[SOLVED] PC stuck in a 3 second boot loop, need help!!!

[Cem Goker]

Hello! My PC is in an infinite loop of 3 second boot, shutdown, and restart right now.

Specs:
CPU: i5-10600K @5 GHz OC
CPU Cooler: Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master
RAM: HyperX Fury DDR4 RGB 8 GBx4 (32GB)
PSU: Seasonic 850W Focus Plus Gold Fully Modular
Case: Phanteks P300A Mesh
Storage: 1 TB WD Blue SN550, 1 TB WD Black SN 750, 3 TB WD 5400rpm hard drive, Samsung 850 240GB SSD (OS boot drive)
GPU: MSI RTX 3080 Ventus 3x OC

The system was actually originally on a Lian Li O11 Dynamic and everything worked perfectly fine. I decided to downsize my PC and placed my components in a Phanteks P300A. After completing the build though, the PC turns on for 3 seconds, shuts down and restarts itself. Then it goes on a boot loop every 1-2 seconds endlessly and makes a clicking noise whenever it restarts.

What I tried:

1. Removing RAM and reseating them
2. Removing CMOS battery and putting it back after 45 minutes
3. Removing CPU from the motherboard and putting it back after inspecting the board for any bent pins, which there weren't any
4. CMOS reset button behind the motherboard
5. Removed both HDD and SSD

I also noticed that there is some sort of grease/oil at the backplate of the motherboard on the VRM area all the way down to the bottom of the motherboard. Another thing is, since my motherboard comes with a Debug Code display, it would always show up numbers immediately after I turn on the PC. But when I switched over to the new case, the Debug Code display is turned off.

I am really suspecting that the motherboard has died on me at this point. I do not have any spare parts to conduct further tests and I can't borrow any components from my friends as they use their computer and have Ryzen in their systems.

Any advise/help is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[cdrkf]

Hello! My PC is in an infinite loop of 3 second boot, shutdown, and restart right now.

Specs:
CPU: i5-10600K @5 GHz OC
CPU Cooler: Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master
RAM: HyperX Fury DDR4 RGB 8 GBx4 (32GB)
PSU: Seasonic 850W Focus Plus Gold Fully Modular
Case: Phanteks P300A Mesh
Storage: 1 TB WD Blue SN550, 1 TB WD Black SN 750, 3 TB WD 5400rpm hard drive, Samsung 850 240GB SSD (OS boot drive)
GPU: MSI RTX 3080 Ventus 3x OC

The system was actually originally on a Lian Li O11 Dynamic and everything worked perfectly fine. I decided to downsize my PC and placed my components in a Phanteks P300A. After completing the build though, the PC turns on for 3 seconds, shuts down and restarts itself. Then it goes on a boot loop every 1-2 seconds endlessly and makes a clicking noise whenever it restarts.

What I tried:

1. Removing RAM and reseating them
2. Removing CMOS battery and putting it back after 45 minutes
3. Removing CPU from the motherboard and putting it back after inspecting the board for any bent pins, which there weren't any
4. CMOS reset button behind the motherboard
5. Removed both HDD and SSD

I also noticed that there is some sort of grease/oil at the backplate of the motherboard on the VRM area all the way down to the bottom of the motherboard. Another thing is, since my motherboard comes with a Debug Code display, it would always show up numbers immediately after I turn on the PC. But when I switched over to the new case, the Debug Code display is turned off.

I am really suspecting that the motherboard has died on me at this point. I do not have any spare parts to conduct further tests and I can't borrow any components from my friends as they use their computer and have Ryzen in their systems.

Any advise/help is appreciated. Thank you!

If there is some form of contaminant on the back of the board that is likely the issue - if it is conductive it is likely causing a short somewhere. I would suggest taking the board out of the machine, remove all the components (cpu, ram etc) and then clean the back of the board to remove the substance. You can use warm soap and water (I suggest using a tooth brush) - that wont harm the board and shouldn't be an issue on the back of the pcb, just avoid getting liquid into any of the sockets / slots on the board. Once you've cleaned it dry it off thoroughly and then leave it for a few hours to make sure it's thoroughly dry before powering it back on again.

Once it's dried off, then I would suggest doing a 'bench test' - in this case put the cpu, cooler and ram back into the board with the board out of the case and try and power it on (if you have the original box for the motherboard you can sit the board on that and place it on the anti static bag the board came in). You can use the onboard video / port on the motherboard for the bench test, hopefully the machine will post to the bios screen ok. If that works then you can try and reassemble the machine. If not the board could have been damaged (in which case you'll need to get a replacement).

 

[Cem Goker]

If there is some form of contaminant on the back of the board that is likely the issue - if it is conductive it is likely causing a short somewhere. I would suggest taking the board out of the machine, remove all the components (cpu, ram etc) and then clean the back of the board to remove the substance. You can use warm soap and water (I suggest using a tooth brush) - that wont harm the board and shouldn't be an issue on the back of the pcb, just avoid getting liquid into any of the sockets / slots on the board. Once you've cleaned it dry it off thoroughly and then leave it for a few hours to make sure it's thoroughly dry before powering it back on again.

Once it's dried off, then I would suggest doing a 'bench test' - in this case put the cpu, cooler and ram back into the board with the board out of the case and try and power it on (if you have the original box for the motherboard you can sit the board on that and place it on the anti static bag the board came in). You can use the onboard video / port on the motherboard for the bench test, hopefully the machine will post to the bios screen ok. If that works then you can try and reassemble the machine. If not the board could have been damaged (in which case you'll need to get a replacement).

Hello, sorry for the late reply, I tried the warm soap and water on the board and had it dried for around 7 hours to make aure everything was dry. Unfortunately, I am atill getting the same errors. I will RMA the board. Thanks for the help!