Daughter's computer has died - help needed to diagnose please if possible

Terminel

Terminel

Terminel

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Linked to this thread https://www.overclockers.co.uk/foru...-my-daughter-her-own-computer.18897641/page-2

Good evening all, oh actually its the morning :(

I built a computer for my daughter last year for her birthday and has thrown a wobbly. I'm really hoping with your advice I'll be able to get it back on its feet - I've been trying all night.

Rewind to last night. Daughter is playing Minecraft with no issues as she has done since I built it. Came down for her tea and when she returned it was in the blue W10 repair screen. None of the repairs work and it just seems to be in a perpetual reboot loop never getting fully past the spinning dots. So far I have tried:
  • The inbuilt repairs none of which work. Strangely, it asks for my daughters password which it no longer recognised so many of the repairs were not initially possible.
  • Created a W10 repair USB and tried the same, no change.
  • Reinstalled W10 and nearly finished the install when it cut out back to initial boot up and am exactly back to where we was before.
  • Re-seated the RAM, nothing else so far.
Things I have noticed:
  • All fans spin as normal apart from the graphics card which power down once we get past the BIOS boot. I've read that this could be a feature of the card potentially.
  • My daughter said it had been making a 'pop' noise when turning off for some time. I've read that sometimes this can be the PSU but have never experienced it myself - wish I had now :(
  • None of the temps are too high in the bios, appx 35 degrees.
  • No burning smells.
I'm now in the nightmare position where further fault finding starts involving swapping out parts so I'm hoping that someone can suggest a potential fix.

Many thanks in advance
 
If it were me I'd be pulling out the PSU. The popping sounds could indicate that being the main issue.

If that doesn't work then maybe an issue with the board?

Good luck with finding the issue. Start with PSU first
 
I would also recommend starting with the PSU.

Most modern graphics cards will run with the fans off until they reach a certain temperature. The fans spin up when the system POSTs to check that they're working.
 
That kind of instability could be caused by any number of components. That noise could be a red herring though - do you know for sure it's coming from the PC, or is it coming from the speakers that i presume are connected?

I would reset the bios and make sure everything is set back to stock and something like ultimate boot cd, tutorial to install it on a usb stick here :Install Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) to a Flash Drive in Windows | Pen Drive Linux. It has loads of tools to test all the hardware in the pc with no installation required. If there's an issue with anything, it'll find it.
 
I was leaning towards the PSU as well but yer your right, I was wondering if it was the speakers - my amp in the living room does much the same thing.

I'll try those USB tools to see if I can narrow it down having reset the bios which is pretty much at stock anyway.

Thank you for the advice, VMA.
 
Would also be cheap to pick up a 120gb SSD, disconnect any existing drive(s) and see if running on the new alone has the same issues.
 
Good morning, thanks for the help - no luck in solving the issue so far unfortunately.

So as an update:
  • I think the pop was coming from the speakers as I recreated it yesterday. My daughter wears hearing aids so has the volume up quite loud so emphasising the 'pop'.
  • I got some of the tools running on the UBCD - there are a lot on there. Memory test passed with one run and the CPU test ran for a while without issue as well although I should perhaps run it for longer.
  • I need to reset the bios but its pretty much at stock anyway but I will do it.
  • Swapped out the SSD with a spare I have. Got as far as the 'enter a new pin' screen when it cut out and returned to initial bios boot up and back into the 'repairing your computer' routine.
We have borrowed my son's computer which she can use for Minecraft and college for now so the pressure is off a little. Next step will be to reset the bios and see what happens. After that, I'll go for the PSU and swap it with mine - I think they will be compatible.

Thanks again but any further assistance would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would try reseating the memory and CPU and checking that all the cables are properly plugged in. I must admit I also suspected the SSD and I'm wondering if the SSD you put in is giving you problems because it's from another computer - try a clean install and install the drivers one at a time, in case they're giving you problems.

I agree with @mickyflinn - maybe it's the memory timings running too tight, or not enough voltage? Worth a check.
 
Have just reset the bios - no change, half way through the new W10 install and screen goes off, briefly flicks back on then resets. At no point have is it got back to the desktop. I'll have a look to see what the latest bios version and flash it if needed.

Memory is running at 2400 but did not take a note of the voltage - will do next time. I have re-seated memory but nothing else - I'll do that next.
 
Terminel said:
Have just reset the bios - no change, half way through the new W10 install and screen goes off, briefly flicks back on then resets. At no point have is it got back to the desktop. I'll have a look to see what the latest bios version and flash it if needed.

Memory is running at 2400 but did not take a note of the voltage - will do next time. I have re-seated memory but nothing else - I'll do that next.
Click to expand...

Try setting the memory to 3200mhz in the bios via xmp profile.
 
Have just switched out the graphics card (550xt) for a 570 and it booted straight into Windows. Doing a fresh install again to prove stability. So to me it's most likely the graphics card or the psu falls over supply extra power to the card if it needs more that the replacement.

Windows installed perfectly. Tried the card in the other computer and caused similar problems.
 
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Terminel said:
Have just switched out the graphics card (550xt) for a 570 and it booted straight into Windows. Doing a fresh install again to prove stability. So to me it's most likely the graphics card or the psu falls over supply extra power to the card if it needs more that the replacement.

Windows installed perfectly. Tried the card in the other computer and caused similar problems.
Click to expand...
Glad you sorted it hope you can get a replacement with current stock issuies.
 
mickyflinn said:
Glad you sorted it hope you can get a replacement with current stock issuies.
Click to expand...

I'm on the right track hopefully. Just tried the suspect card again in the spare computer so a little dumb founded yet again as it booted into windows no problem. I'll repeat properly later. Its an intermittent fault on either the card or PSU???
 
Terminel said:
I'm on the right track hopefully. Just tried the suspect card again in the spare computer so a little dumb founded yet again as it booted into windows no problem. I'll repeat properly later. Its an intermittent fault on either the card or PSU???
Click to expand...
It could well be the psu run the 570 for a while see if the systems stable.
 
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