New motherboard

[jmnew]

I had to install a new mono in my pc. The power went out here in Jersey a week or so ago and I guess a surge went to my pc and fried my mobo. So I put a new one in, using all the necessary precautions I installed a new one I purchased from Amazon. However I cannot get it to boot up. It will not even POST. I am at my wits end. I have the video card hooked up to the onboard video card and nothing comes on the screen like the BIOS. I also tried another PSU and that did not change anything. Come someone please help I’m sure there is something simple I have overlooked? It is actually an upgraded mobo with an upgraded CPU that I removed from an earlier build. No beeps no nothing.
Thanks,
Jim
The fan spins so I know it is getting power.
Could it be that my CPU is no good? I did not have any reason to suspect the CPU as it was not in the computer when this happened

[Digerati]

You won't get beeps if you don't have a system speaker either integrated with the motherboard (and many don't have one) or with the case (and most no longer include them either ). If your new board does not have a small piezoelectric "button" speaker, it is very inexpensive to add a System Speaker. Note that price is for 20 speakers!

Did you triple check your motherboard mounting points? Note that cases are designed to support 1000s of different motherboards. So, it is common for cases to have more motherboard mounting points than boards have mounting holes. And while the ATX Form Factor standard dictates where motherboard mounting holes “can” be on motherboards, it does not dictate where they “will” be. So, one board may have a mounting hole in a specific place while another may not.

A common mistake by the less experienced and distracted pros alike is to insert one or more extra standoff in the case under the motherboard. Any extra standoff creates the potential for an electrical “short” in one or more circuits. The result ranges from "nothing" happening (everything works perfectly) to odd "intermittent” problems to "nothing" (as in nothing works at all ). So, you might want to verify you only inserted a standoff where there is a corresponding motherboard mounting hole. Or in your case, you didn't leave a standoff used by your old board that is not needed by the new board.

Did you observe proper ESD prevention when handling the CPU and board?

[Murf]

Also; when you power it up does the Power Supply stay on ?

Did you hook up the additional pin connector to the mobo? (If it is required)

[jmnew]

To answer your question murf, yes the psu does stay on and yes I connected the extra connector. Thanks for all your helpful suggestions Digerati. I handled the mobo taking all precautions, but not the CPU. It is actually out an old mobo that has since failed. Can a failed mobo also take out the CPU? My guess would be yes.
Thanks again
Jim
As far as the piezo speaker I have one and hooked it up. Not sure about the polarity though so I hooked it up both ways and got nothing.

[Digerati]

Typically red is positive and the motherboard header should have been labeled. That said, it does not mater for speakers unless you have more than 1 speakers (like in a stereo setup) and that is only to make sure the soundwaves are in phase. Out-of-phase speakers will still produce sound.

Regardless, you tried it both ways. If all is good, you typically get 1 short beep during boot to indicate a successful POST (power on self test). Or you get a series of short and/or long beeps to indicate some failure. No beeps typically indicates a power problem. Even a bad CPU should have given you some beeps - depending on the BIOS maker. Beep codes.

The fans spinning only suggest +12V is being supplied by the PSU. It does not verify the essential +5VDC or +3.3VDC voltages are being supplied. I would swap in another PSU and see what happens.

What is the status of the standoffs?

Can a failed mobo also take out the CPU?

In electronics, unless isolated, any faulty component or circuit can take out an adjacent or connected component or circuit. It is not common, but not rare either.

[jmnew]

The standoffs are OK. They are all in the same place as the original mobo. I already tried another PSU and got the same result. So you say that I should get beeps even if my CPU is shot. So then is it possible that both PSU's are shot. BTW my make and model of mobo is ASRock LGA1150/Intel H87/DDR3/Quad CrossFireX/SATA3 and USB 3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard H87. Not sure who makes the BIOS.
Thanks,
Jim

[Digerati]

The standoffs are OK. They are all in the same place as the original mobo.

That does not tell us anything unless you mean the old motherboard and the new motherboard have the exact same number and placement for their mounting hole. My point for bringing this up is that it is very common for them to be different. This makes it common mistake for user to leave a standoff in the case when it should be removed.

So you say that I should get beeps even if my CPU is shot.

Typically, yes. You motherboard manual should have that information. If you don't have the manual, you can download it from the motherboard's webpage. As seen here, I think the model number you gave is incomplete.

[jmnew]

Yes the new mobo has the exact same placement of holes for the standoffs on the old case. Also the model mobo is the H87 Fatal1ty Performance. I scoured the users manual and could not find the BIOS beep codes anywhere. But it is not beeping anyway. So should I just go ahead and purchase a new PSU to start. My old one was a 500W PSU.

We had a storm here about a week ago and the power here went out. When power was restored I did not have the PC on a surge protector. So is it possible that a power surge just blew out the PSU?
Thank again
Jim

[Ensign Tzap]

jmnew,

Why did you think your old motherboard was bad?

Like Digerati said:

The fans spinning only suggest +12V is being supplied by the PSU. It does not verify the essential +5VDC or +3.3VDC voltages are being supplied. I would swap in another PSU and see what happens.

You should of done this first, before replacing the motherboard.

What you should look for in a replacement PSU.

1) Check the form factor of the PSU.
It must be able to fit your case without having clearance issues.
And have the right power connectors that the Motherboard, Video Card, and Drives use.

2) Make sure the PSU has a high enough wattage to run all the devices in your computer.

3) Make sure the PSU has at the least a Bronze 80+ rating.

And YES!!!!
Plug the computer, monitor, printer, etc....
In to a Surge Protector Power Strip.
After you get it working again.


Signed: Ensign Tzap

[jmnew]

Yeah my guess was thinking that my old mobo might not have been bad. Maybe just the PSU. But I needed to replace the mobo that was fked up a long time ago from a previous build anyway. So I figured I would do it now. It is really a long convoluted story so, best I do not get into too many details to avoid confusion. I purchased a good surge protector from HD and have it plugged in already.

[Digerati]

I would try to find a working spare PSU before buying one - unless you just want to buy one.

[jmnew]

Unfortunately I do not have a spare PSU. So I will go ahead and buy one.
Thanks,
Jim

[Digerati]

Well, I think if you like to do your own computer maintenance (or have just be stuck as being the family "go-to" computer guy), having a good, working spare PSU on hand is a necessity.

I recommend you also get PSU Tester to add to your arsenal of tools.

Note to properly and conclusively test a power supply unit (PSU), it must be tested under a variety of realistic "loads" then analyzed for excessive ripple and other anomalies that affect computer stability. This is done by a qualified technician using an oscilloscope or a dedicated power supply “analyzer” - sophisticated (and expensive!) electronic test equipment requiring special training to operate, and a basic knowledge of electronics theory to understand the results. Therefore, conclusively testing a power supply is done in properly equipped electronics repair facilities.

The next best alternative is to swap in a known good spare. But lugging around and swapping in a spare PSU can be a pain too.

While these testers can easily verify a voltage is bad or missing, none test for ripple and they only provide a small "dummy load", not a variety of "realistic" loads. But they are better than nothing.

These testers can also be used to fool the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, signaling the PSU to fire up. Then they can be used to test fans, alternative cooling pumps, RGB lighting and drive motors.

Since conclusive PSU testing requires the testing be done under a variety of realistic loads, I don't recommend the use of a multimeter either. Plus, most multimeters cannot test for ripple.

[jmnew]

Here are the beep codes for my mobo.

One short beep: VGA detected
Quick boot set to disabled
No keyboard detected

One continuous beep
followed by two short beeps
(repeated) :No memory detected

One cotinuous beep followed
by three short beeps :No VGA detected

One continuous beep followed
by four short beeps :Hardware component failure

These are apparently the only beep codes for this mobo. I contacted tech support at Asus to get these.

Also the reason why I thought the mobo was faulty was because when I tried to power up the old mobo it would just start then shut off and do this repeatedly ad infitum. When I hooked up the new mobo it would at least stay on just not POST.

Jim

[Digerati]

Keep us posted.