I've been working on a project when suddenly my computer blacked out. All my peripherals turned off, but the case LEDs stayed on. After I completely powered down, the PC wouldn't turn on again—no signs of life whatsoever. After some troubleshooting, I suspect the motherboard is at fault. I removed it from the case and set it up on a cardboard sheet, connecting only the PSU, CPU, and RAM. Still, there are no error lights or even a spinning CPU fan. My old motherboard, CPU, and RAM work perfectly in the same setup. The PSU voltages look fine, but I can't test the CPU and RAM independently. Given that I can't even get a light on the new board, I'm assuming it's not the CPU or RAM causing the trouble. I ordered a replacement motherboard, and it's showing the same issues right out of the box. Did I just get really unlucky with two dead boards? Could I be doing something that's damaging them? Or is there another aspect I should be investigating?
1 Answer
It’s pretty odd that you've had two motherboards fail one after the other—it sounds like you might be either really unlucky or something else is frying them. Check your power supply for any weird voltage spikes when it's under load; even if it shows normal voltages at idle, there could still be issues. And be cautious about static electricity when handling components! Since your older setup works fine but both AM5 boards are giving you trouble, there might be something specific with the newer hardware causing the problem.
The newer parts do draw more power than older ones, so I could totally see the PSU spiking as a potential issue.