Need help! New system build, major crash, unable to restart!!

[torenator]

I just recently purchased and built this system:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.770956&cm_sp=DIY_PC_Combos-_-770956-_-Combo&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1vueskcit0gjd

I installed Windows 7 Professional 64 bit and everything was going really well until... my computer hard crashed mid-game. It froze for a second, made an unpleasant noise for another second, and everything shut down completely. When I tried to turn it back on I push the power button and the LEDs comes on and the fans spin for about a half second to a second, then shut down. It tries to restart itself after about 2 seconds and the same thing happens. This continues until I shut off the power supply.

What happened? Did something overheat? Is something broken? Please help!!

Thank you!

 

[maxinexus]

Pull your memory sticks and graphic card out. Let me know what happens.

 

[vrumor]

Unplug the power supply, and open the side and clear the CMOS with the jumper. Put jumper back in the right place and plug it back in and try again.

 

[Rockdpm]

You may need a bigger Power Supply, please list all your components so a Member can determine if you have enough power.

 

[Onus]

Unfortunately, that combo included one of the more fecal CM PSUs: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1034/9
No doubt, it could not hold up its end of the log, and croaked. Hopefully it did not take any other parts with it when it died. You will need to replace it.
A quality modern PSU has full range active PFC (no little voltage switch) and some level of 80+ certification for efficiency. Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax/LEPA are among the better brands. A good 500W PSU would be sufficient for that PC (e.g. a 500W Antec Earthwatts).

 

[torenator]

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (Model:GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3)

Graphics Card:
GTX 560 Ti

CPU:
Intel Core i5 2500K

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaw X series 8GB

HD:
Seagate Barracuda 500GB

You can see the whole list of components on Newegg via the link I posted as well.

 

[torenator]

Unfortunately, that combo included one of the more fecal CM PSUs: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1034/9
No doubt, it could not hold up its end of the log, and croaked. Hopefully it did not take any other parts with it when it died. You will need to replace it.
A quality modern PSU has full range active PFC (no little voltage switch) and some level of 80+ certification for efficiency. Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax/LEPA are among the better brands. A good 500W PSU would be sufficient for that PC (e.g. a 500W Antec Earthwatts).

Unfortunately I don't have another PSU lying around, any way to know for sure if this is the problem? And if so, any way to know if it took anything else with it until I get a new PSU?

 

[torenator]

Unplug the power supply, and open the side and clear the CMOS with the jumper. Put jumper back in the right place and plug it back in and try again.

Clearing the CMOS did not help

Also, I pulled the graphics card and the memory out. This allowed it to whirl up for a bit longer, about 10 seconds, but then it died again and continued to try to restart itself unsuccessfully as before.

 

[maxinexus]

So no beeping or anything else?
in that case one of these is faulty. 1) CPU( least likely) 2) Motherboard (likely) 3) PSU (most likely)

Good luck

PS: try to get a different PSU if possible.

 

[torenator]

So no beeping or anything else?
in that case one of these is faulty. 1) CPU( least likely) 2) Motherboard (likely) 3) PSU (most likely)

Good luck

PS: try to get a different PSU if possible.

I have replaced the PSU with a Corsair GS600 600W.

It did not improve the situation at all. Same thing happens, it tries to start up for a second, then dies, and continues to repeat until I disconnect power.

So it's not the PSU, and this really bums me out. What am I looking at next, the motherboard? Is there no way for me to tell whether it's the motherboard or the CPU at this point?

*Note: I previously did not have the motherboard speaker installed. Now that I do, when I start it up without the RAM, I get continuous beeping for about 10-15 seconds as it sounds like everything is starting up, then it cuts out. It tries to repeat this process.

My motherboard manual says that continuous short beeping is a power error, and continuous long beeps is a "graphics card not inserted properly. I feel like they are long beeps, but I can't be sure because I haven't heard a short beep. Basically I think it was giving an error that the graphics card wasn't inserted properly because it was missing RAM. But with the RAM installed I get no beeps at all and nothing starts up, but for a fraction of a second.

 

[Onus]

The CM may have damaged your motherboard when it died. I'd RMA the mobo at this point, or possibly the entire combo for a replacement, but when it comes, use your new Corsair PSU instead of the included junk.

 

[torenator]

Ok I believe I have solved the issue. It turns out that just ONE of my RAM sticks was bad. I know it sounds crazy but when I removed only one of the sticks of RAM, everything worked perfectly. I switched it with the one I had left on the mobo just to be sure it wasn't the RAM slot and it stopped working again.

So something happened while I was gaming that fried that stick of RAM to the point that it was preventing my entire system from even booting into the bios. Very weird.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I would never have figured it out if someone hadn't suggested removing the RAM in the first place, as that led to me thinking that I should just try leaving one in.

 

[Onus]

The PSU could have killed the RAM. Replace that too, not just the bad stick.

 

[torenator]

The PSU could have killed the RAM. Replace that too, not just the bad stick.

Yea, I'm keeping the Corsair I bought after reading everyone's thoughts on Crapper Master. The one review said it isn't even truly 600W, that it really only pushes 450W...

 

[Onus]

Exactly. That kind of dishonesty is why I will no longer buy or recommend anything from them.