Completely Dead Four Month Old Gaming PC (for the second time in a month)

snakerensky · 26 Feb 2015 at 23:36

I purchased the components for a reasonably high end gaming computer during the Autumn of last year and until a month ago had been having no problems at all with it. After an evening of online gaming I switched it off and also at the mains but the following day when I tried to switch it back on again it was completely lifeless.

I was advised by two IT chaps that it was in all likelihood the power supply so I set off to return that to Corsair (who have no presence in England so had to return it to Holland) and waited for the replacement to arrive. Upon arrival I popped it back in myself and powered it up again, or not as in this case as it was still as lifeless as before. Next option was the motherboard which I was able to return to amazon.co.uk who were very helpful and upon receipt of that I had the IT chap who originally built my PC completely rebuild the computer again with the new motherboard.

For a week everything was rosy, then this morning I again went to switch on the computer and again it was as lifeless as before. My IT friends are at a loss, the chap who built my computer suggests he rebuilds it again outside the case to see if there is anything shorting out but I don't want to do anything drastic as this just cost me £150 putting right the first time with his time and the very expensive return carriage of the power supply, would there be any ideas out there?

My Specification
Case: NZXT H440 Mid Tower
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97x Gaming-G1 Wifi-BK
Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K 4GHz Socket 1150 8MB
PSU: Corsair HX1000i
GPU: 2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX970 G1 Gaming running in SLI
Memory: Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel
Cooling: Corsair H105 top intake, 3 x Noctua 120mm front intake, 1 x 140mm rear exhaust
Drives: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB SSD boot drive & Seagate 3TB Constellation CS Hard Drive

I have done no overclocking as yet but hoped to at some stage.

Any ideas greatly appreciated, i'd rather not be without the PC for three weeks again.

snakerensky · 27 Feb 2015 at 08:08

The power switch in the top corner of the motherboard flashes briefly when I flick the power switch on the power supply then dims and disappears immediately, this seems to be the only sign of life at all.

snakerensky · 27 Feb 2015 at 10:35

Qitarah said:
Locate and press your CMOS button and see if any joy.
Check if all the cables are seated correctly.
Try the ram out, try both sticks individually and in different slots.
Try take out the GPUS one at a time even try removing both and using Onboard.

Does your motherboard have on the little LED readout things on it? Is it spitting out an error code?

I did reset the CMOS and removed both graphics cards in the hope that might get it up and running but still no joy, the same with the RAM.

I had my replacement HX1000i tested when it was put into this system after the fault the first time around and it was fine but I can certainly do that again.

Sadly there is no LED unfortunately on this motherboard so I can't help with any error codes, I am assuming that the motherboard is dead but could be wrong with that assumption, my next problem is finding out what is killing them (if indeed they are dead) as I will soon be popping a third one in there and don't want it to go the same way.

Thanks for all the advice so far, it's odd that the system worked fine for three or four months then failed twice in effectively a week.

snakerensky · 27 Feb 2015 at 11:55

I didn't try plugging the PSU directly into the wall but did try on another 4 way extension (this one not surge protected) and didn't get any different result, I can try directly into the wall though if that can make a difference.

The chap who built my machine originally and then again after the first failure thought it might be a shorting problem but can't understand why it is happening after it has been working for a week and not straight away. I will test the PSU again before it is rebuilt and maybe some spacers for the screws into the motherboard could solve the issue.

snakerensky · 1 Mar 2015 at 11:38

Phage said:
When my BIOS corrupted the LED's and fans etc would twitch/flash when you hit the power then nothing at all, other than the glowing power button itself. The board would appear dead.

This is my what i'm thinking but now the problem is what might kill two identical motherboards in such a short space of time. The boards go through two weeks of testing before they even leave the factory so could it be something in my setup that's causing it?

snakerensky · 2 Mar 2015 at 13:03

I received a new motherboard so the chap who originally build the pc and then rebuilt it after the first failure is trying again this time outside the case. He is in contact with Gigabyte to see if there are any clashes of equipment in there that are not compatible so hopefully this time we will find out what is causing the issue.