# Is my motherboard fried? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996 "2009-11-18T03:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996/1 "2009-11-18T03:47:29Z")
Hi! Jayjay here! You may remember me from such threads as [What Power Supply Should I Buy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=539570)! Anyway, I did order the correct power supply (fits the case perfectly), and all the fans work wonderfully, but I’m still not booting. I’m thinking that the old power supply took out other components when it died. My major concern is that it’s still not even booting the BIOS, which seems to me to mean that the motherboard is fucked. Since I’m not even getting to the point where the OS is booting, I don’t know if the hard drive is fried or not. What are the symptoms of a fried motherboard? I think if it IS the mb, I’m just going to give up and save for a new computer rather than spend any more money trying to animate this zombie corpse of a PC. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996/2 "2009-11-18T03:53:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Hi! Jayjay here! You may remember me from such threads as [What Power Supply Should I Buy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=539570)! > > Anyway, I did order the correct power supply (fits the case perfectly), and all the fans work wonderfully, but I’m still not booting. I’m thinking that the old power supply took out other components when it died. > > My major concern is that it’s still not even booting the BIOS, which seems to me to mean that the motherboard is fucked. Since I’m not even getting to the point where the OS is booting, I don’t know if the hard drive is fried or not. > > What are the symptoms of a fried motherboard? I think if it IS the mb, I’m just going to give up and save for a new computer rather than spend any more money trying to animate this zombie corpse of a PC. What is the board? Did you plug in all of the needed plugs? The little 4pin one by the CPU on a socket 775 board? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996/3 "2009-11-18T03:56:04Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > What is the board? > > Did you plug in all of the needed plugs? > > The little 4pin one by the CPU on a socket 775 board? Guide me…where do I look to see what board it is? It’s in an HP Pavilion ATX case, if that helps. As far as I know, I did. Both optical drives, the hard drive, the 20-pin (minus the detachable +4) and the foursquare. This PSU had two SATA plugs, also, but I have no SATA drives in this box. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996/4 "2009-11-18T04:16:35Z")
This [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11592738#post11592738)might help you- because in it I found out my Motherboard was fried, and there were some great suggestions in there. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-motherboard-fried/517996/5 "2009-11-18T15:55:17Z")
It’s very likely the motherboard, but it could also still be the power supply. The ratings on supplies can vary wildly depending on the manufacturer. If you got a really cheap “250W” PS it may not be putting out enough power on a particular voltage rail vs. a good PS that’s rated at 250W but actually puts out 300. Kinda like audio amplifier wattage ratings. Try starting with just the PS, MB, CPU, and one stick of RAM. If you have onboard video use that (remove the discreet card if you have one). Unplug everything else. If that doesn’t work move the RAM to another slot, and if that doesn’t work try again with a different stick (if you have one).