System failure what do I replace

Topic

New Reply

I built a ryzen 3 3300x system with an Asus mb in 2017.  It was perfectly adequate for my needs.  Last week it started self rebooting and today when I turn it on sometimes I see an Asus logo followed by blackness and sometimes just blackness.

This week I installed programs to check memory, CPU, CPU temperature and found nothing abnormal.  I did  the motherboard paper clip test and the fan comes on and I have 12 v at all the places where there should be 12 v.

Is it reasonable to replace just the mother board and not the CPU?  I’m on a fixed income and I don’t need the fastest computer, nor am I a gamer.  However I see gaming mother boards. What do they do differently?

Thanks

Reply | Quote

Replies

Well, for starters, CPUs these days rarely go bad unless they were cooked by improper cooling, so it’s much more likely the motherboard is failing.

The best budget option would be to find an up to date motherboard that supports your CPU socket and just swap the motherboard. If you are using integrated video, make sure that the replacement board can do it also. Otherwise you would need to add a GPU.

But also look around and see if you can find a bundle with a current CPU and motherboard together for close to a new board price alone, and consider it an opportunity to update. If the new setup uses the same RAM type, you could save on that as well.

You would only need a gaming board if you intend to build a high performance PC. Those have additional tools for overclocking and tweaking, as well as multiple GPU slots. Waste of money if you’re not into gaming. Just get a reliable brand. Some companies that make gaming boards also make reliable entry level boards. I have had good luck with Asus.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

Reply | Quote

When does it reboot? Under load or not. PC been on a long time on not? Video card changed, or any other hardware changes? Power supply name and rating?

If there have been no hardware changes, it might be heat related. I would blow out the interior with canned air – all case fans, video card, cpu cooler, power supply. After making sure all fans are working, I would go into the motherboard bios and make sure that all fans are set to turbo or full. If this does not resolve the problem, I doubt that it is heat related.

If not heat related, I would suspect the power supply. I have seen what you describe with one of my own systems and the cause was a faulty power supply. But before spending any money, I would try the above first.

 

Reply | Quote

I would reseat all connectors that you can find, including popping the memory out a fraction and reseating it.

Make sure it’s not covered in dust.

Have you checked the monitor and cable?

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

GoneToPlaid

Reply | Quote

It would reboot under load or just idling.  It might happen 5 minutes after I turned it on, or 3 hours or 5 times an hour.   I used HWMonitor and CPU-Z by CPUID  There was minimal dust inside.

I did not adequately describe it’s current state, it is dead, like the Monty Python parrot , no case fans work, it is not a monitor issue it does not even make it to the stage where I could access BIOS

The power supply is a 500W Corsair, the fan turns on if I jumper pins 4 & 5 and all the wires that are supposed to be 12V are.  I did not measure the lesser voltage wires.

Since everything has to come out, I decided to spring for a new processor too.

Will I be able to use a windows recovery drive to get it running again?

Reply | Quote

Disable the ACER logo in bios so that you can see the bios boot sequence codes and any error messages. Disable any overclocking in bios.

Use Nirsoft’s BlueScreenView in order to view information about any blue screens which occurred while you were not at your computer.

Check the Windows event logs for any clues about the issue.

Run Piriform’s Speccy utility to verify temperatures and to verify that no hard drives are going bad.

Uninstall or disable any installed overclocking software.

If none of the above resolves your issue, consider doing the following:

As Paul T suggested, power off and unplug the computer, then press the power button to discharge any residual power in the power supply, and then unplug and re-seat all connectors on the motherboard and the connectors to all drives. Also remove and then re-seat all PCI cards. After re-seating each PCI card, make sure that you don’t have to slightly bend the bracket in order to install the retaining screw. If you do have to slightly bend the bracket, remove the PCI card and pre-bend the bracket so that when the PCI card is installed, you can install the retaining screw without having to bend the bracket. I popped a motherboard simply because a PCI x1 card became slightly tilted when I applied pressure to the card’s bracket in order to install the retaining screw.

Use compressed air to thoroughly blow out all dust in the power supply.

Another possibility is the the power supply is going bad.

 

Reply | Quote

It could easily be one of the other power supply lines.
Without spare components it very hard to fault find.
Try disconnecting power from everything except the motherboard.

You need to have a backup of the hard disk before doing anything else. The easiest method is a USB to HDD adapter and a second machine.
Once you have a backup you can attempt to boot the new bits from the old disk.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

GoneToPlaid

Reply | Quote

You can get a low cost PSU testing tool.

I was given a nice Dell quad core desktop by a colleague who said it would shut off at times similar to what you report. He had drilled the existing HDD for ‘safety’. I managed to get it running bare bones off a Linux USB stick, but it still had issues and would shut down. Since it was free, I was tempted to get a diagnostic at a local shop. When I stopped in the shop and asked about them taking a look the owner suggested that since I did not have a working HDD, I buy a PSU testing tool for around $29, before deciding on any further spending.

As their diagnostic service cost $59, and I could use the tester for future projects, I bought the tester. BINGO! It was the PSU and a new budget PSU was under $45.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

If you get a new motherboard and a new PSU, you are pretty much covered.

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

Reply | Quote