PC gets power, nothing happens

[jflash]

I recently rebuilt my old gaming p.c. and it used to be in working condition until I overclocked my processor and fried it so I just used another computer until I started playing high end games again.

About a week ago I received my new processor in the mail that I ordered to fix my gaming p.c. and installed it with a brand new heatsink made specifically for this processor so I would not overheat it again. Well everything ran smooth and my CPU was running around 45-50 degrees which was really good compared to before, so I had high hopes of this CPU lasting long enough for this machine. After playing with this computer for 2 or 3 days of running very well, suddenly it completely froze and everything locked up. I hit the power button and restarted it and when I did the power turned on but nothing appeared on the screen. There was nothing at all, I could not even get into bios, so I turned it off and unplugged all the cables going into the machine and tried again, nothing. After this I opened the case and made sure all the connections were working and turned on the p.c. and watched, everything was working, all the fans and heatsinks were running.

I get no POST messages or beeps so I think it is either the CPU (which I highly believe it is not because it was running cool and NOT overclocked) or my power supply. I have a 400w power supply and I have about 4 fans cooling the case, a heatsink fan on the CPU, and a heatsink fan on the videocard, the only other power is put into the harddrive. I figured this power supply was always strong enough but I am not sure, is there a way to tell how much power each fan takes, maybe I need a higher power supply? I am hoping it is not my CPU overheated again, this CPU was (OEM) but it seemed to be working perfectly, the OEM is the only thing I could think of it being bad.

Also I hooked up my harddrive to another PC so I could continue playing my games on it, and the harddrive would not boot it was asking to start windows in safe mode or normally and I tried both which would just reset my computer, I was thinking of reformatting, but I have done it twice to this harddrive in the past 2 weeks.


Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[jeremy]

provide full system specs including psu brand/model , and FYI the wattage doesnt mean much at all its the amper rating & price that matters and of course if the ratings are good enough to power up the entire system in a stable manner

check the mobo for bad capacitors and better use a flashlight as its kinda dark in there , see examples
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195
http://home.earthlink.net/~doniteli/index27.htm
if youll find any rma if still under warranty , otherwise just have em replaced at some electronic repair shop or get a new one

if the capacitors looks *healthy* then
try resetting the cmos , unplug the power cord and take out the battery for 1 hour , then put it back (its important to put it back exactly as it was and not upside down) , plug the power cord & power up

if its not a capacitors issue and resetting the cmos didnt help then i suggest youll get a digital multimeter ,their pretty cheap , adjust it to 20 DCV (direct current voltage) and measure the psu voltages with it , have a look at these guides
http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt.html
http://www.driverheaven.net/guides/testingPSU/
report back with the voltages , then ill be able to determine if its the psu or mobo at fault

edit were you gaming just before it froze?

edit2 as for the hd thats normal , when you install windows it gets *locked* on the hardware , so its natural that it wont boot on another pc

edit3 what do you mean by "the only other power is put into the harddrive."? , are you saying that only the hd is getting power ? and your other drives/fans dont get power? if thats what your saying then its defintly the psu , just provide system specs & country and ill recommend a good psu & a store to get it from