Question Pc won't Boot

[derigueur]

Hi everyone, I'm having a problem thst I can't seem to get to the bottom of. My PC powered off and now pressing the power button on the case does nothing.

I'm not sure if it's a motherboard or PSU issue. The motherboard is an Asus rog strix z690 a gaming motherboard which still is lit to show that there is power. The PSU is Corsair rm850x which spins and seems OK when connected to a Dr. Power II universal atx power supply tester. I've tried using a screwdriver on the motherboard power connectors to see if it will power on to no avail so I'm not sure what the issue is.

Can someone help me to figure this out please?

 

[Lutfij]

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

 

[derigueur]

Apologies, my spec is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i7 12700K
CPU Cooling: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360
Motherboard: Asus rog strix z690 a gaming
Ram: Crucial Ballistix RGB BL2K32G32C16U4BL 3200 MHz
SSD/HD: Samsung 860 evo & Western Digital Black
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Vision 8GB OC
PSU: Corsair rm850x
Chassis: Fractal meshify 2
OS: WINDOWS 10
Monitor: DELL U2515H

 

[rocktalkrock]

Do any of the Q-LED's on your motherboard light up?

 

[derigueur]

Do any of the Q-LED's on your motherboard light up?

Nothing happens at all when I press the power button.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Nothing happens at all when I press the power button.

I am assuming this is not a new build. How long have you been using this build without any problems?

 

[derigueur]

I am assuming this is not a new build. How long have you been using this build without any problems?

No it's not, roughly about 2 years now. The only issue I would say that happened in that time is that the PC would restart itself every now and again.

 

[rocktalkrock]

No it's not, roughly about 2 years now. The only issue I would say that happened in that time is that the PC would restart itself every now and again.

When you say your "PC powered off", did you shut it down or did it suddenly shut down on it's own?

 

[derigueur]

When you say your "PC powered off", did you shut it down or did it suddenly shut down on it's own?

It shut down on it's own. I had left the room for a while with it on and when I returned it was off.

 

[rocktalkrock]

It shut down on it's own. I had left the room for a while with it on and when I returned it was off.

I am wondering if your CPU water cooler could be causing the problem. Do you still have the stock cooler that came with your CPU? You could try switching to the old cooler to see if that makes any difference.

 

[derigueur]

I am wondering if your CPU water cooler could be causing the problem. Do you still have the stock cooler that came with your CPU? You could try switching to the old cooler to see if that makes any difference.

My CPU never came with a cooler. I have an old I think it's Noctua DH-15 but I don't have any thermal paste so I'm not sure about switching that in that regard.

Also just for my understanding what makes you think it's the cooler and not related to the motherboard or PSU?

 

[rocktalkrock]

My CPU never came with a cooler. I have an old I think it's Noctua DH-15 but I don't have any thermal paste so I'm not sure about switching that in that regard.

Also just for my understanding what makes you think it's not related to the motherboard or PSU?

It's unusual for the PC to do nothing when you hit the power button. Usually everything works normally but there is no video signal. Since you have already checked the PSU with the universal tester and it seems to be working [plus Corsair is a quality brand] i do not suspect that is the problem.
From what i understand, some motherboards will not boot without a signal that a CPU cooler is plugged into the motherboards CPU fan header and spinning. That's just a guess but at this point you don't have may other options to try. You could also try clearing the CMOS and booting with no drives and 1 stick of RAM.

 

[derigueur]

It's unusual for the PC to do nothing when you hit the power button. Usually everything works normally but there is no video signal. Since you have already checked the PSU with the universal tester and it seems to be working [plus Corsair is a quality brand] i do not suspect that is the problem.
From what i understand, some motherboards will not boot without a signal that a CPU cooler is plugged into the motherboards CPU fan header and spinning. That's just a guess but at this point you don't have may other options to try. You could also try clearing the CMOS and booting with no drives and 1 stick of RAM.

 

[derigueur]

Yea I tried your latter suggestion and it's still the same outcome. For what it's worth I tried connecting my PCIe cables that usually connects into my gpu into the Dr. Power II and the 6pin cable returned a fault message. Anything to make of that?

 

[rocktalkrock]

Yea I tried your latter suggestion and it's still the same outcome. For what it's worth I tried connecting my PCIe cables that usually connects into my gpu into the Dr. Power II and the 6pin cable returned a fault message. Anything to make of that?

Perhaps the 6pin cable itself is faulty, rather than the PSU.

 

[derigueur]

Perhaps the 6pin cable itself is faulty, rather than the PSU.

I should have mentioned it did the exact same thing with another cable. I would post pics but I can't see where that's possible.

 

[rocktalkrock]

I should have mentioned it did the exact same thing with another cable. I would post pics but I can't see where that's possible.

To post images you need to upload them to a free image hosting site like "pixhost", then copy & paste the link in your reply.

 

[derigueur]

To post images you need to upload them to a free image hosting site like "pixhost", then copy & paste the link in your reply.

Thanks, OK here are the pics

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360326048_20230615_044511.jpg

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327060_20230615_044453.jpg

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327500_20230615_044422.jpg

 

[rocktalkrock]

Thanks, OK here are the pics

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360326048_20230615_044511.jpg

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327060_20230615_044453.jpg

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327500_20230615_044422.jpg

"How do you know if a PSU fails a test? Using the DR. Power II it is very simple, while in any of the testing modes if you have a red window appear with beeps, then you have a failure. It can not get any easier than that. Of course I would double check all of the cables and connection to ensure that the fail screen was not caused by a poor connection. Now if you have a modular power supply you should check all of the cables as we have found a few single bad cables in the past. This also holds true to any non modular PSU so please check all the cable that can or are connected to your power supply. If all the connection are good and you still get a red failure screen then you know for sure that you have a bad power supply."

Thermaltake Dr.Power II ATX Power Supply Tester

When you are sick you call the Doctor, but what about if your PC power supply is not feeling well? You call Dr. Power II. Thermaltake has taken the task of chec

www.modders-inc.com

 

[derigueur]

"How do you know if a PSU fails a test? Using the DR. Power II it is very simple, while in any of the testing modes if you have a red window appear with beeps, then you have a failure. It can not get any easier than that. Of course I would double check all of the cables and connection to ensure that the fail screen was not caused by a poor connection. Now if you have a modular power supply you should check all of the cables as we have found a few single bad cables in the past. This also holds true to any non modular PSU so please check all the cable that can or are connected to your power supply. If all the connection are good and you still get a red failure screen then you know for sure that you have a bad power supply."

Thermaltake Dr.Power II ATX Power Supply Tester

When you are sick you call the Doctor, but what about if your PC power supply is not feeling well? You call Dr. Power II. Thermaltake has taken the task of chec

www.modders-inc.com

Yea that's the part I'm unsure of, the red side that states PCIe if I plug in an 8pin connector I get a fine message but when I plug I the 6 pin that's when I get an error. That's why I said I'm not sure if it's because not all of the pins are being filled like they would be with the 8 pin connector.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Yea that's the part I'm unsure of, the red side that states PCIe if I plug in an 8pin connector I get a fine message but when I plug I the 6 pin that's when I get an error. That's why I said I'm not sure if it's because not all of the pins are being filled like they would be with the 8 pin connector.

I would be surprised i the tester does not take that into account but you can always contact Thermaltake's "Technical Support" on their website to ask them directly.

 

[derigueur]

I would be surprised i the tester does not take that into account but you can always contact Thermaltake's "Technical Support" on their website to ask them directly.

I would be surprised i the tester does not take that into account but you can always contact Thermaltake's "Technical Support" on their website to ask them directly.

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327500_20230615_044422.jpg

I looked at the manual again and it appears it does in fact take into account whether the pin is 6 or 8.

So would the 6pin pcie slots potentially be capable of stopping the motherboard from booting up even if the 6pin isn't connected to anything which is what I did during my testing to find the source of the issue?

 

[rocktalkrock]

https://pixhost.to/show/706/360327500_20230615_044422.jpg

I looked at the manual again and it appears it does in fact take into account whether the pin is 6 or 8.

So would the 6pin pcie slots potentially be capable of stopping the motherboard from booting up even if the 6pin isn't connected to anything which is what I did during my testing to find the source of the issue?

Have you tried booting with only the 8-pin power cable plugged into the graphics card, leaving out the 2nd 6-pin cable?

 

[derigueur]

Have you tried booting with only the 8-pin power cable plugged into the graphics card, leaving out the 2nd 6-pin cable?

I've tried booting with the whole graphics card removed, I thought that would be better in general just to strip everything down to the bare bones. That too hasn't worked as nothing happens when I press the power button.

 

[rocktalkrock]

I've tried booting with the whole graphics card removed, I thought that would be better in general just to strip everything down to the bare bones. That too hasn't worked as nothing happens when I press the power button.

I think the only thing left for you to try is removing the motherboard from the case and try booting your setup outside of the case. It is possible something in your system is shorting on the case. Your PSU has "Short Circuit Protection" built in as a way to prevent damage to the other parts in your system. Your PC doing nothing when you press the power button could be your PSU doing it's job as it was designed.