Question PC Power Cycling

Aug 6, 2024
7
2
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Friends prebuilt PC is driving me insane

My buddy got a prebuilt from ABS. It came with a 13400f, 4060 ti, 16 GB RAM, and a 600w PSU. He upgraded his cpu to a 14700k and didn't touch it for a while, and then 3 days ago he goes to try and play some games.

Now for the problem. PC stays on for maybe 10-15 minutes before it begins power cycling, fans go loud and spin quickly and it never boots back up. Just continues being loud and "on". He would turn the psu off and on again and it would boot up but then it would stay booted for an even shorter time. Probably a minute or two before power cycling and fans going nuts.

I go to take a look at it and I'm stumped. I tried both 13400f and 14700k and both would result in the same issue. Tried both with 1 ram stick configuration, turned XMP off. Undervolted both CPU, tried a PSU I had lying around and an old GPU. With the old GPU and old PSU it managed to complete a Cinebench test once. After that it stayed on and power cycled again. So I'm scratching my head. I try a different motherboard and it completes cinebench test again with 13400f, 4060ti, 600w psu. But now the CPU light is on and it's back to power cycling. So I'm stumped. Could both CPUs be faulty, could it be a PSU, I have no idea anymore. Any help would be appreciated.

At work right now so I can't try suggestions til I am off but I am honestly at the point I'm going to give it back and say it's a glorified paperweight
 
Friends prebuilt PC is driving me insane

My buddy got a prebuilt from ABS. It came with a 13400f, 4060 ti, 16 GB RAM, and a 600w PSU. He upgraded his cpu to a 14700k and didn't touch it for a while, and then 3 days ago he goes to try and play some games.

Now for the problem. PC stays on for maybe 10-15 minutes before it begins power cycling, fans go loud and spin quickly and it never boots back up. Just continues being loud and "on". He would turn the psu off and on again and it would boot up but then it would stay booted for an even shorter time. Probably a minute or two before power cycling and fans going nuts.

I go to take a look at it and I'm stumped. I tried both 13400f and 14700k and both would result in the same issue. Tried both with 1 ram stick configuration, turned XMP off. Undervolted both CPU, tried a PSU I had lying around and an old GPU. With the old GPU and old PSU it managed to complete a Cinebench test once. After that it stayed on and power cycled again. So I'm scratching my head. I try a different motherboard and it completes cinebench test again with 13400f, 4060ti, 600w psu. But now the CPU light is on and it's back to power cycling. So I'm stumped. Could both CPUs be faulty, could it be a PSU, I have no idea anymore. Any help would be appreciated.

At work right now so I can't try suggestions til I am off but I am honestly at the point I'm going to give it back and say it's a glorified paperweight
There are a few things that I can think of that it could be. First thing to try is resetting the CMOS. On an aside what is the cooling solution that was used for the 14700k?
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
2
15
There are a few things that I can think of that it could be. First thing to try is resetting the CMOS. On an aside what is the cooling solution that was used for the 14700k?
I haven't tried resetting CMOS on new motherboard but I did on the old one and it still power cycled. Will definitely reset on newer one. The cooling solution is a pretty cheap looking cooler in all honesty. Looks like they got an Intel cooler and slapped their brand sticker on the top. I can attach an image of the prebuilt he bought if you'd like more info on the system he received when he bought it. I know the 14700k has issues and the 14th series aren't looking so hot rn but for the 13400f to be having the same issue confuses me
 
I haven't tried resetting CMOS on new motherboard but I did on the old one and it still power cycled. Will definitely reset on newer one. The cooling solution is a pretty cheap looking cooler in all honesty. Looks like they got an Intel cooler and slapped their brand sticker on the top. I can attach an image of the prebuilt he bought if you'd like more info on the system he received when he bought it. I know the 14700k has issues and the 14th series aren't looking so hot rn but for the 13400f to be having the same issue confuses me
The base cooler from Intel, especially older HSFs, are not good. If the CPU gets too hot it can cause the computer to reboot and if it is still too hot it will boot cycle.
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
2
15
The base cooler from Intel, especially older HSFs, are not good. If the CPU gets too hot it can cause the computer to reboot and if it is still too hot it will boot cycle.
So would the stock cooler on the 13400f have the same issues with heat as the 14700k? I know the 13400f isn't super power hungry. I had instances where I got into bios before it crashed and the CPU was reading at 45-55°c and it would power cycle even then
 
So would the stock cooler on the 13400f have the same issues with heat as the 14700k? I know the 13400f isn't super power hungry. I had instances where I got into bios before it crashed and the CPU was reading at 45-55°c and it would power cycle even then
The 13400f isn't as power hungry and therefore won't be as hot as the 14700k. The Intel stock cooler is probably only rated to remove the TDP wattage (65W) and not the max turbo boost wattage (148W). That said if it was basically at idle by going into BIOS then the CPU shouldn't be working very hard at that moment.

Are you able to flash the BIOS to a newer version?
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
2
15
The 13400f isn't as power hungry and therefore won't be as hot as the 14700k. The Intel stock cooler is probably only rated to remove the TDP wattage (65W) and not the max turbo boost wattage (148W). That said if it was basically at idle by going into BIOS then the CPU shouldn't be working very hard at that moment.

Are you able to flash the BIOS to a newer version?
I can definitely try to flash a newer bios on the motherboard. I will try it when I get home.
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
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Hey there,

Which exact PSU is it? 600w doesn't mean much. A PSU could be 600w rated and be a piece of junk, that could cause all manor of issues.#

If you update the bios, be sure to clear CMOS afterwards.

Also, which mobo is running?
It is a Smart Thermaltake 600watt psu. I will also be sure to update you if updating and clearing CMOS yields better results. The mobo it came with is MSI Pro Z690-A. The one I put in to determine if it was a bad mobo was ASUS TUF Gaming Z790 Plus
 
It is a Smart Thermaltake 600watt psu. I will also be sure to update you if updating and clearing CMOS yields better results. The mobo it came with is MSI Pro Z690-A. The one I put in to determine if it was a bad mobo was ASUS TUF Gaming Z790 Plus
That PSU is not great. Not a PSU I'd have in a gaming machine. Might be good to get something decent for the 14700k,

In the meantime, you can also run memtest86+ on the memory and determine if the ram is okay. To do this you boot with a usb thumb drive with memtest on it.
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
2
15
That PSU is not great. Not a PSU I'd have in a gaming machine. Might be good to get something decent for the 14700k,

In the meantime, you can also run memtest86+ on the memory and determine if the ram is okay. To do this you boot with a usb thumb drive with memtest on it.
Yeah I figured as much. Prebuilts usually find a way to cut corners in any way they can. I will also try memtest. Could the PSU be causing the CPU light to flash on the ezdebug LEDs?
 
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Don't think the PSU would be directly linked to a fault on the CPU, but it could be a case of it's not provided the right power to the rail, and as a result you have these restarts. I don't think it's that though.

You can also run SCF Scannow and DISM to ensure your system files are okay. WIth a few crashes your OS can get bugged out.
 
Aug 6, 2024
7
2
15
Don't think the PSU would be directly linked to a fault on the CPU, but it could be a case of it's not provided the right power to the rail, and as a result you have these restarts. I don't think it's that though.

You can also run SCF Scannow and DISM to ensure your system files are okay. WIth a few crashes your OS can get bugged out.
Okay, yeah I'm going to get off work here soon and I'll try everything so far. I'll update if fixed
 
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