Question PC Won't boot from time to time, unsure if RAM problems, and whether or not i can keep my current PSU for a new build

Mar 2, 2019
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Hello, so i've been having problems with my current PC for the good part of 2 years now (surprised it's still kinda working)
What happens is it fails to boot, from time to time (nowadays daily, sometimes several times a day after freezes), the PC powers on without any issues, but i get no video sign and can hear it keeps restarting, trying to boot;
i think it has to do with the RAM, since initially it would boot with only one of them in, and if i turned it off right after, plugged the second RAM in it would, again, turn on no problem (and after booting the PC ran 100%).
Nowadays, and keep in mind this PC itself is at least 6 years old(minus the VGA), i routinely struggle to get the PC to boot, and just using one RAM, or switching them around doesn't really cut it anymore, aswell as some rare times where the PC will freeze, and not even the hard reset button will do anything, i have to hold the power button down to turn it off, and again it won't boot for a while, i've gotten some rare blue screens aswell.

TL;DR: PC won't boot from time to time, trying only one RAM initially did the trick, now it doesn't really, but with several attempts and switching both RAM's slots several times it eventually boots, and the PC will run kinda fine.

So, my first question is:
- Can i be certain it is a RAM/Motherboard problem(about to get rid of this anyway so don't care too much), namely, could it have anything to do with my PSU ?

And secondly, i plan to buy a New CPU + MB and RAM, but since i am running on a budget i planned to keep my PSU.
- Will this old PSU, that from what i gather never gave me any problems run this new build fine ? i've heard some mentions about PSU power cycles but i dont know much about it at all.


Current Build:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor
MB: Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4gb x2(8GB) Cl9 1600mhz Ddr3
VGA: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 G1 Gaming 3GB
PSU XFX 750w Pro Series Semi-Modular http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/pro-series/pro-series-750w-psu-80-bronze-p1-750s-nlb9


What i intend to buy:

Ryzen 1600
B350 Mother Board
2x 8GB 2666 MHz DDR4 RAM

Thanks
 

compprob237

Distinguished
I've had some odd behavior crop up on these old motherboards before. I have a couple things you can try:
Load BIOS defaults/reset CMOS. Sometimes the BIOS config gets corrupted and doing this fixes it. Although it might be because you should...
Update the BIOS.
If already updated then Re-flash (after loading defaults/CMOS reset!) with the most recent BIOS downloaded straight from the manufacturer's website. The BIOS itself can sometimes corrupted so a re-flash might cure it.
If this doesn't cure it then you're on to diagnosing the boot issue.

Take a look at the Dr. Debug LED on the motherboard. While booting up what code is it stopping on? Cross-reference that code with your manual for the motherboard (Page 43) or the manual from Asrock's site and report back what the code(s) you get.
 
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Mar 2, 2019
3
0
10
I've had some odd behavior crop up on these old motherboards before. I have a couple things you can try:
Load BIOS defaults/reset CMOS. Sometimes the BIOS config gets corrupted and doing this fixes it. Although it might be because you should...
Update the BIOS.
If already updated then Re-flash (after loading defaults/CMOS reset!) with the most recent BIOS downloaded straight from the manufacturer's website. The BIOS itself can sometimes corrupted so a re-flash might cure it.
If this doesn't cure it then you're on to diagnosing the boot issue.

Take a look at the Dr. Debug LED on the motherboard. While booting up what code is it stopping on? Cross-reference that code with your manual for the motherboard (Page 43) or the manual from Asrock's site and report back what the code(s) you get.

So i should've mentioned this but i've reset the CMOS several times, and as an immediate effect it seems to do something (the routine of trying to boot the pc in the morning is easier), but problems come back after i turn it off and try to get it on again.
Also upgraded the BIOS, to 2 different versions and that didn't do anything either.

But anyway, i probably should've phrased myself better or posted this elsewhere;
My main concern here is: Can i keep this PSU for a new build, or are there any dangers regarding that ? could this current issue possibly be because of the PSU ?
 

compprob237

Distinguished
So i should've mentioned this but i've reset the CMOS several times, and as an immediate effect it seems to do something (the routine of trying to boot the pc in the morning is easier), but problems come back after i turn it off and try to get it on again.
Also upgraded the BIOS, to 2 different versions and that didn't do anything either.

But anyway, i probably should've phrased myself better or posted this elsewhere;
My main concern here is: Can i keep this PSU for a new build, or are there any dangers regarding that ? could this current issue possibly be because of the PSU ?
The PSU should work in a new build. Its age could be a problem but there's no way to tell without testing it with specific equipment. Dangers for using a sketchy PSU: There's a slim (I mean very slim) chance that it will fry the motherboard/components hooked up to it. That PSU supports OCP, OVP, OPP, UVP, and SCP so the chances of that are pretty darn slim.

The issues you're having could be the PSU, CPU (VERY low chance), motherboard, RAM, and sometimes one of the other devices attached (GPU/HDD/SSD/ODD/USB...). What it sounds like to me is that you have a flaky component that, once warmed up, is causing these problems. My guess is it is a capacitor (Very common) somewhere in the power delivery or voltage regulation circuits but you'd have to swap parts around to try to isolate the main component that's having issues.

After having updated the BIOS and resetting it a few times I believe that it is something with hardware at this point.
 
Mar 2, 2019
3
0
10
Alright guys thanks for the answers.

Ill go ahead and buy the new parts and use this old PSU, maybe upgrade it when budget allows in the near future.