It now looks as though my testing was wrong. Previously I just pulled the ATX cable and connected it to my PSU tester, and got no indication of power, but after pulling the PSU totally out, it now tests as okay. Now I've got to put it all back together again, and see what happens.
As far as cases go, the key is size, air flow and cable management. Brands are subject to trends and preferences. I use a full tower case, which has plenty of room for future components and water cooling if I wanted to go that route and plenty of options for cable management. My PSU is a fully modular PSU, which means I only use the cables I need, which helps with cable management and air flow. Here is my case and PSU.
Just some ideas for you....check out my full specs in my profile area under the information tab.
Case - Thermaltake Overseer RX1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133194
PSU - Ultra X4 750 watt full modular http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1583410
The only answer that I have to those questions now is the the computer was totally dead, so no BIOS, fans or anything else. Even if the motherboard had died, it seems as though I still should have gotten a power indication on the tester via the ATX cable.Not good...could mean either part of the mobo or the whole mobo has died or the CPU has died. Do you have a back up or can barrow one for testing? Once the PSU is back in, does it boot to the BIOS and into the OS?
The only answer that I have to those questions now is the the computer was totally dead, so no BIOS, fans or anything else. Even if the motherboard had died, it seems as though I still should have gotten a power indication on the tester via the ATX cable.
Either is possible, but the question now is how to determine which? I guess it would be a safe bet that it is the PSU, if it still won't power on after reassembly...unless if it's possible that one of the other output cables I had left connected before caused the problem by way of some kind of short in the motherboard?Yes, you should have....which tells me either the tester is bad or more then likely the PSU is bad.