Red CPU_led and no post

[MohamedEssam]

This started all the way back in march of this year, I tried to turn on my PC and it wouldn't post. I opened it up and tweaked the ram configuration a bit and after a while it worked. the same problem kept happenening over that week and every time it would be solved differently. once when I reset the CMOS, once when I replugged the power cables on the CPU and mobo. and it stopped for a while until June. it started happening again for a few days as well by then my power supply died so I got a new one. and it worked until September. This time it happenened three times in one week and every time it would be solved differently.

One time I took the motherboard out of the case because I thought it was being shorted and it worked. the next I reseated the CPU and made sure the heatsink was air tight and it worked. The last time it didn't work until I took out all the ram modules and started without them, it then changed from the CPU- led to the DIMM- led. and it worked until yesterday. I'm facing the same problem again. the CPU-led is lit and no post no display. I tried everything and it refuses to work.

How can the problem happen every time and yet be solved differently every time?! and if there's a problem why did it work those times, it must've been at least 10 times now.
My specs are:

CPU: core i5 4460
mobo: Asus H97 pro gamer
RAM: Corsair vengeance lp 8gb (2×4)
GPU: Gigabyte gtx 1050 ti
PSU: Seasonic s12ii 430w

I know this is a long and weird post but I'm at my wit's end here. And thanks in advance!

[TheGlenlivet]

The one thing I see in common with all the fixes is removing power fully right?  Like to remove RAM or pull the MOBO out of the case you would have removed it from power all together.

With gear this old, it could be the motherboard RAM or CPU going bad, so I would try and test the RAM with Memtest86 to make sure that isn't it.

After that the motherboard or CPU could be the issue.  You said your old PSU failed?  It might have done some damage to something on the way out.

 

[MohamedEssam]

2 hours ago, TheGlenlivet said:

The one thing I see in common with all the fixes is removing power fully right?  Like to remove RAM or pull the MOBO out of the case you would have removed it from power all together.

With gear this old, it could be the motherboard RAM or CPU going bad, so I would try and test the RAM with Memtest86 to make sure that isn't it.

After that the motherboard or CPU could be the issue.  You said your old PSU failed?  It might have done some damage to something on the way out.

 

maybe, but this started happening three months before the PSU failed could it work even after it sustained damage?

Plus I noticed that the thermal paste is dried out on the CPU, could that prevent it from starting altogether?

[TheGlenlivet]

2 minutes ago, MohamedEssam said:

maybe, but this started happening three months before the PSU failed could it work even after it sustained damage?

Plus I noticed that the thermal paste is dried out on the CPU, could that prevent it from starting altogether?

If in doubt, replace the thermal past.  It's cheap and easy.

It's not likely that it's damaged if it was happening before the PSU blew up.

It's more likely RAM, CPU or a MOBO issue.  Have you updated the BIOS?  Is it stable when it does boot?

 

[MohamedEssam]

1 hour ago, TheGlenlivet said:

If in doubt, replace the thermal past.  It's cheap and easy.

It's not likely that it's damaged if it was happening before the PSU blew up.

It's more likely RAM, CPU or a MOBO issue.  Have you updated the BIOS?  Is it stable when it does boot?

 

yes, when it works it's perfect, RAM, CPU and everything. I was running red dead redemption 2 a couple of days before it happened.

 

I should also mention that the first time it ever happened I was trying to wake my PC up from sleep mode, and most of the other times when it happened it was either in sleep mode or hibernate. This time it was in hibernate and the lights went out, maybe this is the pattern we're looking for?

[TheGlenlivet]

9 minutes ago, MohamedEssam said:

yes, when it works it's perfect, RAM, CPU and everything. I was running red dead redemption 2 a couple of days before it happened.

 

I should also mention that the first time it ever happened I was trying to wake my PC up from sleep mode, and most of the other times when it happened it was either in sleep mode or hibernate. This time it was in hibernate and the lights went out, maybe this is the pattern we're looking for?

Ahhhhh.

Might be an issue with Windows then?  If you disable sleep and hibernate does it always boot normally?

[MohamedEssam]

38 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Ahhhhh.

Might be an issue with Windows then?  If you disable sleep and hibernate does it always boot normally?

I know it's really weird.

if I remember correctly it happened a couple of times when it was completely shut off.

but then again why would windows stop me from even getting to the bios?

from what I can tell it doesn't complete the POST process, it just stops at the CPU_led.