power supply or motherboard?

S

stay

New Member
Hey guys,

I'm a new member here and this is my very first post. Hope that you guys can help me with this. My desktop will usually operate normally, but sometimes, I am unable to switch it on at all. I don't know if it's the problem with the power supply or motherboard. Are there any ways to find out which one's causing the problem?
 
The power switch connects to the motherboard, however, I suspect a software issue more than anything. Can you hold down the power button and force the machine to shut off?
 
If you find where the power switch plugs into the motherboard you can take the wire off the connection. Then take a flathead screwdriver and short the connection between the 2 pins where the wire goes to start the computer and bypass the power button. Or you can put in a new PS real quick and try that. It will take you 10 minutes.
 
Check the cable connecting to the motherboad to see if its lose or damaged.

Check the ac power cable to your power supply to an oulet. Check your psu power cable connecting to the motherboard.

When it doesn't turn on.. is it completely dead... or does it make sounds and beeps also?
 
I think when you push the power button you should listen at the back to hear if the psu fan is working, this way you can make sure that the AC power cord and relevant AC power connections are working in order. Next you might wanna swap the psu with a working one from another system you have or you can borrow one from your neighbour/friend/relative etc. If the system boots, then you know it your faulty PSU. Good luck.
 
thanks for all the replies guys. appreciate them. just like to add that i'm pretty dead certain its just either the psu or the motherboard. however, this problem doesnt occur like all the time. so even if i do switch psu for testing, i'm not so sure it really helps in finding the source of the problem unless i just permanently change one and nothing unusual happens.
 
Switch the PSU like stated and see if it will boot consistantly for say a week or a few days. If so then you know you found the problem (or at least 1 part of it). If it's still not booting consistantly then try changing out other components 1 by 1 and see how it goes.
 
Thanks for the reply Lax. I've got one last question. I set the system startup and recovery settings to not automatically reboot when there's a system failure, meaning there would be a blue screen shown if there's any failure. However, my pc just turns itself off without any blue screen and moments later, it will be able to startup. Does this imply that there is no problem with the motherboard? I've had a motherboard problem previously and the blue screen always popped up, so I'm wondering if this shows that it's just the problem with the psu.
 
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