out the board/CPU, or a large surge from the PS took it out. When you installed the video card, it may have been drawing too much power from the PS causing it to shut down. If you've replaced nearly everything, it's a good chance the CPU is gone. Swap it out (if you can) and see what happens.

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I put the CPU on another system and it booted fine. I've hooked up the PS to another system which also worked fine. Now, the only thing I haven't checked out/replaced is the memory. Any other ideas?

You said that it wouldn't work when all you had was the PS, mobo, CPU, and RAM. How could you tell it wasn't working? I'm guessing by the CPU fan or PS fans not running.

Even if the memory is bad, it should still POST and give you an error on the screen. Do you get any beeps from the PC speaker? Those can help you determine a boot problem (check the mobo manual).

If the CPU and PS work on other systems, then the problem is most likely the mobo. See if you can put it w/ known working components and try it.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.