Dead PC - need help diagnosing

[brad310]

So im playing a game and all of the sudden, a hard lock, and im forced to reboot. I power it back on and the power supply starts, stops, starts, stops...as if rebooting on its own.

The PSU did finally turn on solidly, but i never get any video output. I've already RMA'd the GPU once, so im thinking - gigabyte sent me another lemon (560ti). I moved the monitor to the onboard graphics and removed the GPU. I boot up, still no video.

I wiggle and firm up every cable i can find. The processor fan spins. All the case fans come on. However, i get no video. Zero. No bios screen, nothing.

Now, my line of thinking is, if i dont even see the bios (plugged into the onboard video), then it is either hard drive or mobo. I dont have a spare HD to boot from, so im going to pick one up tomorrow. Assuming that fails, ill RMA the mobo - sigh.

Any thoughts?

intel 2500
crucial 128mb SSD
560ti gpu
600W ocz psu
asrock z68 pro3
w7 home 64 bit
8gb ripjaw

 

[Joseph F]

Why don't you go through all the steps of troubleshooting before you ask?
First, try clearing your BIOS settings with the jumper or button on the board.
If that doesn't work, it could be your RAM, Motherboard, CPU, or pretty much any attached device.
Try testing your PSU with a multimeter.
If you don't have one, I wouldn't recommend plugging it into another motherboard, as it could kill it if it's broken.
Try running the computer with only one stick of RAM, If the first one doesn't work, cycle through all of your sticks until you run out, or you find one that works.
If you happen to know someone who has an LGA1155 board, ask them if you can try your CPU in their board to rule it out.
If all of the components work in someone else's computer, it's your motherboard.
I don't think that you have to worry about your GPU, as you can't even boot with the onboard graphics.

 

[sm625]

I would start removing all sata devices. And I would unplug all the internal usb ports. (ie the wires that go to the front of the case.) You dont need them to boot. All you need to boot is one stick of ram and a monitor. See if it boots in that simplified state.

 

[brad310]

Thx Joseph. I didnt have the time until last night, but here's an update.

I pulled the 2nd stick of RAM, and it booted. I put the stick back in, no bios or anything.

I put stick 2 in stick 1's slot, it booted. I put stick 1 in stick 2's slot...no boot.

I tried them in the other channel, no boot.

It just wont load both 4GB sticks. Since both sticks work independently, im assumption is that this is a motherboard problem. Concur?

 

[sm625]

Could be one of the more obscure timings. Try widening all the timings till you find something that works. It has so much memory bandwidth that you probably wont notice even the most absurdly wide memory timings.

 

[Joseph F]

Thx Joseph. I didnt have the time until last night, but here's an update.

I pulled the 2nd stick of RAM, and it booted. I put the stick back in, no bios or anything.

I put stick 2 in stick 1's slot, it booted. I put stick 1 in stick 2's slot...no boot.

I tried them in the other channel, no boot.

It just wont load both 4GB sticks. Since both sticks work independently, im assumption is that this is a motherboard problem. Concur?

I strongly suspect the motherboard at this point as well.
However, IIRC, LGA1155 motherboards won't boot without a stick in the first slot. So try stick 1 in the first slot to completely rule out the RAM before you go about RMA'ing your motherboard.
Also, are you running the RAM on auto settings?
If not, do so before you continue.
And, you're welcome.