My PC Won't Power On - Motherboard LEDs Flashing and Odd Noise
Asked by
TechWhiz89
I'm having a serious issue with my PC. It was running perfectly fine yesterday, but today when I tried to boot it up, only the motherboard's RGB LEDs lit up. Upon pressing the power button, I heard a sound that resembled a blown LED or a small pop. I've attempted to breadboard it, which means I removed all the components except for the CPU and one stick of RAM to try and narrow down the issue, but the problem remains. I'm looking for insights into what might be wrong and whether I need to replace a part or if the whole system is gone for good.
Here are my specs:
- CPU: Ryzen 7 2700
- Motherboard: B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
- RAM: 32GB (2x16GB modules)
- GPU: RX 6600XT
- PSU: XPG 650W Modular (80+ Gold)
- Storage: 4TB HDD, 1TB M.2 SSD, 500GB SATA SSD
- Case: Unknown
- Extra: 2000W Koblenz 2800 Voltage Regulator
Answers
It could be that either your motherboard or power supply has gone bad. I've seen this happen when components age, so it might be worth checking both.
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Try using one stick of RAM in a different slot. Sometimes, my motherboard wouldn't boot with a specific slot, but worked fine when I switched it around. Might just save you a headache!
TechWhiz89: I already tried that, unfortunately. Nothing worked in any of the four slots I have.
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Have you checked if the motherboard is shorted to the case? If you have standoffs but the motherboard isn't installed correctly, that could cause a short circuit. I've learned that the hard way!
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If the RGB lights on the motherboard are just flashing and making noise, it might not be a good sign. Have you checked if any of them stay lit, or did they all just blink?
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You could sniff around the components. If you smell something odd like peanut butter, it might mean a capacitor blew up. Just remember, all hardware works on compressed smoke; if that smoke gets out, you have problems!
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CuriousMind42: The PSU is about two years old, but the motherboard is six years old. I don't have any spare parts to swap in to see which one is faulty.