Not a new system: Fans spin for half a second before the system shuts down.

Danielgadhas · August 12, 2017

I have been a bad boy this morning. After successfully overclocking my graphics card I decided to attempt the CPU, which worked fine before I began changing the voltage. I miss-clicked some voltage setting in the bios and couldn’t figure out how to turn in back. Therefore, I decided to exit the Bios to go straight back in to fix the changes. However, I think that I killed something in the computer by doing this. Now I can’t get back in to the Bios or windows. When I attempt powering it up the fans start spinning for a second before it shuts off. There are no sounds that I can hear and the light indicating that the system is powered on is also lit for the a second.

In retrospect, I would of course click “exit without saving”, but that is unfortunately too late for me now. So far, I have tried unplugging the PSU and removing the motherboard battery, but none of that have worked. My recent actions show that I am no expert and I’m looking for some assistance in locating the error. After reading online, I think it can be the PSU or the Motherboard/CPU/RAM. However, this is almost everything and I want to avoid buying an entire new machine unless it is completely necessary. What is the process for locating the error and what are the chances of fixing it?

Specs:

Motherboard: Asus Z97-P

CPU: Intel 4790k

GPU: gtx 1080

PSU: Cooler Master G750M, 750W

RAM: 2x HyperX Fury DDR3 1600MHz 8GB

OS: Windows 10 64bit

markr54632 · August 13, 2017

I take no responsibility for your actions or if you damage something.

The ram is the least likely to have been injured and if it was the ram usually it would scream at you when you power it on.

Your power supply is most likely fine. Go buy a peer supply tester at your local computer store and use it alternatively Disconnect the power supply from everything and jumper the green wire in the 24 pin to a black wire. It should start up. Use a dmm to measure the the 12v 5v and 3.3v rail. They should all be right + or - a volt or less.

This leaves your board and cpu. If you have another board and/or cpu from the same series you can try swapping them out to figure out which one or if both are dead. If you don't well your buying a new board and cpu most likely.

If you replace the board and cpu and the system screams at you, you took the ram out as well.

AudioCraZ · August 13, 2017

There is always a risk when it comes to overclocking. When you overclock, you are basically saying "I am willing to burn up components for the chance at small increases in performance".

That being said, if you have multiple sticks of ram, pull all but 1 stick and leave it in memory slot 1. Try this with all sticks. If you get the same results with all of them, see if you can take your ram to another system and see if they work. You can try a local shop and see if they will boot a system with them to test them for you.

My guess is motherboard or CPU. You can try a local shop with your CPU as well, it is a long shot, but hopefully you can get lucky. Help you to narrow it down.

Word of suggestion, input power is very important to overclocking. That being said, if you really want to squeeze a little extra performance out of a system, a good power supply AND a good UPS is highly recommended. Voltage spikes and dips in public power always cause instability.