Question Experiencing various issues with my PC - it began with the PC restarting at random and then failing to connect to the monitor on reboot.

[Eyvind Lamb]

About a week ago, I started having issues with my PC. It would randomly reboot and load up as normal until it got to the login screen and then the screen would go blank (but the machine was still on). If I turned it off and on again it would boot up as normal but after a while would reboot at random and I'd have the same problem.

After this went on for a few days, I opened it up and gave it a good clean with a compressed air canister to get rid of any dust buildup. Then, when I tried booting it again, the fans would make an extremely loud noise and it'd turn off quite soon after login. I took the side off and tried cleaning the fans to see if that would help. The PC then turned on but the fans were so loud that I turned it off because it sounded like it was about to explode.

Since that point, whenever I turn it on, it doesn't even display on my monitor at all. Any help would be appreciated because I really have no idea where to start.

It's a Dell T3600 with 16GB RAM, 256GB SDD, 2TB HDD, an oldish CPU, and a GTX 3060. Not sure about the rest, the motherboard and PSU just came with the desktop and I'm not sure whether they're replaceable.

Cheers!

 

[Ralston18]

How old is the PC? Heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

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Power down, unplug, open the case.

Use a bright flashlight and take a closer look at the motherboard and PSU.

You should be able to find the make and model information for both components.

Also double check by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place.

My immediate thought is that the PSU is failing. More information needed.

 

[Eyvind Lamb]

I've had the PC for about a year but it's a decent bit older than that. My mate is an IT Technician so he got it from work, not sure how old it is altogether. I use it daily for GPU mining and gaming.

I had a look but couldn't see the make or model for the CPU. I might be looking in the wrong place but it looks like the fan is mounted directly over the CPU.

The PSU details are as follows:

Specification
Coin-cell battery	3 V CR2032 lithium coin cell
Voltage	100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 5.0 A
Wattage	425W (input voltage of 100-240 VAC)
Maximum heat dissipation--calculated using the power supply wattage rating	425 W: 1450.10 BTU/hr

I checked for connections and everything seems fine. I even moved the GPU to another slot.

I then tried booting again - it turned on this time and connected but I had the same issue with the fan (I think mounted above the CPU) sounding like a jet engine taking off.