PC woes: I am teh need helpzorz etc

[pintle]

So my computer is pretty dead atm. Initially it began randomly powering off (no pc speaker beeps) before boot was complete.

I tried with a spare psu, thinking it was either gonna be that or something more integral to the mobo (and ergo beyond my comprehension).

It is now powering up fine, and staying on as long as I leave it, the only issue I have now is that I am not getting any life out of the moniter. I have tried 3 different AGP cards (there are 2 slots, the one i have used all along doesn't seem to show any problems, when I try the other slot I get a warning LED).

It has no onboard gpu, so ima try a PCI card, when I can get my hands on it, other than that I am completely stumped: I was hoping some of you guys (with way more knowledge than me) could maybe suggest some things I could try.

I am on a really limited budget, so new parts are a total last resort for me, any ideas?

[zwzsg]

What makes you think it cannot be the power supply?

[Sabutai]

Unplug all other stuff using the same power like printer etc except the pc and monitor. Then start the pc. Does it still stay black?

[pintle]

I tried 2 seperate power supplies, one of which i took directly from a working machine.

I was testing it at a seperate address from my home, plugged directly into a wall socket (not even surge protector) along with the moniter, nothing else plugged in.

[Beherith]

Start unplugging everything from the mobo.
Only leave gpu and 1 stick of ram.
Mobo should beep if its a gpu failure.

I actually bought and returned a mobo a while back because I couldnt get an image no matter what I did, it turned out to be a badly seated stick of ram.

[Machete234]

When you put your old psu in do you have your old problem again but therefore an image?
No image without pc speaker beeps is strange.

I actually bought and returned a mobo a while back because I couldnt get an image no matter what I did, it turned out to be a badly seated stick of ram.

The mobo has a beep morse code for badly seated ram too.

[Teutooni]

I'm having similiar problem atm. Although post beeps like it was a gpu error (and monitor is dead), when I remove one of the ram sticks the system starts fine - granted it did crash completely once even without the stick suggesting something might be wrong with the mobo/gpu too.

[aegis]

pci debug cards are sweet for situations like this.

[knorke]

you could look at the board if some condesators are "blown up." not exploded but like this:

The cross on top of them is like a predetermined breaking point so they can arche outwards instead of exploding.
arched outward = broken

[Das Bruce]

"Capacitors"

[Peet]

I love the engrish that results from translating technical terms.

[Das Bruce]

Indeed, but what would that have made capacitance? Condensation?

[knorke]

it is "der Kondensator" in german.
the english "capacitor" seems to fit the thing better though.

[yuritch]

It's "condensator" in Russian as well.

And yes, that might be the problem. If old PSU died, it could have brought the filtering capacitors in the MB down with it. And then the MB will not start at all, even the POST code will not run (hence no beeps).
Those parts can be replaced by a service center however (or even by user if he has some experience soldering radio parts), they are not like some 100+ "legs" microchips which need special equipment to solder.

[kolben]

this "capacitor plague" is really nasty.
it even haz own site on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

i have 2 tft displays here, both more than 2 years old, and both went black this summer.
i opened it, and both had exploded caps on their internal power supply.

i bought new caps (hf-caps 105┬░C, less than 0.5 euro each) and a soldering set (station/tin/pump set for 10 euros) and replaced them. luckily i know how to solder, now they work fine again.

this cap plague can be a reason if a pc/power supply doesn't work, but maybe it's aggregated dust behind a fan - had this once before. or it's a simple osi layer 8 problem.