Issue with kids computer. Where to start?

Nodiggidy123 · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:44

Morning all.

I've been out of pc gaming for a while but recently the girlfriends kids computer has been playing up.

I'm not entirely sure of the total spec but I believe it's a lga 775 xeon cpu, 4 x 2gb ram, a hp motherboard and gtx 1050 ti gpu.

The system would fail to post and would sound alarm of 4 beens initially. It would occasionally boot but would lose display signal.

I removed all ram and tried 1 by one and the machine would boot up fine. I managed to get it booting with 3 sticks but not a 4th.

Today I put all sticks back in and it now posts but again will lose display signal.

Any ideas on diagnosis? I'm thinking possibly the power supply is playing up? (I've no idea what psu it is)

Any other suggestions what I should be looking up?

varkanoid · 27 Dec 2017 at 13:26

Nodiggidy123 said:
Morning all.

I've been out of pc gaming for a while but recently the girlfriends kids computer has been playing up.

I'm not entirely sure of the total spec but I believe it's a lga 775 xeon cpu, 4 x 2gb ram, a hp motherboard and gtx 1050 ti gpu.

The system would fail to post and would sound alarm of 4 beens initially. It would occasionally boot but would lose display signal.

I removed all ram and tried 1 by one and the machine would boot up fine. I managed to get it booting with 3 sticks but not a 4th.

Today I put all sticks back in and it now posts but again will lose display signal.

Any ideas on diagnosis? I'm thinking possibly the power supply is playing up? (I've no idea what psu it is)

Any other suggestions what I should be looking up?

I think your self diagnosis has found the issue. One of your RAM sticks is faulty. Plus you may have a Giant issue with the 4 beens

Check the make/model of the PSU and post it here.
If its a no-name brand (usually grey coloured PSU) then its worth repalcing.
Pickup a PSU tester off the bay for a tenner and use it to test the PSU. Cheaper than buying a new one to find out its not the PSU and PSU testers are pretty useful.

MrRockliffe · 27 Dec 2017 at 13:30

Try moving the RAM sticks around to ensure its the sticks and not slots.

Nodiggidy123 · 27 Dec 2017 at 16:47

All ran is OK in slot from what I can fathom so it's either a slit issue or something else.

Would ran cause a gpu signal loss tho?

Psu is a no name 320w so I'd definitely say it's looking a possible culprit

t31os · 27 Dec 2017 at 18:14

Run 1 stick in the last ram slot(or 2 in the last 2 slots) for a while and see if the system continues to post fine(as you've likely performed your ram tests in the first 2-3 slots). Some boards can be fussy about running 4 modules and need a bit of tweaking but if the system has previously worked no problem then that pretty much leaves you with a slot/motherboard or PSU issue as already suggested.

A no-name 320W PSU isn't going to be great, it probably wouldn't hurt to put something better in the system anyway, avoid that cheapo wiping out hardware in the future. Something at least 80+ Bronze probably wouldn't be a bad idea and shouldn't put you out anymore than 40 squids on OCUK(you've been around a while i imagine you qualify for free delivery to keep the cost down to).