Question Need help troubleshooting :/

[nickpt113]

i7 9700k/RTX 2070 super
Computer was working a day ago. Went to boot up today and saw a white screen. Tried rebooting and all fans and lights would turn on but no display and usb not functioning. I first tried to reseat GPU and CMOS battery and got the same results. I then tried to boot without GPU and it was able to boot properly. I then put the GPU back in and it was back to no display and usb not functioning. I took the GPU back out and was able to boot it up properly again. Looking around i noticed my system only showing 8gb a ram when i have two 8 GB sticks. I decided to try to reseat the ram, but now even without the GPU the PC is stuck in a boot loop. Ive tried one stick of ram in different slots and its still stuck in the same bootloop. So now i am not sure if I have multiple issues. I plan to test GPU and RAM in a friends pc and checking PSU with a multimeter. I understand it could also be the motherboard or CPU but does anyone have any suggestions before I have to replace piece by piece and hope i get lucky.

Thanks!

 

[Aeacus]

Full system specs, including PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?

checking PSU with a multimeter

Pointless to do that. Since there's no load on PSU.

does anyone have any suggestions before I have to replace piece by piece and hope i get lucky.

Given that you somehow got it to boot with iGPU, while PCI-E x16 and one RAM slot was gone/dead, it points towards MoBo issue. And rearranging RAM probably was enough to kill all RAM slots.

Without knowing exactly what PSU you have, impossible to tell if PSU most likely fried MoBo or did MoBo die on it's own.

Could be CPU issue as well, but usually when PSU acts up, MoBo is 1st to go, followed by GPU. CPU is most durable component inside the PC but not invulnerable either.
I doubt the RAM is the issue, since it doesn't explain why PCI-E x16 slot didn't work all of the sudden. Also, you were able to boot with iGPU, while one of the sticks did show up.

 

[nickpt113]

Full system specs, including PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?


Pointless to do that. Since there's no load on PSU.


Given that you somehow got it to boot with iGPU, while PCI-E x16 and one RAM slot was gone/dead, it points towards MoBo issue. And rearranging RAM probably was enough to kill all RAM slots.

Without knowing exactly what PSU you have, impossible to tell if PSU most likely fried MoBo or did MoBo die on it's own.

Could be CPU issue as well, but usually when PSU acts up, MoBo is 1st to go, followed by GPU. CPU is most durable component inside the PC but not invulnerable either.
I doubt the RAM is the issue, since it doesn't explain why PCI-E x16 slot didn't work all of the sudden. Also, you were able to boot with iGPU, while one of the sticks did show up.

Thanks for the well detailed response. I appreciate your input and could explain how it seemed to get worse as i was messing around with the ram. My power supply is an ATX-PR800W. All components are about 5 years old, I bought everything together pre-built.

 

[Aeacus]

My power supply is an ATX-PR800W.

This Apevia Prestige 800W doorstop?
Specs: https://www.apevia.com/products-power-supply/atx-pr800w
For real? 😱

If so, PSU is #1 (and i'd say only) suspect. Most Apevia PSUs are crap quality. Some are low quality, but whatever Apevia puts out PSU wise - should never be bought.

New PSU is a must. Especially since that PSU ever came with 3 years of warranty and is way past it's lifespan. Most likely what happened: PSU developed a fault, sending out of spec voltages to your MoBo, which in turn damaged the MoBo. And now, powering the build with faulty PSU, your MoBo is completely toast. Hell, i'd say that you should check each and every component in 2nd PC, to validate if they work. Because when PSU acts up, it has the magical ability to fry everything it is connected to. Aka your whole PC.

Now, i get that you bought prebuilt and maybe didn't have chance to switch out the PSU in there. But the hidden danger with prebuilt PCs is, that often low/crap quality PSU is put into those PCs. Since it is easy to scam people who doesn't know much about PCs (hence why they buy the prebuilt in the first place), rather than buying individual components and building the PC on their own.

Regarding new PSU, good PSUs to go for, are: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium, in 650W range, IF your RTX 2070 Super survived and you can use it again. If not and GPU is also killed by Apevia unit, and if you plan to get new GPU, then 650W unit is good up to RTX 4070 Super. RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 Ti Super would need 750W unit.

For 2nd opinion about your Apevia unit, look it up from PSU tier list,
link: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/

You'll find it in Tier C, low priority units. That's low quality PSU. Borderline crap. Far for being mediocre quality (Tier B). And mediocre quality is only good enough for office PCs without dedicated GPU. While what i'm personally using and also what i suggested, are all Tier A. These all are good/great quality units.
(Btw, my PCs are powered by: 2x Seasonic PRIME TX-650 and 1x Seasonic Focus PX-550, full specs with pics in my sig.)

Oh, one more thing;
PSU reliability can be seen from the warranty length it has been given.
In a nutshell:
up to 2 years - terrible reliability
3 years - poor reliability (e.g Corsair VS/CS)
5 years - mediocre reliability (e.g Be Quiet! Straight Power 11, Seasonic G12, Corsair CX/CXF)
7 years - good reliability (e.g Seasonic Core/Focus GM, Corsair TX/AX)
10 years - great reliability (e.g Seasonic Focus GX/PX, Corsair RMx/HX/HXi/AXi)
12 years - superb reliability (e.g Seasonic Vertex/PRIME)

With this, i suggest that you look towards any PSU that has 10 years (or more) warranty. For reminder, your Apevia unit had 3 years of warranty.

 

[nickpt113]

This Apevia Prestige 800W doorstop?
Specs: https://www.apevia.com/products-power-supply/atx-pr800w
For real? 😱

If so, PSU is #1 (and i'd say only) suspect. Most Apevia PSUs are crap quality. Some are low quality, but whatever Apevia puts out PSU wise - should never be bought.

New PSU is a must. Especially since that PSU ever came with 3 years of warranty and is way past it's lifespan. Most likely what happened: PSU developed a fault, sending out of spec voltages to your MoBo, which in turn damaged the MoBo. And now, powering the build with faulty PSU, your MoBo is completely toast. Hell, i'd say that you should check each and every component in 2nd PC, to validate if they work. Because when PSU acts up, it has the magical ability to fry everything it is connected to. Aka your whole PC.

Now, i get that you bought prebuilt and maybe didn't have chance to switch out the PSU in there. But the hidden danger with prebuilt PCs is, that often low/crap quality PSU is put into those PCs. Since it is easy to scam people who doesn't know much about PCs (hence why they buy the prebuilt in the first place), rather than buying individual components and building the PC on their own.

Regarding new PSU, good PSUs to go for, are: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium, in 650W range, IF your RTX 2070 Super survived and you can use it again. If not and GPU is also killed by Apevia unit, and if you plan to get new GPU, then 650W unit is good up to RTX 4070 Super. RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 Ti Super would need 750W unit.

For 2nd opinion about your Apevia unit, look it up from PSU tier list,
link: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/

You'll find it in Tier C, low priority units. That's low quality PSU. Borderline crap. Far for being mediocre quality (Tier B). And mediocre quality is only good enough for office PCs without dedicated GPU. While what i'm personally using and also what i suggested, are all Tier A. These all are good/great quality units.
(Btw, my PCs are powered by: 2x Seasonic PRIME TX-650 and 1x Seasonic Focus PX-550, full specs with pics in my sig.)

Oh, one more thing;
PSU reliability can be seen from the warranty length it has been given.
In a nutshell:
up to 2 years - terrible reliability
3 years - poor reliability (e.g Corsair VS/CS)
5 years - mediocre reliability (e.g Be Quiet! Straight Power 11, Seasonic G12, Corsair CX/CXF)
7 years - good reliability (e.g Seasonic Core/Focus GM, Corsair TX/AX)
10 years - great reliability (e.g Seasonic Focus GX/PX, Corsair RMx/HX/HXi/AXi)
12 years - superb reliability (e.g Seasonic Vertex/PRIME)

With this, i suggest that you look towards any PSU that has 10 years (or more) warranty. For reminder, your Apevia unit had 3 years of warranty.

Thanks for the additional input. I never knew much about computers, just bought a prebuilt and its worked as good as I needed for the past 5 years. It sounds like I should upgrade PSU, MoBo, and maybe my CPU (since its a 9th gen and needs to be compatible with new MoBo) and just hope my GPU and other components aren't fried and will last a little longer before upgrading. I really appreciate you helping me out.

 

[Aeacus]

It sounds like I should upgrade PSU, MoBo, and maybe my CPU (since its a 9th gen and needs to be compatible with new MoBo)

Something like this would be solid:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($36.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: SeaSonic VERTEX GX-750 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $636.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-08-08 03:01 EDT-0400

Note: With latest Intel CPUs (12th gen, 13th gen and 14th gen), you have option with MoBos, to either use DDR4 or DDR5 RAM. For time being, i put in MoBo that supports DDR4 RAM, so you can re-use yours. But if you go with AMD Ryzen 7000-series or 8000-series CPU then DDR5 RAM is a must.

As with everything, you can go higher or you can go lower.

E.g CPU: i5-14600K is solid mid-tier. Lower (cheaper) option on Intel side would be i5-14500 or i3-14100. Higher (more expensive) option would be i7-4700K or i9-14900K.

CPU cooler is value king. You will not find better air cooler with less cost. So, no point to replace this one. Just make sure your PC case can support 155mm tall CPU cooler. If not, you need to go with smaller air cooler.

MoBo: Z-series is high end, but also offers more features. You can go cheaper if you like, e.g: H770 chipset or B760 chipset. Or you can go higher, especially when picking a MoBo that requires DDR5 RAM.

And PSU is between good and great quality. Vertex is ATX 3.0/PCI-E 5.0 compatible and has 12 years of warranty. But you can go lower, e.g Seasonic Focus (good quality, 10 years of warranty) or higher, e.g Seasonic PRIME ATX 3.0 (great quality, 12 years of warranty). But with PSUs, don't go below good quality/ 10 years of warranty.