[SOLVED] Help, Desktop won't boot

[aradiel]

Bit of a strange one this, but intermittently my desktop won't boot.

On Friday when powering on the computer, everything seemed fine at first - all the fans switched on, but the monitors didn't display anything and windows didn't make the startup sound.

On Saturday, everything works fine again. This is annoying as not only do I game on this, but my wife needs it to work during the pandemic.

I ran as many diagnostics as I could:
All hard drives have good SMART reports
The cpu diagnostic is good
Windows memory tests returned no faults

I don't know where any relevant logs would be (if there are any)

Most of the components are now a decade old (literally built this in 2011) do mobos/cpus/ram degrade over time?

I know these are simple and probably stupid questions, but I want to fix what is wrong rather than replace everything.

 

[Mohawmmad]

maybe take out CMOS and put it back and try again?

 

[iPeekYou]

What's your system specifications OP? If it's a system with both dedicated GPU and iGPU you can start by unplugging the dedicated and using the integrated one to see if it works.

 

[aradiel]

I had thought of that but when the issue occurred wasn't in the right mind to try. The issue with replacing anything at the moment is that since everything is currently working, I won't know that the issue is fixed (I will only know if it isn't when it happens again)

[edit] This is my current build:
GPU: Gigabyte GM206-300 Nvidia Geforce GTX 960
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 (with added ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO cooler)
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V LX
Memory: Crucial CT51264BA1339.M16F (4GB) x 2
PSU: Corsair 520 Modular Power Supply (it's Black/Yellow and not on PC Part Picker)
HDDS: Crucial CT500MX500SSD1, Western Digital WDC WD15EADS-00P8B0 & WDC WD20EARS-00J2GB0, KINGSTON SV200S3256G
Optical drives: Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S

 

[iPeekYou]

I had thought of that but when the issue occurred wasn't in the right mind to try. The issue with replacing anything at the moment is that since everything is currently working, I won't know that the issue is fixed (I will only know if it isn't when it happens again)

[edit] This is my current build:
GPU: Gigabyte GM206-300 Nvidia Geforce GTX 960
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 (with added ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO cooler)
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V LX
Memory: Crucial CT51264BA1339.M16F (4GB) x 2
PSU: Corsair 520 Modular Power Supply (it's Black/Yellow and not on PC Part Picker)
HDDS: Crucial CT500MX500SSD1, Western Digital WDC WD15EADS-00P8B0 & WDC WD20EARS-00J2GB0, KINGSTON SV200S3256G
Optical drives: Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S

True, the shotgun approach to parts is prohibitively wasteful. That's why I thought of eliminating one variable (GPU) to make sure of that. This is a bad time to be replacing PC parts, to boot.

You can try breadboarding it first, and booting with bare minimums: CPU, one stick of RAM, nothing else. You should see the BIOS startup if the core components are working.
Turn off, add the other RAM stick. If it didn't work, reseat the new RAM, or switch slots. Whichever then results in successful boot to BIOS.
Plug in the drives (including DVD drive) individually to check, and turn off for GPU installation then restart. At least we can work with removing variable by variable that way.
Also reset CMOS while you're at it since the system is disassembled anyway, or replace the CMOS battery as well, they're dirt cheap.

It can be a pain in the butt to really troubleshoot PCs, OP. Issues can happen from problems that don't seem to be related (had a short on GPU that killed USB front port, how dumb is that?) . The easy way to troubleshoot really is having a spare, known good system to cannibalize some parts off of. That way is, as mentioned, wasteful. Easy, though.