Doesn't boot

DonSkoy

DonSkoy

DonSkoy

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Joined
23 Nov 2023
Posts
12
Location
Scotland
My custom OC build has recently began showing its age. It'll be 5yo in early January.
Until now, I've had no issues and still serves my needs pretty well. Not much of a gamer these days.

When power button is pressed the fans begin slowing down almost to a stall. Then they'll speed up again. Might do this a few times until it switches itself off. Nothing displayed on screen.
I repeat this process several times. Sometimes it slows down and dies first time. Others, the fans will once again speed up after slowing down, then slow right down again. Eventually it'll die and switch itself off.

With a little perseverance and patience I sometimes (not always) get it to run long enough to throw up the boot screen where it prompts me to hit F1 to go into BIOS.

It's at this point i have no idea what i'm doing. I'm hoping someone on here does.
Please and thanks in advance.
Oh, and oddly, IF i can get in and simply save no changes made within BIOS, the computer will load Windows and run for as long as it takes. Weird.

Here are the specs if it helps. I can also provide any screenshots (maybe). Let me know.

ASUS ROG Strix Z390-F
i9-9900K
Corsair Hydro H115i Platinum RGB Performance 280mm
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB 3600 DDR4
be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W 80 Plus Gold
 
Yeah, I could certainly try removing the graphics card.

My initial thoughts were also the CMOS battery. Although it's not obvious where it's located. I'll need to have another look online. I'm hoping it's relatively easy to remove and replace. Fingers crossed.

I can confirm that the time is set back to a generic default within BIOS if/when I've been able to get in.

Thanks.
 
Thanks to all. Much appreciated. Had no idea it was hidden by the GPU.
I have located and removed. I'll update when I've replaced it.
Although I've never has to "reflash the BIOS" before on any PC, so if there's an idiots guide on what exactly needs to be done at a later date, please enlighten me. I'll also have a look online. Thanks again.
 
Thanks so much.

I will reply to this thread once I'm in BIOS settings again after battery is replaced. I think I'd feel more comfortable asking and double checking I've got everything right in case I've missed anything.

Battery is ordered online. Should get it mid- next week.
 
I didn't even think about Poundland or any other highstreet store stocking them. Oh well. No immediate rush I guess. Computers been dead since around mid-October. But I'll be well chuffed if the £1-something cost of a new battery is all it takes to fix it. Result!

In hindsight, I probably should have taken a note of settings prior to removing the old battery. But nice to know there are people with far more knowledge and experience on here who are willing to help. Very much appreciated.

I am running Windows 11 though, so will need to remember to turn on TPM.

Very much looking forward to getting things sorted and back up and running again.

I did get a fairly recent quote from OC for a new build. Sadly, the budget just isn't there right now and I'd prefer not to keep my existing case and buy new components.
It's that same old story where.. if I upgraded this, then I'd need to also upgrade that, and then that. Etc. Maybe sometime early next year. Here's hoping.
 
Ok. So, new battery is in.
Booted up but once again spluttered to start. Fans slowing right down, speeding up. Then slowing down until shut down. Tried couple of times and same results as before with old battery. Ugh.

I've now tried what someone else has suggested as a trial and error. Removing other components to attempt to narrow it down. I currently have only the one RAM stick inserted and although it seemed to slow a couple of times on startup, it wasn't nearly as bad to shut down the PC.

So, here I am. Back at the BIOS screen prompt to hit F1 (which unusually popped up first time). Still have no idea if by removing the rest of the RAM whether that has done anything or not. I suspect not, but...?

Not impressed that the battery change didn't appear to do anything.
 
I will await any replies before doing any more.

However, I can also confirm that I've tried replacing all 4 sticks of RAM back in and booting up. Not sure if it's purely coincidental but it appears (for now at least) to be booting to the BIOS "please enter setup to recover BIOS" F1 prompt without any slowing down. Very weird. Maybe this HAS cured it?
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
even if hasnt cured it
replacing the battery was relatively
easy and cheap
and a bad bios battery can actually cause
all sorts of weird issues
so removing other components without a new battery
could have given misleading results anyway
Click to expand...
True.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not so frustrated that it wasn't the battery causing the issue specifically. Easy enough to replace and certainly cheap enough.

But I can confirm by removing and replacing all 4 RAM sticks and turning off, then back on a few times. This alone seems to have worked? Could this somehow have been the only issue?

Besides this, I haven't made any changes within BIOS. I've simply so far "saved changes" (without making any) and boom! Windows. I would still ideally like to know any significant changes I should make within the BIOS settings. I don't feel too comfortable making any myself.

Last thing I'd add (a setting within BIOS somewhere). Windows security is stating "there is no TPM available. Please check your BIOS settings". I haven't looked for this yet.

Keeping my fingers well and truly crossed that a battery change and resetting RAM is all that's needed.

Edit:
Only change I have made within BIOS is ..
Advanced\PCH-FW Config > TPM Device Selection: Discrete TPM (default)
changed to Firmware TPM
 
Last edited:
Your 1st paragraph went right over my head. I know nothing. Zilch. But thank you for explaining.

Likewise your 2nd paragraph. Although I understand what you mean about setting the RAM at the correct speed, I have never done this nor know where exactly to check. Unless it's relatively easy to tell me or find myself, I will have a look online/youtube etc see if I can work it out. Thanks.

I assume there's nothing other than that I need to change? Nothing seems to be untoward anyway. Not yet.

I'd also like to know if it's fairly common for the RAM to be re-positioned and be the cause (or at least partly) of my issues. Still seems rather strange to me.
 
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Weird though. Not like I'd been near the RAM so very odd if it became "loose". Oh well. At least it works again. I'm happy.

Thanks a lot. I'll take a look. Glad to hear nothing else needs my attention after this.
Really appreciate your help.
 
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