Good hardware repair guy - JHB

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BCO

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My wife's PC won't start up, and after a bit of investigation it seems like it's either the PSU or the motherboard (duh). I took the machine to the Matrix down the road from us, and they reckon it's the motherboard. I'm not entirely convinced with their diagnosis though, as they also tried to sell us a new PSU as well.

Can anyone recommend a reputable hardware technician in JHB to give us a 2nd opinion?
 
If you were in Pta I'd help you.

You don't know anyone else that you can swap hardware out with?
 
Gnome said:
If you were in Pta I'd help you.

You don't know anyone else that you can swap hardware out with?
Click to expand...

My PC - but that would impinge on my starcraft 2 time :p

You have a point though, perhaps I must make the sacrifice for the missus.
 
more details

the machine would not switch on
the mobo light was flashing so after some research I found out that this means there is an overcurrent on the +5vdc standby power bus. I removed the mobo and plugged in another power supply and it litup just fine (no flashing). (my machine was in pieces at that time so all that was plugged in was the mobo and power - so i have no idea if it actually works). We took it to matrix but they reckon it is the mobo and not the power supply.
I'm kinda confused now.
 
Last edited:
Electrra said:
the machine would not switch on
the mobo light was flashing so after some research I found out that this means there is an overcurrent on the +5vdc standby power bus. I removed the mobo and plugged in another power supply and it light up just fine (no flashing). (my machine was in pieces at that time so all that was plugged in was the mobo and power - so i have no idea if it actually works). We took it to matrix but they reckon it is the mobo and not the power supply.
I'm kinda confused now.
Click to expand...

*waves* Hi, love :D
 
So it works if you start up with another PSU? Which PSU? (the original not the swap out).

100 minutes of Prime95 torture test should confirm if the motherboard is still ok. Just put another PSU in there, test, if it passes then it is almost certainly the PSU.
 
haven't tested if it actually works with another psu yet - just tested that the mobo light was stable with another psu. The original is an antec truepower trio 650 and the test was some random 550w. Just downloaded the prime95 and will test tonight with a 750w antec psu
 
Electrra said:
haven't tested if it actually works with another psu yet - just tested that the mobo light was stable with another psu. The original is an antec truepower trio 650 and the test was some random 550w. Just downloaded the prime95 and will test tonight with a 750w antec psu
Click to expand...

Best way really to fix these problems is to DIY it. Most places don't want to spend too much time on a single computer. If you don't mind spending, eg. your time is more valuable than the money you would be spending, then stores (like Matrix) are fine.

But before I eat some humble pie, lets see if it isn't indeed the motherboard :p
 
BCO said:
My wife's PC won't start up, and after a bit of investigation it seems like it's either the PSU or the motherboard (duh). I took the machine to the Matrix down the road from us, and they reckon it's the motherboard. I'm not entirely convinced with their diagnosis though, as they also tried to sell us a new PSU as well.

Can anyone recommend a reputable hardware technician in JHB to give us a 2nd opinion?
Click to expand...

Its not cost effective to repair a PC just replace the faulty component This is why i only sell brandnames with a 3y warranty
 
F111 said:
Its not cost effective to repair a PC just replace the faulty component This is why i only sell brandnames with a 3y warranty
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Agreed, I was talking about a repair guy to diagnose the problem, not to repair the part.
 
Get yourself one of these and test the PSU :

x_psu_tester.jpg
 
well i put my power supply into bco's machine and it booted just fine. played some lotro on max graphics and there was no problem.
then i connected my motherboard + OS hard drive + graphics card + ram + keyboard + mouse + monitor to his power supply and the mobo light comes on just fine
but after connecting my power on switch to the board and pressing it nothing happens so i can't even run a test on the mobo to see if is the mobo
I even tried connecting his power on switch thinking maybe it was the switch itself but no luck
interestingly enough with his psu the mobo light does not flash but is steady unlike when i plug in my psu the mobo light flashes
i've checked that all the components are well seated
i just don't want to get a new mobo and it turns out it is the cpu
the ram is brand new and the graphics card is brand new
 
Electrra said:
well i put my power supply into bco's machine and it booted just fine. played some lotro on max graphics and there was no problem.
then i connected my motherboard + OS hard drive + graphics card + ram + keyboard + mouse + monitor to his power supply and the mobo light comes on just fine
but after connecting my power on switch to the board and pressing it nothing happens so i can't even run a test on the mobo to see if is the mobo
I even tried connecting his power on switch thinking maybe it was the switch itself but no luck
interestingly enough with his psu the mobo light does not flash but is steady unlike when i plug in my psu the mobo light flashes
i've checked that all the components are well seated
i just don't want to get a new mobo and it turns out it is the cpu
the ram is brand new and the graphics card is brand new
Click to expand...

Where was bco when you were doing all this?
 
Electrra said:
well i put my power supply into bco's machine and it booted just fine. played some lotro on max graphics and there was no problem.
Click to expand...

So it's not the PSU....

then i connected my motherboard + OS hard drive + graphics card + ram + keyboard + mouse + monitor to his power supply and the mobo light comes on just fine
but after connecting my power on switch to the board and pressing it nothing happens so i can't even run a test on the mobo to see if is the mobo
Click to expand...

it's the motherboard.
 
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