Help and Advice needed in tracking down fault

magunn · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:16

My first new build, all went well but in the last few months the PC has stopped during boot has before windows starts often at the detecting IDE drives stage several times. Now it's getting worse sometimes not starting at all (no beep no output but all fans spin up and various lights suggest power to the board and graphics card is ok). Occasionally the boot fails with a continuous beep until I turn it off by forced power down.

The problem is when it does boot everything is fine, no error messages no hard drive faults, no problems with memory.

I have used what I thought were high quality components which although high spec are recommended

CPU AMD Phenom II 965
MOBO Gigabyte MA790XT UD4P
Mem : 4gb Gskill Ripjaw
Graphics Radeon 5770
PSU Be quiet E6 650W

What advice can anyone give in tracking down this intermittent fault?

I don't have anything to swap components around

ZeniTimes · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:19

Have you updated the Bios?

kellaway225 · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:20

have you checked the connections? maybe one or more are lose?

magunn · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:25

Bios update but not recently and not just before fault started.

Check cables all seem tight and connected

Once booted all is fine I am writing this post on it! The problem is if I turn if off it might not restart.

( Please don't say Don't turn if off

)

On reading around general consensus is either MOBO or PSU problem what might help?

kellaway225 · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:27

right first things first, restart your comp...Joke

sounds like a funny problem

magunn · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:33

Its all under warranty but I don't want to RMA stuff only to be told its fine. Is there any test I can do on the PSU with a multimeter that might be a clue that it is at fault. Bear in mind that one the PC does boot it runs for as long as I leave it with no issues at all. Even when running benchmarking software. The system is not nor has been overclocked

kellaway225 · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:35

Yeah i understand not wanting to send it back.
strange fault. could be PSU, Bios or something as it appears at the start up of the computer

RJC · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:38

Have you tested the memory with mem-test.
Check hard drives for performance and bad sectors.

(I did see your comment regards memory)

magunn · 15 Mar 2010 at 20:51

mem tested using mem test no issues found
hard drives checked with HD scan. Again no issues except the Samsung 1tb hard drive seemed slower than the 160gb. What sort of performance spec should I be getting and what test software should I use?

ZeniTimes · 15 Mar 2010 at 21:25

Theres loads of software out there to test you machine. prime95, orthos, IBT to name a few.

This does sound like a mobo issue, I think a clue might be in the continuous beep your sometimes getting, have you googled this for your mobo?

Might be worth trying a bois update cuz you never know

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 15 Mar 2010 at 21:27

Perhaps the CMOS battery needs replacing.

asoxedri · 16 Mar 2010 at 01:30

1. disconnect everything and reconnect it again from scratch.
2. kill your overclocks and use default settings.
3. update your bios and drivers.
3. run memtest for your ram.
4. run something like everest for stability check of cpu / system temperatures etc.
5. run furmark to check gpu.

if there is a hardware problem your bound to bump into it by the time you reach 3-5.
i had this problem, but i just disconnected everything and reconnect it from scratch, and the problem stop occuring.