Question PC started taking multiple attempts to boot, now won't

tannjj

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Jun 9, 2013
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About a week ago my pc would turn on when the start button was pressed. I'd hear all the fans turn on and then it would shut down after about 2 seconds. It would then automatically try again to boot. Initially it only took 1 or 2 tries to boot, then progressively more and more. It won't turn on at all now and will just continually reboot after about 3-4 seconds. Occasionally it will get to the windows screen and attempt to repair but then it'll freeze.

So far I've tried a few things :
-Removed RAM sticks 1 by 1 and also have tried them in alternate slots.
-Replaced the PSU with a known working one.
-Reset the Bios by removing and reinstalling the MB battery.

I'm convinced it's probably the MB but am not positive. I'd have no issue replacing the MB but it is an LGA 1150 socket with a 4790k. Most places are only selling lga 1150 MBs either used or refurbished.

Any suggestions on determining the issue or what next to test?

i7 4790k
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
750w psu
Evga 2080 ti
2x8gb hyperx ram
 

DavidM012

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Why aren't you convinced it's a hard drive, quite symptomatic of that. A bad hard drive that isn't necessarily the primary boot drive attached to the system can prevent windows from loading.

It's even more hassle if the it's possibly a failing drive also happens to be your primary hdd.

Thing to do to isolate your core system. Disconnect all drives and peripherals and try to boot off a bootable windows setup usb drive. It's the same windows operating system. If it boots and loads ok (you don't have to run windows setup, yet!) then that eliminates the core system as problematic and isolates the problem towards one of the drives.

Or vice versa. If windows setup crashes and won't load from a usb drive, with no other drives connected, then there is a problem in the core system, cpu mem or mobo.

Could also be a problem with one, t'other or both.
 

tannjj

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Jun 9, 2013
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So I booted barebone, without any peripherals. Took out graphics card, disconnected all hard drives and connected an older ssd that had a working version of windows. I also removed the ram and put only one in a socket I never use. It finally booted!

However it's still hit or miss. I couldn't get it to boot every time but I was able to reconnect an HDD, boot, and save some files from that HDD.

Problem is I'm still not sure exactly what is causing the issue.
 

DavidM012

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Yes it's still cpu mem and board that you really need a spare one of. Could also be a poorly attached cooler. Though I'd not expect it to boot to windows if that were the case. The system runs for long enough until the cpu hits the threshold for thermal shutdown. Fan on heatsink spinning?

Try booting it with no drives attached, and the other dimm. How long does it stay on for? A thermal cutout would happen in a matter of 10 seconds or so.
 

tannjj

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Jun 9, 2013
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Yes it's still cpu mem and board that you really need a spare one of. Could also be a poorly attached cooler. Though I'd not expect it to boot to windows if that were the case. The system runs for long enough until the cpu hits the threshold for thermal shutdown. Fan on heatsink spinning?

Try booting it with no drives attached, and the other dimm. How long does it stay on for? A thermal cutout would happen in a matter of 10 seconds or so.

I don't think it's the cooler. I got it to boot last night and left it on and it was still on in the morning. It doesn't have any issues staying on, it's just the initial boot sequence that it seems to be having trouble with.

I've noticed that the fans will come on but no LEDs will come on when it fails to boot. When it's successful, the motherboard will light up in addition to the fans.
 

tannjj

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Jun 9, 2013
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So I hooked up a different motherboard and cpu (old and crappy) and everything works great. I noticed the case fans are running way louder, like they have full power compared to before. The motherboard must not be transmitting all the power its receiving from the psu.

I guess my next issue is, should I start looking for a refurbished/used (since they no longer make them) LGA 1150 socket motherboard since the 4790k should still be good, or upgrade to the next Gen of processors?
 

DavidM012

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No personal attacks
The fans might simply have be on a different setting in the bios on the other mobo. You can't really draw any serious conclusions from that.

The mobo manufacturer may still offer a board repair service for less $ than anything else. I was starting to think that maybe the sata controller isn't working right and co-incidentally there may be some odd electronic fault going on with the board.

Weird that it's kind of partially working when you'd expect it to simply not work at all. Post is fine, left it on all night, wouldn't boot to windows until you tried another disk (ssd with windows on it) but could copy some data off some hard drives (when they were supposed to be disconnected in the test) and the pc stays on but it shuts down. I'm confused at this juncture anyhow. :) No real clear info about it. Don't know if you tried different sata cables.

Different board and cpu and it's working fine? Dunno what the definition of that is in the span of a few hours. I don't think the problem has been isolated yet.

Assuming that the memory is being used with both boards so seems ok, still questions about the first board, or the drives or the cables.

Still haven't tried replace cmos battery with a new cr2032 coin battery yet, either.
 
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tannjj

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Jun 9, 2013
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I had already tried replacing the sata cables, the cmos battery (which would have reset the bios and any fan settings), and booted it without any HDD except for the older SSD. After it successfully booted, I hooked up the HDD to save files.
 
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