PC suddenly died, no post or moitor,only fans.

[chardi909]

Hello all. First time posting but have read many threads here that have helped me in the past although i cant find one to help me with this one. Hope someone can help because my head REALLY hurts!

system:
amd athlon 3000+ 2.0mhz
2x 512mb ram 400mhz ddr 3200 (pny and swissbit)
msi mobo ms-7010 micro atx
nvidia geforce 128mb agp
FSP group PSU 350w

Right heres the story so far, about a week ago i turned on my pc and was greeted with the normal power on light on tower, running fans but no monitor, no beeps and more importanly no post. I borrowed my mother in-laws pc and have ruled out the monitor being an issue.
I tried the bare bones approach with only cpu,ram and video card. Still nothing. I tried with no ram and still no error beeps or post. I replaced the mobo with a msi K8TM-ILSR with on-board graphics but still same problem. I also bought a amd sempron 2800 1.6mhz and fitted it in new mobo with still no post or error beeps. I've been to my local electronics store who have checked the PSU with a tester and he says the PSU is ok.
I cant think of anything else and am desperate for a resolution to my problem. ANY help is very much appreciated.

[BeastOverlordH6]

Heeeeeeaaaaatsiinnnnnnnnnk.

Check that thing, make sure it's not a shorter, reattach, etc.

I would also blame the memory:
Try each stick individually, it will prevent issues.

It seems like a shorting situation, but check your wires and if you can ahold of any kind of power supply [that works], that'd be cool (I don't trust those things for shit, to be honest... tests may determine activity, but something else could get in the way...).

[chardi909]

Thanks. checking the ram individually makes no difference (unless both sticks are faulty), but i will try them on my friends pc and will try his psu at same time. just got back from work so will try to get hold of another cpu fan and give that a go. does the fan need to be connected to mobo in order for post? or can i attatch heat sink with no fan running just to see if fan is shorting board.

[BeastOverlordH6]

Your question: Yes, heatsink must be connected--the board will look for one before boot to make sure the processor is protected.

One thing I ask ye do is to perform an out-case transplant. To prevent the variable that the case is shorting your board, place the board, the heatsink, the ram, the video card, and the power supply outside of the case (preferably onto some sort of skishy foamy stuff... or if you have your motherboard's packaging anti-static bag/styrofoam; awesome).

[chardi909]

FIXED!!!!!!

Mobo was shorting on chassis of tower.At least I now have a spare mobo and CPU and my head feels better. I almost gave up. Thanks for all your help.

[BeastOverlordH6]

No problem, I've found a ton of problems comes from power and shorting, electricity being such a fundamental liability and assest to machines.

My box (and still my first) has gone through tons of trouble, but the current parts I'm using for it make the thing incredibly stable... for a year I was dealing with a heatsink shorting problem.

Best feeling is when one of these problems is fixed (even if you're compelled to give up).