Question Help me give a dinosaur CPR! (Unknown PSU/Mobo/GPU issue preventing boot. DONE THE CHECKLIST!)

Mar 25, 2023
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Hey guys, I wanted to see if anyone could maybe help me with an issue with my old (OLLLLLDDDD) franken-puter. I built this thing it feels like a million years ago. I pulled it out of storage to dust it off and get it running, get some old files off of it, check for bitcoin wallets I’ve forgotten...you know, the usual.

Here’s what I’m working with (remember it’s a dinosaur’s great-grandfather):
  • Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 motherboard (USB 3.0)
  • Coolermaster CM690II case
  • GeForce GTX660Ti GPU
  • Thermaltake (I BELIEVE) TR2 600w power supply.
This thing has been a beast for years before I started using my laptop and left it in storage. I’ve cleaned all of the dust that I could out of the nooks and crannies, and it’s actually pretty clean in there. Cleaner than the last time I ran it.

BUT, the thing won’t boot. Straight out of storage it was spinning up for a few seconds then powering off. Nothing on the monitor. It gets a signal momentarily but nothing shows up, then the monitor says it’s entering standby mode.

I disconnected and reconnected and made sure everything was seated properly. THEN, I tried starting it without the GPU installed. The mobo has no onboard graphics, so obviously I couldn’t see anything, but it spun up and stayed on for the whole time.

I reinstalled the GPU, same thing happened. THEN I tried a different PCIEX16 slot (this mobo has 4, 3 of which can be accessed by the double height GPU. It started up fine with it in another slot! BUT, still nothing on the monitor via HDMI cable.

So I left it overnight, then got back into it today. Today, that trick isn’t working anymore. Now, it shuts down after a few seconds no matter what PCIE slot it’s in, it shuts down without it installed at all. I’ve tried regular button pushes and the Direct Key (which I have linked to my reset button).

This setup ran just fine with all its existing parts for years. Sooooo....what do you think is failing? You think it’s the power supply going bad and losing voltage? Unfortunately I don’t have a chassis speaker hooked up (no clue where it ran off to, it’s separate from the case/mobo) to see if it’s even trying to POST.

Since it’s now doing it regardless of which PCIE slot it’s in, and also when there’s no GPU installed, I guess we can maybe rule out the GPU? So....either the mobo or the PSU? I don’t have testing tools, I don’t have a second monitor, and honestly I don’t want to dump a bunch of money into a fossil.

Is there any way to narrow down what might be the issue? I’ve tried clearing the CMOS with the jumper, I’ve tried the regular power button, I’ve tried the BIOS boot button, and now nothing even though yesterday it was fine.

Is it possible for all of the PCIE slots to be fried? Is it possible the power supply is slowly failing? I’ve got it plugged straight into the wall instead of a surge protector.

Thanks in advance for helpin’ a lady out!
 
Hey guys, I wanted to see if anyone could maybe help me with an issue with my old (OLLLLLDDDD) franken-puter. I built this thing it feels like a million years ago. I pulled it out of storage to dust it off and get it running, get some old files off of it, check for bitcoin wallets I’ve forgotten...you know, the usual.

Here’s what I’m working with (remember it’s a dinosaur’s great-grandfather):
  • Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 motherboard (USB 3.0)
  • Coolermaster CM690II case
  • GeForce GTX660Ti GPU
  • Thermaltake (I BELIEVE) TR2 600w power supply.
This thing has been a beast for years before I started using my laptop and left it in storage. I’ve cleaned all of the dust that I could out of the nooks and crannies, and it’s actually pretty clean in there. Cleaner than the last time I ran it.

BUT, the thing won’t boot. Straight out of storage it was spinning up for a few seconds then powering off. Nothing on the monitor. It gets a signal momentarily but nothing shows up, then the monitor says it’s entering standby mode.

I disconnected and reconnected and made sure everything was seated properly. THEN, I tried starting it without the GPU installed. The mobo has no onboard graphics, so obviously I couldn’t see anything, but it spun up and stayed on for the whole time.

I reinstalled the GPU, same thing happened. THEN I tried a different PCIEX16 slot (this mobo has 4, 3 of which can be accessed by the double height GPU. It started up fine with it in another slot! BUT, still nothing on the monitor via HDMI cable.

So I left it overnight, then got back into it today. Today, that trick isn’t working anymore. Now, it shuts down after a few seconds no matter what PCIE slot it’s in, it shuts down without it installed at all. I’ve tried regular button pushes and the Direct Key (which I have linked to my reset button).

This setup ran just fine with all its existing parts for years. Sooooo....what do you think is failing? You think it’s the power supply going bad and losing voltage? Unfortunately I don’t have a chassis speaker hooked up (no clue where it ran off to, it’s separate from the case/mobo) to see if it’s even trying to POST.

Since it’s now doing it regardless of which PCIE slot it’s in, and also when there’s no GPU installed, I guess we can maybe rule out the GPU? So....either the mobo or the PSU? I don’t have testing tools, I don’t have a second monitor, and honestly I don’t want to dump a bunch of money into a fossil.

Is there any way to narrow down what might be the issue? I’ve tried clearing the CMOS with the jumper, I’ve tried the regular power button, I’ve tried the BIOS boot button, and now nothing even though yesterday it was fine.

Is it possible for all of the PCIE slots to be fried? Is it possible the power supply is slowly failing? I’ve got it plugged straight into the wall instead of a surge protector.

Thanks in advance for helpin’ a lady out!
Psu+mobo+cpu/hsf nothing else connected.

Does it power up and stay up?
 
Mar 25, 2023
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Psu+mobo+cpu/hsf nothing else connected.

Does it power up and stay up?

It's running right now. no drives via SATA, no USB connectors, no PCI cards. just mobo power, case fans and the i/o connector. now i'm REALLY confused, because the only thing that really changed was the sata drives.
 
Mar 25, 2023
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Power up and down a few times if it continues to work start adding stuff back a piece at a time.

That's exactly what I just did. Now I'm TOTALLY stumped because I've reconnected everything that I had connected when it wouldn't stay running. And I SWEAR everything was properly seated. I checked all of them a half dozen times. the only thing I have out at this point is the PCIE cards. Thoughts?
 
Mar 25, 2023
5
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10
Just keep adding stuff a piece at a time see what the results are.

So, I've added things one at a time, and the only time it won't boot is when the GPU is connected to any PCIe slot on the mobo.

It actually booted for about 30 seconds today and shut down after that, and I could see the boot screen on the monitor before it shut down.

So the GPU triggers it but I still don't know what's failed....

Is the graphics card bad?
Is the power supply down on power so the needs of the graphics card bring everything down?
Is the motherboard bad because of a fault in the pcie?

I don't want to replace a bunch of parts, I just want to get it running for the moment and build something new in the next year, so I don't really want to buy 3 components for architecture that's years out of date. Any ideas?

Thank you all!!!
 
So, I've added things one at a time, and the only time it won't boot is when the GPU is connected to any PCIe slot on the mobo.

It actually booted for about 30 seconds today and shut down after that, and I could see the boot screen on the monitor before it shut down.

So the GPU triggers it but I still don't know what's failed....

Is the graphics card bad?
Is the power supply down on power so the needs of the graphics card bring everything down?
Is the motherboard bad because of a fault in the pcie?

I don't want to replace a bunch of parts, I just want to get it running for the moment and build something new in the next year, so I don't really want to buy 3 components for architecture that's years out of date. Any ideas?

Thank you all!!!
The only way your going to know is to swap parts
 
Mar 25, 2023
5
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The only way your going to know is to swap parts
Kinda what I figured. I was just hoping I had missed something that might clue in someone smarter than I am lol.

Any recommendations where to start, based on the symptoms? Probably a very basic video card I'd guess, so I can see what, if anything, the screen is doing lol