PC FUBAR - Help?

[BluTrain]

So, at some point after Friday night ( 8/20/2010 ), my computer died.

Initially, when I tried to power it on, pressing the power button only resulted in the fans ( Case, PSU, Video Card ) turning on for a second then the entire unit shuts down. - Nothing was displayed on the monitor.  I unplugged the machine and cracked open the case finding some dust bunnies on the exhaust/intake ports, fans, etc but nothing extreme - I had cleaned out the case using compressed air maybe 3 -5 months prior.

At this point I reconnected all cables, and tried to power on the machine - The machine powers on, but nothing is displayed on the monitor, the amber light on the monitor stays amber, but the machine does not appear to boot.  There are no beeps that I would associate with a memory test, or something failing in POST and if I try to power off the machine with the power button, the unit will not power off. Also, the power switch on the front of the PC normally has a blue LED when the power is on - this is no longer present.

I should also say, that this machine, being a "value" PC made by Gateway, has an integrated Video card though I had been using an 8600 GT for around 2 years without issue.  I removed this card, and connected the monitor to the integrated card with the same results.

Any ideas?  Bad PSU? Bad power switch?

[Wobbly]

the few problems I have had have been psu related

[MrRiplEy[H]]

So, at some point after Friday night ( 8/20/2010 ), my computer died.

Initially, when I tried to power it on, pressing the power button only resulted in the fans ( Case, PSU, Video Card ) turning on for a second then the entire unit shuts down. - Nothing was displayed on the monitor.  I unplugged the machine and cracked open the case finding some dust bunnies on the exhaust/intake ports, fans, etc but nothing extreme - I had cleaned out the case using compressed air maybe 3 -5 months prior.

At this point I reconnected all cables, and tried to power on the machine - The machine powers on, but nothing is displayed on the monitor, the amber light on the monitor stays amber, but the machine does not appear to boot.  There are no beeps that I would associate with a memory test, or something failing in POST and if I try to power off the machine with the power button, the unit will not power off. Also, the power switch on the front of the PC normally has a blue LED when the power is on - this is no longer present.

I should also say, that this machine, being a "value" PC made by Gateway, has an integrated Video card though I had been using an 8600 GT for around 2 years without issue.  I removed this card, and connected the monitor to the integrated card with the same results.

Any ideas?  Bad PSU? Bad power switch?

If it tries to start then it could be basically anything. Remove everything except power supply, ONE memory stick and cpu then try booting. If you get post then the problem lies in one of the missing components. If your computer still doesn't post, remove the memory and try with an another stick.

If your computer still doesn't post then possible problems are narrowed to PSU, motherboard, cpu or both ram sticks being bad. Start experimenting from there.

Good luck.

[Meatwad]

Sounds like the power supply died

[ozrocker]

Sounds like the power supply died

my thoughts
Had same thing similar once- was PS

                                <S> Oz

[Tigger29]

Yes.. it's the P/S.

There are different circuits in the P/S with different voltages.. it's possible the rail for the processor is dead, but the rail for the fans is still intact.

When you turn it on, the fans power up, but then the PS sees that there is no power on the other rail and shuts down accordingly.

I feel about 90-95% confident that a new Power supply will fix your problem.

[Chalenge]

First thing to do is reset your BIOS and pull the MB battery for five minutes or so (before doing this turn off the PSU and unplug it from the wall). The next step would be to do as Ripley said. I have had computers that popped the MB and/or memory because of a bad PSU that spiked at startup. Probably thats what happened to you. Gateway is not known for giving an extra anything (in this case extra Amps on the 12V rail) that they didnt sell you and if thats the case and your PSU was never intended to carry the video card then the PSU probably has a problem. However... once that happens it can carry through to your MB CPU RAM and/or GPU. It sucks but there it is.