Question My PC just died, finding the fault....

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Toddie86

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Nov 24, 2015
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My PC is one I built myself in around 2017 and I've previously had no issues.

I was using the PC last night (it worked fine as usual) but when I went to turn it on today it won't boot or output anything to the monitor.

When I turn the power on, the fans spin, the case light comes on and my mouse lights up. But I don't get a system beep and also my usb keyboard does nothing.

So far, I've tried:

Removing the GPU and testing the video output direct from the motherboard. (Nothing happened)
Removing all connected drives apart from the boot drive. (Nothing happened)
Checked my cables - all power supply connections to the motherboard
Check my monitor (This works with other devices)
The power socket in the wall (No problem here)

I'm thinking it could be one of two issues either:

Power supply is half dead, puts out some power but not enough for the system?
Motherboard issue, its kind of died but that does seem quite out the blue.


Any assistance from anyone would be really helpful in diagnosing the issue.

The PC Specs are:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790k 4ghz Quad-Core
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury
SSD: Kingston 240GB
Video Card: Zotac GTX 1060 - 6GB
Case: BitFenix Prodigy
Power Supply - Corsair CX750 80+ Bronze Power Supply


Thanks Everyone!
 
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12pak

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Nov 7, 2011
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helper800 said:
With faulty RAM you can usually get to a boot loop or at least a BIOS splash screen on the display, but still worth a try I guess. Could save him a PSU purchase and tell him he instead needs a new kit of RAM. Sudden acute problems like this are mostly MOBO or PSU related.
Click to expand...

I only suggested that as I had the exact same symptoms on a previous build, and the cause was one of my sticks wasn't properly seated. Everything would spin up, but no post to bios or windows. My though was if one of his ram sticks has died, it might boot up with one good stick.
 
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helper800

helper800

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12pak said:
I only suggested that as I had the exact same symptoms on a previous build, and the cause was one of my sticks wasn't properly seated. Everything would spin up, but no post to bios or windows. My though was if one of his ram sticks has died, it might boot up with one good stick.
Click to expand...
It would definitely be prudent to reseat the RAM as a quick potential solution even if its not likely the problem.
 
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Toddie86

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UPDATE!

Hi all, I resat the ram and good news, the pc booted up! I had to remove my gpu to get to the ram but it worked.

New issue though, when I put the pc back together and plug the gpu in. Everything stops working again until I resit the ram..

Any thoughts?

Still PSU? No enough power?
Dead PCI Express slot shorting out the board?
Dead GPU?
Or something else?

Thanks
 
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helper800

helper800

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Aug 12, 2011
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Toddie86 said:
UPDATE!

Hi all, I resat the ram and good news, the pc booted up! I had to remove my gpu to get to the ram but it worked.

New issue though, when I put the pc back together and plug the gpu in. Everything stops working again until I resit the ram..

Any thoughts?

Still PSU? No enough power?
Dead PCI Express slot shorting out the board?
Dead GPU?
Or something else?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Try restarting without the GPU. Use the integrated graphics from the CPU. Just to be clear, uninstall the GPU for this test.
 
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Toddie86

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helper800 said:
Try restarting without the GPU. Use the integrated graphics from the CPU. Just to be clear, uninstall the GPU for this test.
Click to expand...

Yep, uninstalled the GPU and the pc booted after reseating the ram.

This was the pc using integrated graphics and only mouse and keyboard plugged in.

But I plugged my other usb peripherals in, usb hub, webcam etc (GPU still disconnected) and the fault arose again. So it can't be the GPU or PCI Express slot.

I'm thinking now it might be the PSU after all. If it's possible for the PSU to partially fail? So it outputs some power but if too much is being drawn (from the GPU or too many other things to power) it doesn't boot?
 
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helper800

helper800

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Aug 12, 2011
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Toddie86 said:
Yep, uninstalled the GPU and the pc booted after reseating the ram.

This was the pc using integrated graphics and only mouse and keyboard plugged in.

But I plugged my other usb peripherals in, usb hub, webcam etc (GPU still disconnected) and the fault arose again. So it can't be the GPU or PCI Express slot.

I'm thinking now it might be the PSU after all. If it's possible for the PSU to partially fail? So it outputs some power but if too much is being drawn (from the GPU or too many other things to power) it doesn't boot?
Click to expand...
It could be one of those peripheral devices causing issues as well, seriously. I have seen some peripheral devices cause all sorts of chaos. Try plugging them in one at a time and take note of when you have the issue. Try running the computer with just a mouse, keyboard, and that is it. If it works fine start adding them in. Baring that I would try another PSU, at the minimum it will rule out a potential cause.

These are all very good PSUs that have a low probability of being DOA and will definitely power that PC;
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Wr...fied-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-650fx
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gn...fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-g6-0650-x1
 
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