PC won't start - PSU or motherboard problem?

[Netherspark]

Yesterday my PC died and will no longer turn on, pressing the power button does absolutely nothing. Here's how it happened:

I noticed some strange sounds comming from the PC - the psu fan was making a bit of a grinding noise, but the motherboard itself seemed to be "whining". Moments later there was a click sound and the whole thing immediately shut down and will not start up again.

I'm not completely sure if the problem is the power supply, the motherboard or both. One thing to note though is that the light on my card reader still comes on when the pc is plugged in, so it does seem that some power is going through.

[Killora]

Yesterday my PC died and will no longer turn on, pressing the power button does absolutely nothing. Here's how it happened:

I noticed some strange sounds comming from the PC - the psu fan was making a bit of a grinding noise, but the motherboard itself seemed to be "whining". Moments later there was a click sound and the whole thing immediately shut down and will not start up again.

I'm not completely sure if the problem is the power supply, the motherboard or both. One thing to note though is that the light on my card reader still comes on when the pc is plugged in, so it does seem that some power is going through.

Hmm, perhaps a blown capacitor on the motherboard? Look around on the motherboard and look at the capacitors. Look for any that are bulging or look like this.

[Netherspark]

None of them are split like that but there are 4 that are bulging with black crusty stuff leaking out. They've been like that for ages though.

Would that have been caused by the power supply, or just a defective motherboard?

[Killora]

None of them are split like that but there are 4 that are bulging with black crusty stuff leaking out. They've been like that for ages though.

Would that have been caused by the power supply, or just a defective motherboard?

Sounds like Electrolyte leakage. Which is a bad sign and it could have failed internally before it built up enough hydrogen to burst. Seems like this may be the issue assuming the PSU is fine. The fan grinding on the PSU isn't exactly a sign of it being bad, just the fan being bad, the unit will still function if the fan is screwed up.

Basically, it sounds like your motherboard is bad. The capacitors likely gave in in some form.

[chazus]

Does it look anything like these? If so, dead motherboard pretty much. While I've seen motherboards with busted caps continue to function, almost every cheapie board (Biostar, ECS) I've seen dead, usually had that problem.

What brand is the motherboard?

[vesseblah]

Also you can test your PSU only by using this trick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4

It will isolate the PSU noises from everything else in your computer.

[Netherspark]

Does it look anything like these? If so, dead motherboard pretty much. While I've seen motherboards with busted caps continue to function, almost every cheapie board (Biostar, ECS) I've seen dead, usually had that problem.

What brand is the motherboard?

Yes, there are 4 capacitors near the cpu that are oozing a dark brown substance. The brand is Foxconn.

[Deleted]

if they have been like that for ages it is unlikely that those are the ones causing an issue. try the thing in the video, the motherboard's whining could come from unstable/out of spec 12V/5V/3.3V rails and since your PSU was making noises as well i'd check that out first.

[Deleted]

Well the fact they are leaking suggests they have been faulty for ages and finally given up the ghost.

If a car tyre leaks VERY slow, does that mean it will never go flat?

[Netherspark]

After more testing it turns out that the power supply is in fact dead, and the motherboard is still alive... for now.