My second computer has an MSI P45 Neo board and today it would not boot up at all. I have tried power on off many times and it just recycles the power or the power stays on but nothing booting up. I have reset the CMOS, no joy. I have removed the video card and ram and when powered on there is no sound from the MB, I think there should be continuous beep. No other beeps on startup other than sound of HD turning. Any other test I should try ?Mark.

How do you check the voltages on the PSU ? Obviously the power supply is sufficient as I have had it for 5 years, not to say that something has gone wrong with it now.Mark.

So does the power light come on Mark? All I can tell from what you wrote is no beeps (which leads me to believe the Mobo is dead) and the HDD makes noise. Can you open the DVD drive? Is the screen blank?

Obviously this is before the time that motherboard manufacturers cared about the looks of their motherboards. If you have tried basically all other components then it is most likely a fault in the motherboard's posting sequence, well, that's my idea. Are you planning on fixing this computer or is it off to the junkyard if you have no luck?

I am planning to fix this computer. I use it as my networked computer with FSInn, REX, Charts, ACARS, etc. Definitely need it. So now the question is what is the cheapest way to fix it. I am thinking a G41 board and then 2 x 2MB for DDR3 ram. Does that sound right? My chip is C2D E6850.Mark.

What was your Vcore Mark?

I don't remember. I was running it with stock settings. Are you thinking its the chip ?Mark.

I don't remember. I was running it with stock settings. Are you thinking its the chip ?Mark.

I'm thinking if you take all RAM out but the motherboard doesn't beep (should be a continuous beep [you have a mobo speaker right?]) the MB or the CPU is dead.

Good question about the speaker. I have no idea if there is a mobo speaker on this thing. Guess I need to look into that. So I guess the question is, how can you tell whether its the CPU or the MB. I have read that taking off the heat sink and starting up the computer then touching the cpu to see if there is heat will confirm the CPU is working. This test is only for 5 seconds so you don't damage the CPU.Mark.

Good question about the speaker. I have no idea if there is a mobo speaker on this thing. Guess I need to look into that.So I guess the question is, how can you tell whether its the CPU or the MB. I have read that taking off the heat sink and starting up the computer then touching the cpu to see if there is heat will confirm the CPU is working. This test is only for 5 seconds so you don't damage the CPU.Mark.

Since you have no idea rather or not you have a speaker, you'll have to go the long way to troubleshoot! Check all cables are connected. Try booting with one stick of RAM in the correct single stick DIMM slot. (if one doesn't work, try the others until they're all tried). If that doesn't work, it's narrowed down to PSU/CPU/Mobo. PSUs fail more than MBs. MBs fail much, much more than CPUs. By the way, the warm CPU test is bogus. A bad CPU can and typically will be warm.You mentioned removing the discrete GPU, but did you connect your monitor to the Z68's port?

He said it was on his P45 so I don't think the onboard video port would be available. Here is what I would be doing. Try and fool the power supply by connecting the green and black on the 24 pin, look on google for more details. If you can power a few things like HDD, fans (I dont know what else you could try), then I would be ruling out the PSU. From what I have seen and done in the past is that a computer will do nothing if it has no CPU. So this, imo, brings it down to being a fault of the motherboard.

I have double checked the manual on the P45 Neo board and there is no on board speaker. There is also no speaker on my Antec case so I would have to buy one of those small speakers to test the if the board posts. That is probably where I will start. I really think the PSU is fine. I am getting power to the HDD, all case fans, CPU fan, I can open and close the DVD door and the DVD is spinning. So we are down to the CPU and MB and that will become clear once I get the speaker. Mark.

OK, here is the latest info:- I was getting intermittent power to the keyboard and mouse. I decided to check it it was the keyboard and used another keyboard I had lying around.- I was able to get the MB to post and got into the BIOS and after CMOS reset and I reconfigured everything.- After boot again I got as far as all kinds of crazy symbols on the screen. Perhaps HD failure?- Strange thing is that sometimes it boots, sometimes it does not. Sometimes I get USB and Keyboard power, other times I do not. Somtimes I get the main MB start screen, othertimes nothing. So does this mean its the PSU failing?Mark.

OK, here is the latest info:- I was getting intermittent power to the keyboard and mouse. I decided to check it it was the keyboard and used another keyboard I had lying around.- I was able to get the MB to post and got into the BIOS and after CMOS reset and I reconfigured everything.- After boot again I got as far as all kinds of crazy symbols on the screen. Perhaps HD failure?- Strange thing is that sometimes it boots, sometimes it does not. Sometimes I get USB and Keyboard power, other times I do not. Somtimes I get the main MB start screen, othertimes nothing. So does this mean its the PSU failing?Mark.

Have you tried different SATA ports for the HDD? You can also burn a CD with a Linux OS to see if the HDD is the problem: just unplug the HDD(s) and boot from the CDParted Magic for example

Went out an purchased a PSU tester. PSU is running fine. I think this is a MB problem as it will not post every time. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Anyway, next step is to replace the MB and see where that takes me.Mark.