PC only staying on for 5 seconds

Drake5 · 29 May 2018 at 14:25

Having issues with my pc

When I turn it on, it turns on for about 5 seconds and just re-boots and does the same thing. I see the cpu fan coming on but then stopping and restarting

I've tried reseating the heatsink, I've tried with just 1 ram stick and no ram sticks, I've tried without the graphics card and the same thing happens

Not sure what else to try

mattyfez · 29 May 2018 at 14:53

a BIOS speaker might help, as you should get some error beeps to narrow down what the issue is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_speaker#/media/File:PC-Speaker_IMG_9311-9312.JPG

they are very cheap to buy and a handy diagnostic tool.

Quartz · 29 May 2018 at 15:07

I had this. It turned out that the CPU heatsink was rotated 90 degrees and was not sitting properly so not touching -never mind cooling - the CPU. I cooked my CPU before I twigged.

Jamin280672 · 29 May 2018 at 15:09

Build outside of the case to eliminate any shorts, it usually does what you are describing to protect itself.

Minimal items only if you do, cpu, heatsink, 1 stick of ram, PSU, keyboard and mouse, then start attaching things one at a time trying again in between, if you can get to the bios its a start.

This has happened to me before, turned out to be an Antec spot cooler I was using, went straight in the bin.

Drake5 · 29 May 2018 at 16:45

I've tried it outside of the case, I've tried it with a different power supply. I haven't tried a new fan, is it worth a try? I was thinking it was the motherboard

Jamin280672 · 29 May 2018 at 16:48

Drake5 said:
I've tried it outside of the case, I've tried it with a different power supply. I haven't tried a new fan, is it worth a try? I was thinking it was the motherboard

Worth a try, is it an intel or AMD build ? socket pins OK ?

Drake5 · 29 May 2018 at 18:57

Jamin280672 said:
Worth a try, is it an intel or AMD build ? socket pins OK ?

It's an intel, socket pins look fine

Habakkuk · 29 May 2018 at 19:55

Does the PC pass the POST? or does it go to black then power off?

Drake5 · 29 May 2018 at 20:03

Habakkuk said:
Does the PC pass the POST? or does it go to black then power off?

It doesn't even display anything, I had it displaying the post screen once but then it went off

MissChief · 29 May 2018 at 20:19

Could be a fan connector not being detected so powering off?

Drake5 · 30 May 2018 at 12:55

I tried the replacement fan, still doing the same thing. It has to be either the motherboard or CPU

Jamin280672 · 30 May 2018 at 15:15

Drake5 said:
I tried the replacement fan, still doing the same thing. It has to be either the motherboard or CPU

I don't think it will be the cpu, it would generally just stay on and just not post, not off on off on etc, are they under warranty?

Just a last attempt, is the ram in the correct slots? Slot 2 needs to used first, 2 & 4 when using 2 sticks of ram.

Drake5 · 30 May 2018 at 15:17

Jamin280672 said:
I don't think it will be the cpu, it would stay on and just not post, not on off on off, are they under warranty

Nope, it's an old 1155 motherboard. Can't seem to find one new anywhere either

Jamin280672 · 30 May 2018 at 17:01

Drake5 said:
Nope, it's an old 1155 motherboard. Can't seem to find one new anywhere either

Old tech like that, ebay is going to be your best and probably only chance.

Zeebedy · 30 May 2018 at 19:25

Had a similar problem, turned out to be PSU. (Was a cheap one though).

EsaT · 30 May 2018 at 19:59

Drake5 said:
Nope, it's an old 1155 motherboard. Can't seem to find one new anywhere either

I'll take it that whole PC is that old?
What PSU it has?
Any cheap PSU has certainly exceeded its designed failing time.

Drake5 · 30 May 2018 at 20:03

It's a superflower PSU, couple of years old, I tried another PSU I know works fine and it's still the same issue

t31os · 30 May 2018 at 20:33

Stick to testing with a single stick and cycle that stick through each memory slot, and clear the CMOS to rule out configuration issues it's not clearing by itself.

Habakkuk · 30 May 2018 at 21:32

If it's failing POST, it'll be the RAM, the CPU or the power supply.

I'd expect the PSU to prevent it event turning on - it sounds like it's giving a power_good signal.

The computer can boot with missing RAM, but it'll complain & not go further.

It's likely to be the CPU, or the motherboard.

CPU is likely the easiest to swap in a replacement for & hope it works.

theforce · 30 May 2018 at 23:48

Well only thing remaining is to get a replacement motherboard and hope for the best. Or use it as an excuse to get a new shiny system. :cool: