Question Monitor froze, went black, and now won't start back up

Jul 25, 2020
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Yesterday evening my PC experienced an issue when the screen froze for a few seconds and then went black as the monitor seemed to lose connection to the PC. The PC was still running, so I shut it off manually through the power button. Upon restarting it, the problem persisted and I also noticed that my peripheral devices (keyboard+mouse) did not light up as they usually do.

Today I have spent several hours trying to find the issue. I have swapped around my two sticks of RAM and had them put in on their own, I've tried swapping out the GPU for another one that I managed to borrow off a friend, and I've tried resetting my motherboard by taking the battery out for an hour or so. Of course I have also tried using a different monitor, which did not work.

When I power on the PC everything looks completely normal inside it, all the fans are running as they should, and no lighting is displayed abnormally from what I can see. Even though everything is apperently getting power, could it be the PSU perhaps? I'm guessing it's either the PSU or the motherboard as I've basically checked everything else. I've never had to troubleshoot either before though, and am not sure how I would do it.

Worth mentioning is that I do have an older PSU lying around ("Silver Power 500W SP-SS500") which I purchased some 10 years ago, but it was fully functional when I last used it 3-4 months back. Could I simply swap the one I am using for this and see if it makes a difference?

I bought the hardware from different websites and assembled the PC myself about 3 months back, and I did notice a while ago that there is a high pithed noise that originates from somewhere in the lower parts of the PC when I run certain software/games. It does not seem to be graphically heavy software that causes it, but it always seems to be the same programs that causes the issue. I'm not entirely certain, but I think the noise has been coming from the PSU.

I'll leave a list of my current specs below:
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO MAX
RAM: 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 3600 MHz
GPU: XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II PRO
SSD: Crucial MX500 500GB
PSU: Corsair CV650

Any help would be much appreciated.
 

ProgamerIV

Distinguished
Nov 6, 2011
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Sure, you can test the old PSU with this system if it was working well when you took it out.

If the noise came from the PSU, then that's already a sign to check up on it.

I had this kind of issue way back with an FX-8350 and some weak motherboard, the CPU's extreme heat was too much for the mobo's VRMs. The R5 3600 would not cause this kind of problem for such a motherboard, though, so I wouldn't say it's the same. Just the symptoms.
 
Jul 25, 2020
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Sure, you can test the old PSU with this system if it was working well when you took it out.

If the noise came from the PSU, then that's already a sign to check up on it.

I had this kind of issue way back with an FX-8350 and some weak motherboard, the CPU's extreme heat was too much for the mobo's VRMs. The R5 3600 would not cause this kind of problem for such a motherboard, though, so I wouldn't say it's the same. Just the symptoms.
Thanks, I'll double check that the old PSU still works since my old PC is still intact beside having no OS. But if all looks good I know I can safely try changing them to see if I can make it work. Fortunately I have a warranty on the new PSU, so I really just need to verify whether that's the problem or not.

Do you mean you had an issue with a high pitched noised similar to what I'm describing but it was originating from your mobo? I can't say for sure that's not where the sound is coming from, it just seems to be originating from the PSU but it's a bit tricky localising honestly.
 
As your USB devices are now not lit up, we will all hope this is/was just the PSU giving up the ghost, and, it's where most would start, as it would need to be ruled out first...

If/when you put in a new PSU, do NOT attempt to use/mix modular cables between the old PSU and the replacement. (DIferent pinouts at at PSU insertion points make this disastrous to anything they are connected to, as many have discovered the hard way in the past, losing multiple drives/SSDs at the very instant of power on!)
 
Jul 25, 2020
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Alright, so I have a bit of an update on the situation. I successfully detached all of the cables and took the malfunctioning 650W PSU out of the system. I then put in the 500W PSU that I had in my old PC (which I double checked was still working by firing up the old PC earlier). The monitor did not seem to respond for around 5-10 seconds, and then it lit up and the PC seemed to be starting up as usual.

I had a message pop up saying either the CPU/RAM has been changed around, or the CMOS has been cleared (as expected, seeing as I previously had indeed cleared the CMOS), and I had to choose between going into BIOS to change settings, or start it up with the previous settings. I chose to start it up with the previous settings and the PC continued starting up in a usual manner, for about 20 seconds. Then, it froze. I left it for a minute or so just to verify that it was not just temporary, and then continued by shutting it off manually on the power button. Again, I tried restarting it and the old issue was back (monitor, mouse, and keyboard would not seem to connect). Again, I tried restarting the PC and this time the monitor worked as intended again. However, I had to make a choice of either entering BIOS or starting up as usual again, but the keyboard did not seem to connect and I therefore could not click anything. I restarted and yet again, the monitor did not work properly.

This is all looking pretty strange to me. What I am currently thinking is if it is possible that it is indeed the PSU that is faulty, but that the change in power between the two PSUs I have tried (one being 500W and the other one being 650W) might be too much. That the 500W PSU does not have enough power to give to all the components simultaneously. Could this be a possible explanation or does anyone have any idea as to what else could be causing the PC to malfunction like this?
 
Jul 25, 2020
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DId you managed to find the root cause of the problem?
Unfortunately not. After more troubleshooting it seems that my motherboard is faulty, however I suspect that this might be due to the PSU. I have currently sent the motherboard back and cannot really verify anything at the moment though unfortunately.
 
Oct 8, 2020
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Unfortunately not. After more troubleshooting it seems that my motherboard is faulty, however I suspect that this might be due to the PSU. I have currently sent the motherboard back and cannot really verify anything at the moment though unfortunately.
Funny thing happened to me, I just decided to put the GPU back in - did some cable management meanwhile - and it works fine without any issue for 3 days now.
I have Sapphire Nitro R9 390 - which has double bios - I decided to not have the button on - have you tried that?
 
Jul 25, 2020
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Funny thing happened to me, I just decided to put the GPU back in - did some cable management meanwhile - and it works fine without any issue for 3 days now.
I have Sapphire Nitro R9 390 - which has double bios - I decided to not have the button on - have you tried that?
I had not, I just tried it now but with no change unfortunately. Still, thanks for the tip!