Old computer well past warranty

[Simo]

Hi have a computer (4 years old this oct) that I bought from here.

Just after a bit of advice.

The computer no longer powers up when I press the on button.
There's a light on, on the motherboard (ASUS® P6X58D-E and the card reader light is on.
Pressing the on button does nothing (nothing spins up fans etc).
So I took the top of my case (CM HAf 922) to get to the switches but nothing seems loose etc.
I followed the power cable to the motherboard and unplugged it and plugged the reset cable in to the power to try and get the reset switch to become the power on (saw this on the web), but no joy.
Someone suggested using a screwdriver, touch the 2 powers pins should boot the machine, but also no joy.
The PSU is fairly new (corsair 650 module) replaced old one about 18 months ago after it went bang, so pretty sure that's fine.
I rarely use this computer, I have it hooked up to a 32" Tv in my computer room just to watch films. netflix etc.
I'm not going to spend much (if anything) to try and sort this.
So if there's nothing I can do I'll just salvage the hard drive, Graphics etc for spares.
Any advice would be appreciated.

On a side note if all's lost, the memory I have in the machine is 6GB CORSAIR XMS3 TRI-DDR3 1600MHz (3 X 2GB) and In my newer computer I have 8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB).
Would it be possible to add 2x2 of the corsair mem to the 8gb (2x4) computer to make 12gb or would this cause problems and instability?

Thanks for any help.

 

[primeros]

Hi Simo,
Could be a MOBO issue if nothing happens after pressing the power button.

Just a couple of things I would try one by one:
- Take out CMOS battery for few moments.
- Hold power button for 30-60 seconds with all power cables unplugged.(sometimes called ATX reset)
- And if none of these work, I would also try disconnecting any HDDs, DVD drives and your card reader. Basically, try to run it only with the main components(MOBO,GPU,PSU,keyboard and screen) if that works one of these might be the cause or the PSU is not strong enough.

In regards to your memory question, it depends if your Motherboard can do higher speed RAM than 1333Mhz. If it does, fine, but the 1600Mhz will get slowed down to match the slower RAM.

Hope that helps!

 

[Mel J]

Hi Simo

I have got exactly the same problem as you. My computer is 4 years old at the end of the month and has worked like a dream up until about 4 weeks ago. Out of the blue it suddenly refused to switch on. Like you I have a light on my card reader but other than that nothing. However mine has switched on twice since then and both times worked perfectly. Quite why it came back to life I do not know but it refuses to do so today! Removing the power cable and holding the power button makes no difference. My motherboard is an ASUS but a P7H55D-M rather than a P6X58D-E.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Simo]

It's a strange one.
I took primeros advice, by uplugging the power cable holding down the power button for a minute and at the same time took out the card reader and the computer powered up (after plugging the cable back in )
The next day same thing again, nothing. So had another look around inside and the light on the motherboard happens to be a power button. Pressed that and it came on.
Next day same again nothing, light was on MB but would not power on as of the previous day.
Soooo unplugged the power cable again (and took the plug out of my extension) Did the 1 minute hold power button down put the plug back in and once again it powered up no problem.
I think tomorrow I will unplug the computers plug from the extension before I flip the extention one, then plug it back in and see if that works, if not then back to trying the 60 second power button hold.
Let you know in a day or two how it goes.

 

[ubuysa]

Just a thought, but after 4 years I think you'd be wise to change the CMOS battery. I'm not suggesting that's your problem but it's something that probably needs doing by now. They're as cheap as chips too.

 

[Mel J]

Having not touched my computer since Sunday when I last tried to get it to work, it has today powered up without any problems. It seems that it requires a period of time without any power input in order to work, but why? Although it is working perfectly now I expect that by tomorrow it will be non-functional again! I must have a look at my motherboard and see if I have a similar button on it and see if it works as yours did - I will let you know.

Also I will take the advice about changing the CMOS battery, as it must be nearing the end of its life by now.

 

[Mel J]

I have just realised that my CMOS battery probably has died as my computer is saying it is the 19th Feb 2014 at 21:05. I think that probably would have been about the time I first found that there was a problem. May be a new battery will be the solution, fingers crossed!

 

[Mel J]

Success! It was just the CMOS battery causing the problem - a really easy fix - it starts each time the power button is pressed now. Hopefully this could be the answer to your problem also - good luck!