PC possibly dead...any help?

[greaser]

Well I tried to power on the PC in my MAME cab tonight and...nothing.

I was getting no signal to the TV and then shut the PC down. I powered up again and still no signal. I even switched out video cards and still the same problem. I then noticed that the power light on the front of the PC was turning off after a few seconds. The computer itself does not shut down and it sounds as if everything is still running (fans, etc).

I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem. Could it be the power supply? The fan is running on the back of the power supply. Is it the hard drive? Any ideas?

[SirPeale]

If the fan on the PS is turning, it's likely okay, but you'd need to check the voltages to make sure it's putting out the right ones.

Other than that...swap out the mobo.

[postalp123]

Sounds pretty much like a Mobo or Processor failure. If it was a hardrive, you would of still got the bios screen.

Newegg.com is a good source for replacement hardware if that helps.

Condolences and best of luck!

[leapinlew]

If the fan on the PS is turning, it's likely okay, but you'd need to check the voltages to make sure it's putting out the right ones.

Other than that...swap out the mobo.

I agree with Peale - check the voltage... Sounds like your not getting any kinda post...

Reseat everything and bring the system back to a basic system by removing everything unnecessary. That means take out PCI cards not needed and anything that is drawing power or connected (Hard drives and floppies). This will help determine if one of your cards is causing a short.  For what it's worth, I've never seen a Processor go bad.

[Matth9]

As a quick Intardnet diagnosis, I'd say your motherboard is bad, but power supplies are relatively cheap and easier to swap out, so I'd try that before swapping out the motherboard...particularly if you can borrow the PS out of another computer in the house.

First things first though, unplug everything from the motherboard except for the vid card, CPU, Memory, and power (of course ).  Oh, and the leds/reset sw/power sw/spkr can stay plugged in also - although unplugging them can help identify that one in a million chance that a demon put a hex on your PC speaker.  If it works after that, then start plugging things in until it's broken again.

After that, I'd try swapping out the power supply.

Next I'd swap out the memory, but only if you have spare memory lying around - or can borrow from another computer.  It's not likely the cause of your problem, but swapping memory is easy and it will keep you from saying , , , and/or when you've swapped the motherboard and find out the unlikely has happened, and the memory actually was the problem afterall.

Then, if/when all of the above fails to make it work, swap out the motherboard.

And if after all that it still won't work, your computer hardware is being obstinate.  Break out the soldering iron and a pair of clippers and stare ominously at it...at this, it should realize the futility of crossing you and start working again. 

[NightGod]

I've seen alot of processors go bad, but I've seen ALOT more motherboards go bad that processors. Sounds like it's a motherboard here, or one of the 12v voltage rails on your power supply.

[_) (V) (-)]

If it's a Pentium IV MoBo, check the capacitors near the CPU socket, there have been a lot the them bursting recently and it tends to cause all kinds of weird problems. Sometimes the caps just buldge (without poping) and you'll still get goofy problems that defy all logic.

[bleemus]

You might also want to check on how the motherboard is mounted.  Sometimes if you don't use the correct standoffs the motherboard will be shorted out to the case and will shutdown for that reason.

This is assuming it is a custom built pc, I doubt this would happen on many Dell/Compaq/etc cases.