MB/CPU diagnostic help

[GerryE]

I just built an HTPC. I converted a working PCs guts to do it. It ran fine for a day, then it started randomly shutting down. After about 30 minutes it shut down and tried to reboot itself, but it would shut down immediately and cycle through the process again and again without success. I immediately thought heat or PSU. I swapped the PSU and got the same result. I installed Speedfan to monitor the temps and they were all blue (around 30 degrees C) right up until shutdown.

I took everything out until all that was left was the MB & CPU (no HDD or SSD or cards) and RAM. I alternated the RAM sticks (I have 2) in different slots with the same result. I uninstalled and reinstalled the MB in case something was shorted. I pulled the heatsink and reapplied thermal paste (after cleaning).

It will now run for a limited time (5-10 minutes) then start the rebooting sequence all over again.

The MB is an Asrock H67M-GE and the CPU is an i3-2105.

I'm looking for any suggestions, because I have run out of ideas.

Thanks.

 

[GerryE]

Hi, it seems that you already did mostly everything to test. Reload the optimized defaults in the bios, save settings and exit, if still an issue, clear the CMOS and reload the optimized defaults again after that. Have a look at the following guide for troubleshooting: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-boot-video-problems
If you still can't get it to work properly, then the motherboard, memory or some component shorted out or got damaged during the re-build, unfortunately this happens, hopefully not.

Well, I was all set to flash the BIOS. I downloaded the most recent one, unzipped it to a thumb drive and booted the computer and ... nothing. Fans whir, lights light, but no activity. I think the MB is cooked.

 

[GerryE]

I'm sorry to hear about that, did you have a look at the troubleshooting guide? If you did the board my have unfortunately died on you. Remember to always make sure that the mounting holes on the board aligns with the mounting holes in the case, and that the clips/pins on the IO shield does not get into the usb connectors etc. and the screws should be screwed in only finger tight.

Yeah, I had gone through the troubleshooting guide prior to posting and I was careful with mounting because by then I was hoping that I had shorted something on one of the stand offs. Looks like it's replace time. Thanks for your ideas. I appreciate the effort.