PC Restarted and Now Doesn't Turn On

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Boris_yo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 22, 2011
Messages
224
Hello,

I have custom-built my PC 1.8 years ago. Played video games for about half a year and then occasionally used PC for browsing, watching YouTube. One day I could not wake my PC from standby because when I pushed power button, nothing happened. After disassembly and testing motherboard, CPU, PSU and video card I still could not power it on but Aorus logo was turning on motherboard. PSU's fan was spinning after I used paperclip method and power readings were stable on multimeter.

Availed of my warranty and shipped motherboard and PSU to PC repair lab of my retailer I bought from. After several tests I was called and told everything works but after receiving it back I still couldn't power it on. Took it to local electronics repair and was told PSU works after they checked it with digital PSU tester. Took it to PC repair shop and paid for testing. They told me PSU and motherboard work without issues. I couldn't believe it because it didn't work earlier at my home. Thought it was power lines issue I took it to neighbor who lives in my apartment. I couldn't power on. I was just about to order new PSU and decided to power on again. To my big surprise everything worked and I had no problems since.

Yesterday, 10 months later of non-video gaming and very light use like browsing internet, watching YouTube 2-3 times per week for 1-2 hours every time on average my PC restarted itself after I woke up my monitor and clicked on some photo in Chrome. It was unusual restart because Aorus logo was lit but fans weren't spinning for about 5-10 seconds and then worked. PC booted OS and a couple of minutes after logging in it restarted again. This time while booting OS it restarted again. I entered BIOS and left it on idle but after 3 minutes PC restarted again.

I shut it down, flipped I/O case switch, unplugged from UPS to mains. Disconnected UPS USB cable and LAN cable from case. Flipped I/O case switch, entered BIOS and after a couple of minutes PC restarted again. I shut it down but now I could no longer power it on like in last incident. Aorus logo turns on motherboard though.

I don't know what I should do. Ship PSU and motherboard to retailer's PC lab only to be told everything works? Seems like I might be dealing with an issue that occurs random. I don't have someone to borrow PSU from and small digital tester for PSU which I could go buy locally or from China. Maybe it could show me if there is any power instability in PSU? What if I order new PSU but problem is actually in motherboard?

Thanks.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
MB: Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite
GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM: 8x2 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
PSU: Corsair TX650M
 
Step 1: Disconnect everything except, 1 stick of ram, 1 disk drive (the OS drive), GPU and CPU. Test.
Step 2: if step 1 works, start adding parts until it quits working as expected. When that happens the last thing you added is defective.
 
and verify that you've properly installed the HSF with thermal paste.
 
Maybe try resetting your CMOS by jumping the CMOS pins or removing the battery for a minute or so.

Seems most likely to be the mobo, based on my recent experience with a similar issue on a B550 motherboard.

Might be worth it just to buy a replacement motherboard and call it done, depending on how much you'd have to spend on a new mobo in your area.
 
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Also, dont bother trying to run your ram at 3200mhz. That brand of ram is touch and go. Run it at stock speeds (2100mhz likely) for testing. You can play around with over clocking when you get it stable.
 
I think I tracked issue to malfunctioning PSU 24-PIN cable.
I successfully turned on PC today but what was weird is that display was shown after 5-7 seconds which is when PC started POST.
I went to BIOS and did a small change that doesn't affect anything but after I clicked to save setting display went dark and PC continued
working and CPU fan was operating at maximum speed. I could not turn PC off so I flipped the rear switch. Flipped it again and PC was
not starting up at all. I decided to just tap cables connected to motherboard and suddenly PC switched on when I tapped 24-PIN cable.

I wonder if I should check 24-PIN input on motherboard with multimeter to make sure it works good just in case before sending PSU
under warranty. Maybe I should ask retailer to just ship me generic 24-PIN cable? Or my PSU requires original cable?

travm said:
Also, dont bother trying to run your ram at 3200mhz. That brand of ram is touch and go. Run it at stock speeds (2100mhz likely) for testing. You can play around with over clocking when you get it stable.
Click to expand...
Why? It worked for me fine for over a year.
 
Boris_yo said:
I wonder if I should check 24-PIN input on motherboard with multimeter to make sure it works good just in case before sending PSU
under warranty. Maybe I should ask retailer to just ship me generic 24-PIN cable? Or my PSU requires original cable?
Click to expand...
pull the plug and make sure all the pins are seated correctly in the end, inspect the pin/cable joints for any breaks. yeah you need to make sure that a new cable matches the pinout for your psu.
 
pendragon1 said:
pull the plug and make sure all the pins are seated correctly in the end, inspect the pin/cable joints for any breaks. yeah you need to make sure that a new cable matches the pinout for your psu.
Click to expand...
I just checked Corsair's PSU cable compatibility list: https://www.corsair.com/ww/en/psu-cable-compatibility

I don't understand. Do I strictly need original cable from Corsair that should match my PSU? What will happen if I order generic from China?
 
Boris_yo said:
Do I strictly need original cable from Corsair that should match my PSU? What will happen if I order generic from China?
Click to expand...
no but it needs to match the pin out. who knows...
also, newegg pics and that corsair chart show that your psus 24pin is attached. is it?
 
Boris_yo said:
Why? It worked for me fine for over a year.
Click to expand...
Because its overclocked (most ram is). Back the OC off to the JDEC specs, then you can eliminate a possible issue. The corsair 3200mhz ram is very often not able to hold 3200mhz stable with Ryzen systems. Its better with the newer chips, but still not 100%.
 
travm said:
The corsair 3200mhz ram is very often not able to hold 3200mhz stable with Ryzen systems. Its better with the newer chips, but still not 100%.
Click to expand...
And yet sneaky Corsair markets their RAM as it supports 3200MHz...
 
corsair usually just needs a bit more voltage, 1.4v.( thats what i use for my 3400 sticks.)
 
Boris_yo said:
And yet sneaky Corsair markets their RAM as it supports 3200MHz...
Click to expand...
its a tested working overclocked speed, everyone does it. Corsair just tends to be more finicky with the Ryzen memory controller. You should have researched all of this before you purchased.
 
Trusting Corsair to sell modules that run at their rated speed isn't your fault Boris. Being that yours have run at their rated speed until now, you should be fine. I would be most concerned with your mb. If your psu damaged the 24 pin socket, replacing the psu may not get you up and running. Do you have a spare psu to test with?
 
hititnquitit said:
If your psu damaged the 24 pin socket, replacing the psu may not get you up and running. Do you have a spare psu to test with?
Click to expand...
I don't have any way to get used PSU to test.
But I though about ordering digital PSU meter from China, connecting it to 24-pin cable and turning cable sideways to see if there is any voltage fluctuations.

If there are voltage fluctuations I will ship PSU to retailer for replacement.

I tried being cheapskate and asking local retailers for spare PSU but received negative response from most of them that made me feel embarrassed.

I am non-US and non-EU. I don't know how retailers react to this kind of request there.
 
Boris_yo said:
I don't have any way to get used PSU to test.
But I though about ordering digital PSU meter from China, connecting it to 24-pin cable and turning cable sideways to see if there is any voltage fluctuations.

If there are voltage fluctuations I will ship PSU to retailer for replacement.

I tried being cheapskate and asking local retailers for spare PSU but received negative response from most of them that made me feel embarrassed.

I am non-US and non-EU. I don't know how retailers react to this kind of request there.
Click to expand...
Don't bother with Chinesium PSU testers or 'generic' cables. They don't know what they're selling, it's usually crap, and your way of using a multimeter is actually better.

Pendragons suggestion about making sure the 24-pin connector is okay is important. I check them by gently pressing down on each individual wire (or groups of 2-4 if you can't get at individual ones) of the 24-pin connector after connecting to the mobo in order to make sure they all went in fully.

I'd start with that. And whenever you get your system to POST, go to CMOS setup if you can and let it sit for a long time.

It's going to be very time consuming, but it sounds like you have a difficult problem to diagnose and shops will just take your money and do half-assed testing.
 
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Just an observation, I've had more than 1 PC for many many years. Its become apparent that troubleshooting self built PC issues literally requires some parts on hand to swap. I wonder if its even worth suggesting to people they build their own PC's without the understanding that they should likely have at minimum, 1 spare disk drive (HDD / SSD), 1 available for testing PSU, a spare GPU, and that would likely do it for most problems. I guess spare cables for SATA, and of course a 92mm, and 120mm fan for jerry rigging your HSF when your cat decides to fight the fan while you have the side off your case and kills it.
 
UPDATE:

The latter issue had to do with 24-pin motherboard connector's area before it meets with its plug. I tried to wiggle the plug and slightly pushed down on top wires. Every time I did that, the PC restarted as it would break contacts of these wires. I am not in US/UK or EU where and we don't have Corsair's presence here. I heard how people who had their tempered glass exploding would ask Corsair from US to send them replacement. My PSU has a 10-year warranty so maybe I should ask them to send me 24-pin connector? I have tested PSU with Chinese tester and all seem okay. This however without required load though.

power-supply-tester.jpg

Back to my former issue. 2 years later, which was 2 weeks ago it happened again. PC does not start no matter what I do. Luckily someone on social network told me to try blowing hair dryer on a motherboard. This issue has been observed on ASUS motherboards so it could happen in my case as well. Indeed it worked to my surprise and PC started up after I used hair dryer on motherboard for 30-50 seconds. Before that however I pushed power button which should have started PC but it did not start PC. So it seems that Gigabyte is not aware of the issue while ASUS is denying it. This is the video that I was sent and worked for me:



I thought that there is a problem with humidity sensor since the guy in video mentioned humidity and to buy silica gel packs and place inside the chassis. I happen to live 230 meters from the sea. As I later found out on different forum, it turns out that it has to do with either bad solder quality that has it's joints contracting and expanding, motherboard's capacitors failing and require heat to function so PSU can start supplying power to motherboard, PSU capacitors failing, Super I/O chips used in newer generations of motherboards are weak and very sensitive to power disruptions (this was a rare occurrence in older motherboards and most users are not aware of it today) so UPS is a must. To cut expenses and increase profits, manufacturers do not equip motherboards with safety components like they used to (planned obsolesce). Could be one or multiple points of failure.

To quote someone from different country: "Asus started using proprietary certified Super I/O chips in its new generation motherboards. Majority of motherboards from Extreme series 1155, 1150, 1151 and 2011 have these special chips but majority of them malfunctioned." I think it was their personal experience with PC repairs. If anyone has additional information about this feel free to share.

I don't understand the subtleties, just on a surface but how does hair dryer restore motherboard's capacitors temporarily to allow PSU to start it up? If motherboard's capacitors are failing, why can't PSU supply power and start motherboard? Are capacitor's failing in retaining capacity or just plain losing ability to conduct electricity?
I was told before buying that my motherboard's VRM is good for small gaming but then on a different forum someone told me that its VRM is good for internet surfing and watching movies.
Guess I will have to better check VRM now and buy higher-range motherboard that hopefully has properly working Super I/O chips to avoid the "you get what you pay for" gamble. I still have warranty but I don't have recorded event on my smartphone so I could have some proof to start replacement process. I was told to avoid mentioning the hair dryer part to retail shop but without any evidence to back my experience with motherboard failure I think it is pointless. Not to mention official information from Gigabyte on the issue which exempts retailer from responsibility to replace the motherboard. I don't know when or if I will sell the PC but if I will, I gather that this issue that motherboard has will require me to exclude faulty motherboard from asking price.
 
Oh god. Don't ever wiggle wires while your system is powered on man. And don't tell Corsair you did that either
 
travm How would I find the cable was faulty had I not powered on my system? I should have done that in BIOS though at least.
 
Boris_yo said:
travm How would I find the cable was faulty had I not powered on my system? I should have done that in BIOS though at least.
Click to expand...
You're assuming the cable is faulty. If you want to test a cable you use an appropriate testing device.

What you did was very risky and really inconclusive.
 
Disconnect every cable except the 24 and hs fan. Make triple sure that the 24 is pushed in all the way. Try to start. If that works you have a short somewhere else. If not, the 24 pin cable or the mb slot is the problem.
 
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