Question PC Restarting After GPU Change and Back ?

[Creamysadface]

PC Specs:

ASRock extreme4 z170
i5 6600,
EVGA 980ti, ,
4 x 4GB RAM (2 pairs of different RAM).


My PC was completely fine until I put my brothers ZOTAC 1080ti in my PC to diagnose his problems (his display was going black and not getting expected fps). It was fine while using the 1080ti until I put the 980ti back into my pc. Now when I play COD Warzone and the new Cold War my PC will completely restart after a couple of minutes. A couple of times the monitor said no signal but the PC was still running. I thought it could be the CPU overheating but it only gets to 80 Celsius. Although CPU does go to 100% in Cold War.
I'm completely lost and I have no idea what to do. Thanks for any help

This is driving me insane

 

[Creamysadface]

The psu was switched off, you say? The answer to that would then be no.

I’ve just put the new psu in and it’s still doing it. I’m thinking it’s the GPU but I have no idea. Quite frustrating

 

[Phaaze88]

Dog-gone it... new psu didn't do jack, huh?
A real head-scratcher this one is.... all you did was switch out 2 gpus...


I have a couple more ideas, but... ugh, they may not make sense.
A)Memory corruption. You are using mixed kits after all.
But you were running just fine like that before the temporary swap, ~so... Yeah, doesn't really add up.

You'll probably lose performance in game, but test with the original kit in slots 2 and 4 - see if you can trigger the crash. Then do it again using only the newer kit.
As for how long: as long as you need/how long it took to trigger it before.

B)Monitor cable is busted. The psu isn't the only thing connected to the gpu.
Again, doesn't make much sense, but I got a hint of sorts from your first post:
"A couple of times the monitor said no signal but the PC was still running."

C)Motherboard.
I got literally nothing for this one, sorry.

 

[Creamysadface]

Dog-gone it... new psu didn't do jack, huh?
A real head-scratcher this one is.... all you did was switch out 2 gpus...


I have a couple more ideas, but... ugh, they may not make sense.
A)Memory corruption. You are using mixed kits after all.
But you were running just fine like that before the temporary swap, ~so... Yeah, doesn't really add up.

You'll probably lose performance in game, but test with the original kit in slots 2 and 4 - see if you can trigger the crash. Then do it again using only the newer kit.
As for how long: as long as you need/how long it took to trigger it before.

B)Monitor cable is busted. The psu isn't the only thing connected to the gpu.
Again, doesn't make much sense, but I got a hint of sorts from your first post:
"A couple of times the monitor said no signal but the PC was still running."

C)Motherboard.
I got literally nothing for this one, sorry.

My whole pc won’t turn on now. So maybe the gpu was broken and it fried the whole thing or it was a problem with the motherboard. It was after i put the gpu in the second pci slot

 

[Phaaze88]

My whole pc won’t turn on now.

Took the gpu out and plugged the monitor to the motherboard?

 

[Creamysadface]

Took the gpu out and plugged the monitor to the motherboard?

I’ll try later gotta take a break from it right now. It’s just not turning on at all though. The psu clicks as if it’s turning on but nothing happens

 

[Phaaze88]

I’ll try later gotta take a break from it right now.

Ok. I'll be in touch.

It’s just not turning on at all though. The psu clicks as if it’s turning on but nothing happens.

Both psus behave this way?

Do any LEDs from the motherboard light up at all?

 

[Creamysadface]

Ok. I'll be in touch.


Both psus behave this way?

Do any LEDs from the motherboard light up at all?

Absolutely nothing happens. My old psu didn’t make a click but I think that’s just a feature of the new one, I read people online were saying that as well.
Edit: the Ethernet slot lights up but that’s it
Edit 2: in a massive turn of events my old power supply succeeded in turning on the motherboard. Faulty new psu?

 

[Phaaze88]

My old psu didn’t make a click but I think that’s just a feature of the new one, I read people online were saying that as well.

You're correct.

Edit 2: in a massive turn of events my old power supply succeeded in turning on the motherboard. Faulty new psu?

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025085372-How-to-Test-a-power-supply-unit
Do the paper clip test on both. If both pass, then I would point my finger at the motherboard as the culprit.

 

[Creamysadface]

You're correct.


https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025085372-How-to-Test-a-power-supply-unit
Do the paper clip test on both. If both pass, then I would point my finger at the motherboard as the culprit.

Could it be the motherboard even though it works with my old psu?
Edit: tried both power supplies in an old motherboard, the old one still turns it on whereas the new one still gets nothing. I don’t know how it broke after 1 successful power on and I’m not sure if that’s my fault but I’ve requested a refund.

Edit 2: I put my old psu in, put the 980ti in the second pci slot, turned it on a smoke came out the graphics card. I think either the gpu or motherboard did that and it broke the new psu (the old one is still working even after the gpu smoking). This is really frustrating, I don’t know if it’s the motherboard or the gpu. I think it’s more likely the motherboard because the second pci slot caused problems with both psu but i don’t know.
I’ve put in an old 750ti and that’s working fine so maybe it was the gpu but it doesn’t have the power connectors so I suppose it could still be a psu problem (but then again the new one completely broke).

 

[Colif]

4 x 4GB RAM (2 pairs of different RAM).

maybe try it with matching sticks, only 1 set in and see if that makes any difference

 

[Creamysadface]

maybe try it with matching sticks, only 1 set in and see if that makes any difference

My GPU starting smoking so I don't think they're the problem. Not sure if the GPU even works anymore

 

[Colif]

i have to admit I didn't read that, I just noticed no one had mentioned the mismatching ram. But yes, smoke isn't a good sign.

 

[Creamysadface]

i have to admit I didn't read that, I just noticed no one had mentioned the mismatching ram. But yes, smoke isn't a good sign.

No problem my friend

 

[Phaaze88]

Are you able to run the PC at all with the monitor plugged into the motherboard?

It may seem unreal that all this started from a short term gpu swap... the 1080Ti 'shook something up' during that brief time it was in there.

 

[Creamysadface]

Are you able to run the PC at all with the monitor plugged into the motherboard?

It may seem unreal that all this started from a short term gpu swap... the 1080Ti 'shook something up' during that brief time it was in there.

Yeah I’m using the iGPU right now. Completely fine as far as I can tell. Not really sure what to do from here as I’m not sure if it’s the motherboard or GPU still.

 

[Phaaze88]

Not really sure what to do from here

Clean it: take the PC apart, go over all the hardware and see if there's any visual damage.
Put the bare essentials back in if it doesn't appear damaged: cpu, ram(original kit), storage...
Plug the keyboard and mouse back in.
Backup all the important files on your C drive, unplug any secondary drives, and then do a clean install of Windows.
Reinstall motherboard drivers.

Hard to say where to go after that if nothing else happens:
-If nothing happens later, that doesn't mean it's ok now; you could install another gpu and it starts all over again.
-If something does happen as things are now, it means the troubleshooting phase continues... Who is the impostor? It's not gpu or psu.
-Start over and build back from scratch. You don't have to tell me - I know how much this one would hurt.

The 2nd one would probably be the best. We know some of the parts can be salvaged, but we don't know which. There needs to be another clue.
The 1st one can be just as bad as the 3rd one, as it's essentially a gamble. Get too many guesses wrong, and you may as well have gone with route 3.
It's hard to trigger much of anything running on just an iGPU; the power draw and system 'stress' are just so low.

 

[Creamysadface]

Clean it: take the PC apart, go over all the hardware and see if there's any visual damage.
Put the bare essentials back in if it doesn't appear damaged: cpu, ram(original kit), storage...
Plug the keyboard and mouse back in.
Backup all the important files on your C drive, unplug any secondary drives, and then do a clean install of Windows.
Reinstall motherboard drivers.

Hard to say where to go after that if nothing else happens:
-If nothing happens later, that doesn't mean it's ok now; you could install another gpu and it starts all over again.
-If something does happen as things are now, it means the troubleshooting phase continues... Who is the impostor? It's not gpu or psu.
-Start over and build back from scratch. You don't have to tell me - I know how much this one would hurt.

The 2nd one would probably be the best. We know some of the parts can be salvaged, but we don't know which. There needs to be another clue.
The 1st one can be just as bad as the 3rd one, as it's essentially a gamble. Get too many guesses wrong, and you may as well have gone with route 3.
It's hard to trigger much of anything running on just an iGPU; the power draw and system 'stress' are just so low.

Yeah I was already thinking about just getting a new system. How do you know it’s not the GPU? I’m sure it can’t be the power supply after this.

 

[Phaaze88]

How do you know it’s not the GPU? I’m sure it can’t be the power supply after this.

I agree that it can't be the psu. As for the gpu:
-for starters, the gpu is a receiver of power and runs with what it gets. If it gets enough, it should operate normally. If it doesn't, or it gets 'dirty power', it'll choke by way of crashes, freezing, or black screens.
The Corsair CXM has some modularity; you didn't reuse any of it's cables when you installed the TXM, did you? You can also kill psus that way.

-the card didn't appear to be overheating either. Black screens can also be a symptom of that. There's also certain artifacts, as well as 'seeing colored spots' as another symptom.

-if by chance you were overclocking this card... you CAN kill this by way of the voltage slider in software apps. Doesn't work with 10-series and up; the gpu core sees it as more of a suggestion to use more, albeit within it's specs.
So, did you mess with voltage settings on this card? It didn't sound like it.

-a dedicated gpu is the 'most annoying' part in the system a power supply has to deal with, yet the newer and better TXM crapped out on you after a couple of attempts???
So either you got a lemon, or there's some kind of short somewhere in the system...

-everything was fine, until you swapped in that 1080Ti, which is 'more annoying' than the 980Ti.
Your old psu held up for the short time it was in there... nonetheless, there was a 'disturbance in the force'; the balance within your PC. SOMETHING was unnerved by said swap.
Normally, that would be the psu, ~but... [refer to what's already happened]

-there's even older gpus out there that still run fine, you know?
Like, the old GTX 680 I gave to my brother as a hand-me-down, along with a Seasonic 550FX; still running just fine for him.
Though, sometimes things happen - like a capacitor on the gpu pops - usually fatal to the gpu... but the 980Ti still runs, so...


I also think it could be the motherboard, as it is essentially a 'messenger' to pretty much everything in the PC, be it power, electrical signals, etc.
But I also can't deny that it may be something entirely random - I will borrow this post from Colif:
"could be you disturb a balanced system as the small change upsets something else that was just hanging on. Happened when I updated gpu in last PC and my speakers that had been fine for 12 years started to cause black screens at boot and naturally I blamed my GPU for a few months.

that was a sad aha moment when i figured that out. took a clean install too see it too. Did install in another room, PC was fine until I attached speakers and suddenly blank screens again. I miss those speakers still."

 

[Creamysadface]

I agree that it can't be the psu. As for the gpu:
-for starters, the gpu is a receiver of power and runs with what it gets. If it gets enough, it should operate normally. If it doesn't, or it gets 'dirty power', it'll choke by way of crashes, freezing, or black screens.
The Corsair CXM has some modularity; you didn't reuse any of it's cables when you installed the TXM, did you? You can also kill psus that way.

-the card didn't appear to be overheating either. Black screens can also be a symptom of that. There's also certain artifacts, as well as 'seeing colored spots' as another symptom.

-if by chance you were overclocking this card... you CAN kill this by way of the voltage slider in software apps. Doesn't work with 10-series and up; the gpu core sees it as more of a suggestion to use more, albeit within it's specs.
So, did you mess with voltage settings on this card? It didn't sound like it.

-a dedicated gpu is the 'most annoying' part in the system a power supply has to deal with, yet the newer and better TXM crapped out on you after a couple of attempts???
So either you got a lemon, or there's some kind of short somewhere in the system...

-everything was fine, until you swapped in that 1080Ti, which is 'more annoying' than the 980Ti.
Your old psu held up for the short time it was in there... nonetheless, there was a 'disturbance in the force'; the balance within your PC. SOMETHING was unnerved by said swap.
Normally, that would be the psu, ~but... [refer to what's already happened]

-there's even older gpus out there that still run fine, you know?
Like, the old GTX 680 I gave to my brother as a hand-me-down, along with a Seasonic 550FX; still running just fine for him.
Though, sometimes things happen - like a capacitor on the gpu pops - usually fatal to the gpu... but the 980Ti still runs, so...


I also think it could be the motherboard, as it is essentially a 'messenger' to pretty much everything in the PC, be it power, electrical signals, etc.
But I also can't deny that it may be something entirely random - I will borrow this post from Colif:
"could be you disturb a balanced system as the small change upsets something else that was just hanging on. Happened when I updated gpu in last PC and my speakers that had been fine for 12 years started to cause black screens at boot and naturally I blamed my GPU for a few months.

that was a sad aha moment when i figured that out. took a clean install too see it too. Did install in another room, PC was fine until I attached speakers and suddenly blank screens again. I miss those speakers still."

Well the new PSU died after one attempt not even a couple, quite amazing. And no I didn’t reuse any of the cables only the new ones.
I was just thinking of getting a whole new system (maybe keeping the ram) instead of risking getting one new part and having that burn again.
The GPU wasn’t overheating as well, it got to about max 70 degrees Celsius.