PC Not working after reapplying thermal paste

[Deleted member 185158]

My CMOS has been having issues.
when i get the chance i will clear it

That's the exact reason you should clear the cmos first before you try anything else......

A day later..... have you cleared the CMOS yet or what?

 

[Chomiq]

That's the exact reason you should clear the cmos first before you try anything else......

A day later..... have you cleared the CMOS yet or what?

He seems to have problems with getting the required wiring done right, so clearing cmos is a secondary issue.

 

[Zareek]

With the cooler on?

Okay the pics are good, the guys who are telling you the 8pin connector needs to be done right are spot on.

There are two four pin connectors on a single cable, they need to be pushed together and connected to the 8 pin connector on the motherboard.



This 8 pin connector supplies power to the VRM and the VRM powers your processor.

I keep reading you suggesting the CPU is bad. That is highly unlikely, CPUs rarely fail unless you physically damage them like breaking a pin off. If they do fail it's within the first month you own it or after several years. Typically failure is not fast either, after many years of use, they start to loose stability. Even then it is more likely they where highly overclocked. There are processors from 30 years ago that still work like new.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

He seems to have problems with getting the required wiring done right, so clearing cmos is a secondary issue.

The pc worked before applying new thermal paste.... why would all of a sudden wiring be an issue?

 

[AlexKedz]

Yes i put the 8 pin in but still nothing worked

Hi,
4 pin is optional but 8 pin has to be filled first.
Wouldn't call additional 4 pin a gimmick though it's for additional power for overclocking which is no gimmick it's good clean fun

8 pin was filled, pc still isn’t starting

 

[jayseearr]

Yes i put the 8 pin in but still nothing worked


8 pin was filled, pc still isn’t starting

You realize you had cpu power split right? Half of it was in the 8 pin and the other half was in the extra 4 pin. You want both of the cpu power 4 pins inside the same 8 pin header, leave the extra 4 pin out of it. Is it plugged in properly yet?

 

[R-T-B]

You realize you had cpu power split right? Half of it was in the 8 pin and the other half was in the extra 4 pin. You want both of the cpu power 4 pins inside the same 8 pin header, leave the extra 4 pin out of it. Is it plugged in properly yet?

Indeed. In the state photographed, it could produce behavior similar to what he is describing.

 

[Chomiq]

I'm checking out, good luck.

 

[Zareek]

The pc worked before applying new thermal paste.... why would all of a sudden wiring be an issue?

Only because the cables where unplugged before removing the HSF.

 

[xrror]

So I've just noticed in the pictures you've sent... where are the screws that normally attach the motherboard to the case via standoffs?

EDIT: actually, where are the standoffs? (okay I see some, but not say for the ones around the ATX power).
Actually I don't see any for the upper mounts.... eeek

 

[Mussels]

The pc worked before applying new thermal paste.... why would all of a sudden wiring be an issue?

Because some people remove wires to get room to work on coolers. Not everyone has neat and tidy wiring, and making assumptions about what people have done is a bad idea.

Literally every time we have someone come on the forum saying "i only did X and it broke" we find out they did X, Y, Z and half the greek alphabet and ASSUMED it was X that broke it - as an example, the CMOS issues and a badly done 8 pin cable certainly could cause no boot issues and we were unaware of those.

So I've just noticed in the pictures you've sent... where are the screws that normally attach the motherboard to the case via standoffs?

EDIT: actually, where are the standoffs? (okay I see some, but not say for the ones around the ATX power).
Actually I don't see any for the upper mounts.... eeek

Oh god you're right, half of them are standoffs with no screws and the others have no standoffs :O

 

[Toothless]

Are we sure the switch on the PSU wasn't bumped where it plugs in?

 

[AlexKedz]

Because some people remove wires to get room to work on coolers. Not everyone has neat and tidy wiring, and making assumptions about what people have done is a bad idea.

Literally every time we have someone come on the forum saying "i only did X and it broke" we find out they did X, Y, Z and half the greek alphabet and ASSUMED it was X that broke it - as an example, the CMOS issues and a badly done 8 pin cable certainly could cause no boot issues and we were unaware of those.



Oh god you're right, half of them are standoffs with no screws and the others have no standoffs :O

yeah lol i ran out of screws

 

[Mussels]

That's uhhh.... concerning. the lack of standoffs is a serious issue too, as no case should have too few of those out of the box.

 

[AlexKedz]

That's uhhh.... concerning. the lack of standoffs is a serious issue too, as no case should have too few of those out of the box.

i believe the previous owner had just lost them

 

[xrror]

i believe the previous owner had just lost them

Okay so first, thanks for staying with us - I say that cause sometimes when new peeps come in with computer problems, some answers can come off unintentionally abrasive.

Anyway - 2nd. Thanks for posting pics. So many times we get questions about problems, then we be nice hoping for a pic. Then someone asks for a pic. And then we never hear anything again.

Okay so that big ramble was me trying to soften the blow.

I'm assuming someone built this machine for you? Or you bought it from someone? In either case, they.... to be nice... was it also their first build?

Motherboard standoffs are one of those things that - seriously - gets overlooked by EVERY build guide, and its SUPER UBER COMMON for first time builders to overlook because it's not obvious at all what those brass things are for that came with the case. To add to the confusion there are some cases that don't use them! But it's one of those things that... seems forgotten to mention in build guides because experienced builders it's easy to overlook them as "oh yea those of course do X" but for first time builders there's no way they'd know that. And they really are critical.... but as a first time builder, again how would you know????

But in your case... it's even more confusing! Obviously the prior builder knew enough to put SOME in... but... not all of them? More scary is - so okay on an average computer case that has standoffs - the case is made to be universal and accommodate mounting several different sizes of motherboards. Well, it's possible to put standoffs in places where a given board doesn't have a hole... which means you have a brass metal standoff against the back of your motherboard - and if there happen to be conductive traces there - it's a short.

The second death is... so many times the screws you would normally use to secure the motherboard into a brass standoff (depends on case)... commonly those screws can be the same threading as what the standoff uses to screw into the case backpanel itself (the motherboard tray). Which in english means if you forget the standoff entirely the screws will quite happily thread the motherboard directly into the metal of the case's motherboard tray itself. That's also a direct short (plus flexing the board) ... BUT... you might get lucky if the motherboard tray is painted... but that paint won't last long at all if the motherboard moves around, and those spikey solder points grind their way through.

And that's a long way to say I think that might of happened to you.

I think when you first got the computer, whoever assembled it got lucky - because of how precariously the mobo is mounted when you went to take the heatsink off that was probably enough flex to scrape through that thin paint layer and cause all hell to break loose.

And again, that's not your fault - someone put that system together wrong.

ALSO the fact you were having CMOS/BIOS/UEFI problems - that's a classic symptom of the board being shorted out somewhere which... 90% is caused by shitty mounting.

So... to try and fix your problem.

First off, because we can't trust that the original builder didn't put standoffs in places they shouldn't be, you need to pull the motherboard out. If you need more info on that, please ask here for more info.

2nd I'd go kick the shit out of whoever lost the standoffs, screws, for your case Depending on what you find, well first thing is powering up the guts of your system OUTSIDE of the case to make sure it's still alive.

Okay so I'll stop here. I've gone on enough and I think the alcohol is interacting a bit much for me as I think about whoever assembled this system for you f*cked you over must have misplaced like 15 parts of your case.

The good part is there are cheap ATX mounting standoff kits you can buy, and there's a fair chance your motherboard still is okay - but the fact that your computer currently shuts immediatly off means hopefully your power supply's anti-suicide protection is kicking in and things are still trying to work - but it also means your PSU's suicide protection is kicking in! Which if you do that enough times something is going to pop!

Anyways hopefully others here can chime in and verify a good plan of action. Seeing those mounts though, you gotta pull that board (again, if you need/want help ask! It's easy and honestly you're gonna be more knowledgeble about the system than the builder was at this point!!!)

PS - last bit added. Okay so out of paranoia, wanted to add if it happened to be YOU were the one that assembled the machine - totally ignore my anger above and give yourself a high five for ballerin' it and putting a system together. The anger would only be if someone put this together and ran - which I doubt. If it's more something like a helpful relative or friend doing this in good faith that's all chill, and honestly the fact that the system ran at all originally just shows how robust PC hardware is nowadays.

 

[Mussels]

The brief version of above would be: we've found things that may not be the cause for your problem now, but very likely could cause problems in the future... in the case of standoffs, a snapped motherboard or electrical short could fry the whole system.

It may be time to buy or find some standoffs and screws, and do a rebuild of the PC to prevent further problems.

 

[biffzinker]

electrical short could fry the whole system.

The OP @AlexKedz doesn't have the motherboard properly grounded to the case's backplane with only a few standoffs holding the board inside the case. The grounding circuit to the power supply is incomplete.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

Because some people remove wires to get room to work on coolers. Not everyone has neat and tidy wiring, and making assumptions about what people have done is a bad idea.

Literally every time we have someone come on the forum saying "i only did X and it broke" we find out they did X, Y, Z and half the greek alphabet and ASSUMED it was X that broke it - as an example, the CMOS issues and a badly done 8 pin cable certainly could cause no boot issues and we were unaware of those.



Oh god you're right, half of them are standoffs with no screws and the others have no standoffs :O

Thanks for the detailed answer. I was expecting that.

It was a CPU power cable supply for a 3200g. It would matter NOT where he plugged in the cpu power.

And first suggestion would be clear cmos, which I dont believe was covered by anyone after a quick breeze through the thread.

Standoffs missing would only be of concern IF he bent the board and cracked the PCB or shorted it. How many times have we seen missing standoffs actually be an issue unless the board was screwed right to the case.

A good cpu reseat and clear cmos wouldn't hurt I dont think.

However I agree people do more than they say, I call that benefit of the doubt more so than jump to conclusions, but who's got time for word play?

 

[delshay]

@OP

This computer still not booting after all this time.

I would remove the motherboard & put it on a low profile cardboard box. Plug-in monitor, PSU, keyboard, mouse CPU & just one memory stick, leaving out all other external devices just to see if I can get a boot screen menu. You can short the two pins required on the motherboard to start power-up with a small screwdriver.

The reason I say this, is because it looks like you may have missing standoff & you may have shorted or cracked solder joints if you have tighten the screws all the way down not knowing some standoff were missing. Personally I can't tell if you have missing standoff. So lets check if you can see anything on your monitor.

But before you take the computer completely apart, can you disconnect all SATA cables & use just one memory stick to see if you can get to the boot screen or some kind of display output.

 

[jayseearr]

Thanks for the detailed answer. I was expecting that.

It was a CPU power cable supply for a 3200g. It would matter NOT where he plugged in the cpu power.

And first suggestion would be clear cmos, which I dont believe was covered by anyone after a quick breeze through the thread.

Standoffs missing would only be of concern IF he bent the board and cracked the PCB or shorted it. How many times have we seen missing standoffs actually be an issue unless the board was screwed right to the case.

A good cpu reseat and clear cmos wouldn't hurt I dont think.

However I agree people do more than they say, I call that benefit of the doubt more so than jump to conclusions, but who's got time for word play?

Don't kid yourself, if you had time to ask a disingenuous question such as " why would wiring be an issue" then you also have time for "word play" Second of all why on earth would you say it wouldn't matter how the cpu power is hooked up? that's ridiculous, it's designed to be put in one way and was installed incorrectly.

 

[Assimilator]

Not having enough standoffs for all screw holes in the board, or not having the board screwed into all of them, won't cause grounding issues.

But if there are standoffs in places that there shouldn't be, or they are missing and the weight of components is pushing the board to touch the case, then yes your board will be improperly grounded.

 

[Mussels]

If you're messing around with heavy components like heatsinks you can bend the board and outright break it, is the bigger concern.
I dont mean visibly snap half the mobo off, i mean break internal traces in a way you cant visibly see.

 

[Assimilator]

If you're messing around with heavy components like heatsinks you can bend the board and outright break it, is the bigger concern.
I dont mean visibly snap half the mobo off, i mean break internal traces in a way you cant visibly see.

Haven't used air coolers in years, or ever installed a mobo without all standoffs, so that (horrifying) probability never crossed my mind.

 

[delshay]

Not having enough standoffs for all screw holes in the board, or not having the board screwed into all of them, won't cause grounding issues.

But if there are standoffs in places that there shouldn't be, or they are missing and the weight of components is pushing the board to touch the case, then yes your board will be improperly grounded.

I would not be so sure of what you are saying. Not having standoff in some parts would make it difficult to screw the motherboard down. If there are standoff in four corners this would be fine, but if it's missing completely on one side
any though-hole component will puncher the chassis coating which acts as an insulator & cause a short circuit to ground.

Like I said, I can't tell if any standoff is missing, but because this threat is getting long let's see if the OP can even see a boot logo with all external devices disconnected barring mouse & keyboard.