What on earth is wrong with this PC

Wilkeh · 12 Jul 2016 at 22:07

Hey folks,

Right I'm wondering if someone could please shed some light. We've spent many hours researching online and trying lots of different things.

Basically my house mates PC wouldn't boot. When we turn the PC on it just kept restarting after a few seconds of loading, and repeating that process. After 20 mins or so it would finally boot properly and manage to load into windows. The PC had absolutely no problems at all post bios, and never restarted once in Windows.

We then naturally tried the common things such as removing RAM, GPU etc. Even with nothing plugged into the motherboard it was still the same.

We then went out and bought a new PSU. However, the same problem occurs. Finally it must be the motherboard, so we've just gone out and got a new motherboard... same issue!

What on earth could it be? We've even tried my processor in his PC and it's the same issue. We have absolutely nothing plugged in to the new motherboard and it's doing the same. Just restarting over and over.

Is it possible that his CPU could be breaking motherboards or something? We've honestly ran out of all ideas.

Any help or suggestions would be great

flowrider99 · 12 Jul 2016 at 22:10

Driver issue? Try booting in safe mode.

something daft already!! · 12 Jul 2016 at 22:18

Have you tried a clean install?

Wilkeh · 12 Jul 2016 at 23:04

Does the exact same without any drives even plugged in. Literally there's nothing plugged in and it still does it

BuToNz · 12 Jul 2016 at 23:52

Have you tested the RAM in any way?

ViZioN8 · 12 Jul 2016 at 23:57

Have you tested running the motherboard outside of the case to see if it makes any difference? There's maybe a short somewhere.

Wilkeh · 13 Jul 2016 at 00:10

Yeah we've tried all those options too.

The only thing I can think of is his old PSU is breaking the other motherboards? After we tried a new PSU and it still did it we took it back. So I'm wondering if it's his old PSU breaking stuff

Threepwood · 13 Jul 2016 at 01:34

What motherboard is it?

Have you tried his cpu in your mb?

JTrickle · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:31

Hard drive sounds like a common factor.

Linux on USB stick test?

koolpc · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:35

shorting out under mobo?

Morg · 13 Jul 2016 at 11:07

Is the psu plugged directly into the wall socket?

JTrickle · 13 Jul 2016 at 11:52

If whats being said is accurate it must be the wall socket.

Different mobo with different CPU with different PSU, different memory all outside the case "with nothing plugged in" "not even any drives" then its an entirely different PC.

Edit: Is the CPU cooler being attached properly? The default 90deg leg twist stock coolers can catch people out. Would cause the restart symptoms as described.

VKleita · 13 Jul 2016 at 12:15

Did it ever work properly? IE is it some sort of incompatibility?

Which leads me onto : Mainboard Firmware?

The fact "Once warm it gets into windows" totally sounds like a power issue.

how new is it?

Wilkeh · 14 Jul 2016 at 10:04

Thanks for the reply guys.

So we went out and bought another brand new PSU, motherboard and RAM. We left the motherboard outside of the case and plugged in the RAM and PSU. Also connected the cooler fan...

Same problem!! I've tried it on different plugs in the house and surge protected ones etc. Bear in mind my other house mates PC is next to his and fires up fine. So does mine upstairs too. Also there's absolutely no other electrical problems with anything else in the house.

Is it possible that a single plug socket is just killing his stuff? Even though other electrical stuff plugged into it works fine?

WTFBBQ

Borealis · 14 Jul 2016 at 10:31

What CPU and motherboard is it? Does the new PSU work with anyone else's stuff?

The house wiring could be dodgy, but TBH I'd expect other issues if it was. How many things are plugged into that one socket?

One of these will tell you if you've got a wiring issue in the house, e.g. an earth fault:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/kewtech-kewcheck-103-socket-tester/45558

Gee · 14 Jul 2016 at 10:50

Sounds like it's the plugs issue to me. Have you tried resetting the breaker?

Borealis · 14 Jul 2016 at 11:37

If there is a wiring fault, then resetting the breaker might not have much effect. A socket tester will tell you for sure if you have an issue. You could have any of a number of possible faults as per page 2 of my tester's instructions:

http://www.kewtechcorp.com/sites/de..._manuals/Kewcheck 103 Instruction leaflet.pdf

If too many things are connected to one socket, you might also be overloading the socket.

I have a friend who's 4790K suddenly started lunching motherboards. We reckon at some point something damaged the CPU.

Wilkeh · 14 Jul 2016 at 12:59

Borealis said:
If there is a wiring fault, then resetting the breaker might not have much effect. A socket tester will tell you for sure if you have an issue. You could have any of a number of possible faults as per page 2 of my tester's instructions:

http://www.kewtechcorp.com/sites/de..._manuals/Kewcheck 103 Instruction leaflet.pdf

If too many things are connected to one socket, you might also be overloading the socket.

I have a friend who's 4790K suddenly started lunching motherboards. We reckon at some point something damaged the CPU.

It is also a 4790k but still did the same with no CPU installed at all

Kurgen · 14 Jul 2016 at 13:13

have you tried his pc at your house?

fizzy · 14 Jul 2016 at 13:21

Is there a speaker on the motherboard, or can you plug one in? Does the motherboard make any beeps, or if there anything on the board showing status codes?

It could be resetting due to getting abnormal readings from fans, voltages or anything. Does it reboot at the same point or does it vary? Are you using the same disk and build - perhaps try a boot CD/USB stick?

Surprised the board would boot at all with no CPU in? (unless I misread that bit)

If you can get into the bios settings, check what there is for cpu and memory speeds and the like. If everything is on "AUTO" settings this can make some boards reboot several times until it finds the correct working settings, especially if there is a hardware issue somewhere.