Computer won't boot, fans stall, no POST

[Ach-och]

Last night, I came back to my computer after several hours of doing other things to find the the self-analysis program blaring an alarm sound because it felt that my (CPU, I think it said) fan was going dangerously fast. So I force-quit the computer and cleaned up the some the vents (and yes, I will finishing cleaning it later).

Afterwards, it would not start. If I press the power button, the power LED begins to flash at regular intervals, doesn't seem to stop. I have to unplug the computer/switch off the power supply, and even then it lasts for a couple more iterations. When I *do* press power, one chassis fan (but not the other two), the north bridge fan and the CPU fan start spinning (fast enough to blur), then give up and stop. The motherboard's light doesn't turn on, there are no beeps, and no POST.

So...what is the problem? Is it something I can fix merely with cleaning? Would it be worthwhile to reset BIOS/clear CMOS? With something else? Or is it indicative of a defective component?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Vaanish]

Is the heatsink seated properly? It may have come loose and be overheating before it has time to POST.

 

[phucng_10]

Try to check and see if you seated your heatsink correctly. If you take it out, you're probably going to have to put a new pad of thermal paste on from what I've heard.

 

[Ach-och]

I removed and replaced the heat sink, but the problem persists. Is there anything else I can try?

 

[sPlAtOiD]

I would try the bios reset cant hurt at this point.

 

[Ach-och]

Didn't help.

 

[SYL\X/3K]

read my sticky under my signature

 

[kentilla]

i would say it's the psu that's gone.... i've had a few pc's like this, you hit the on button and the on light flashes and sometimes sounds a quiet clicking noise... all the time i've had this i've replaced the psu and it's worked... dont think the bios would have anything to do with it