[SOLVED] PC will not boot to Windows; can open BIOS

[drdboiler]

Hi there,

I recently upgraded my chassis fans, going from 3x 120mm NZXT standard fans at front intake and 1x 140mm NZXT standard fan at rear exhaust to 2x 140mm Corsair QL140 RGB at front intake and 1x 140mm Corsair QL140 RGB at rear exhaust.

I installed the 2x 140mm fans at intake yesterday, tuned the fan curve for better cooling on my GPU and was very pleased with the results (went from GPU temp of 85C in Warzone with high-to-ultra settings, to max of 69C), and everything worked well. I got a little RGB fever, so I decided to get the third 140mm for exhaust. I installed that fan today, plugged into a chassis fan port on my MOBO (where the previous fan was seated), and the RGB lead into the hub that came with the 2x fans previously mentioned.

After I installed the exhaust fan today (in the same manner I installed the intake fans), I hit the power button, the system powered up, showed me the ASUS boot screen, went black, showed me another ASUS screen with a spinning wheel, then my display screen went blank (but visibly still backlit). I shut down by holding the power button, and tried a few times more (with my system going through the automatic diagnosis and system repair protocol) with no luck (call me crazy: doing the same thing but expecting different results).

I’ve done a lot of research on these forums and others, and have seen a lot of info, but nothing that has worked yet for me. I will include my system specs and the troubleshooting steps I’ve taken so far below; all to no avail.

• unplugged new exhaust fan RGB lead
• unplugged new exhaust fan power lead (fan disconnected completely)
• reset CMOS
• unseated and reseated power cables to all components
• tried booting with 1 stick of ram

I just recently received a warranty replacement GPU from ASUS, as the previous one failed while under warranty (actually at 9 months, warranty is 3 years). However, I’ve had the replacement GPU installed for literally 4 days and my last troubleshooting step to prove to myself that this couldn’t possibly be the issue since I can see content on my monitor while displays are plugged into my GPU:
- removed GPU and system booted all the way to windows as expected, using MOBO onboard graphics.

At this stage, I’m not sure what the problem is now and why it is with the GPU yet again, and how it happened only after a fan was installed. In order to configure the fan curves for cooling as stated above, I installed AI Suite 3. To control the RGB on all my fans and RAM, I use iCue. I have read that iCue doesn’t play nicely with some ASUS software, but when I was able to boot last, I removed all ASUS software (Aura, Armoury Crate, AI Suite 3, etc.) and still experienced the issue.

Any and all suggestions and advice is welcome here. I just want to play warzone with the boys 🙁

CPU: i7 9700K
GPU: Geforce RTX 2080Ti OC 11GB
Storage: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB, Samsung SSD 860 EVO M.2 250GB
MOBO: ASUS Prime Z390-A
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO; 2x8GB DDR4 3600MHz
PSU: Corsair RM750X
Case: NZXT H710

David

 

[drdboiler]

UPDATE 24JAN21 @ 12:35p EST:

I had the power cable removed and everything powered off all night. This morning, I decided to seat my GPU in an additional PCIe slot before trying to startup again; my system booted all the way to Windows, which made me feel confident and gave me an idea of what the root cause might be (bad PCIe slot on MOBO). However, as I was pulling out my phone to write an update to this thread, my screen went blank once again. This leads me to think it is, unfortunately and yet again, a problem with the GPU. As stated above, I just got this replacement card 5 days ago now, but I have no indication that it was a "brand new" card at that time; the card arrived from ASUS simply wrapped in bubble wrap and in a generic brown cardboard box, no retail packaging.

My question now is: why did my system boot up through to Windows this morning on a different PCIe slot, but then drop out again 2 minutes later?

I found a very old Radeon HD 5770 card from a build about 10 years ago that I am going to try and will edit this post with results, attempting in both PCIe slots (if necessary).

EDIT 24JAN21 @ 1:15p EST:
The HD5770 works with no issues - has ASUS replaced my faulty card with another faulty card??

David

 

[drdboiler]

Solution:

I spoke with ASUS online today who reviewed this very forum thread and came to the conclusion once again that an RMA is to be issued to repair/replace the “hardware (GPU) issue.” The replacement I received 5 days ago, I confirmed, was a refurbished card as well. I am quickly losing faith in ASUS products. Apologies for spamming this thread, but figured I’d keep it updated for archival/research purposes.

David