PC Randomly Not Turning On

[Alexb770]

Hi, 

 

This morning I turned my PC on and when I came back to the room, I saw it turn off suddenly and it will no longer turn back on. I've checked that all the cables are plugged in securely, have tried using different outlets, switching the PSU on/off multiple times and have not been able to get it back on. I have noticed that every once in a while when I flip the PSU switch back to on, a light flashes. I've attached a video of it to this post. There was another thread I found that had the same problem, and it's making me think the motherboard is the issue here. Figured I'd ask here to maybe find alternatives before I drop $300 on a replacement and basically completely rebuild my PC. 

 

For what it's worth, my PC is probably considered heavily used. I used to do AFK money farms on Rainbow Six where I'd leave my computer on overnight to get renown. That's in addition to the regular hours I'd actually be using it either for school or playing, which together total a lot of hours especially since I've had this PC since before quarantine. I'll go ahead and list my specs. Everything in this list is only just over 2 years old with the exception of one hard drive and my GPU. I've had the GPU since the start of 2018, and the hard drive about half a year longer. 

 

SPECS:

GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2

CPU: 9700KF OC'd to ~ 4.7GHz

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62

PSU: Corsair RM750i (gold rated) 

Mobo: Z390 Aorus Master 

RAM: 16GB HyperX Vengeance 3200MHz

Storage: one 1 TB Samsung EVO SSD, one 1 TB HDD, and one 2 TB HDD

[SavageShow]

That's really sudden for the lights to kick off like that. 

Can you try something super basic? I am curious if it at least gets the PC to turn back on. 

 

-Unplug the power from the PSU

-Hold the power button on your case for 15-20 full seconds

-Plug the power back in and see if it turns on

[lafrente]

PSU is probably shot

[--SID--]

Reset motherboard BIOS first.

[SpookyCitrus]

I'd reset the bios first and foremost. Otherwise classic signs of a dead PSU. I'd recommend testing or replacing that first before doing any drastic replacements.

[Alexb770]

11 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

Reset motherboard BIOS first.

 

10 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

I'd reset the bios first and foremost. Otherwise classic signs of a dead PSU. I'd recommend testing or replacing that first before doing any drastic replacements.

How do I do this if I can't get the PC on? Like I said I can't get it back on. The motherboard will flash briefly after flipping the PSU switch back on, but that's it. 

[191x7]

Take the PSU out, try it with a FAN connected (the paperclip green&black method) or use a PSU tester.

 

Edit: bios is reset by removing the battery for 5 minutes.

[Alexb770]

17 minutes ago, SavageShow said:

That's really sudden for the lights to kick off like that. 

Can you try something super basic? I am curious if it at least gets the PC to turn back on. 

 

-Unplug the power from the PSU

-Hold the power button on your case for 15-20 full seconds

-Plug the power back in and see if it turns on

This didn't work unfortunately. 

[191x7]

1 minute ago, Alexb770 said:

This didn't work unfortunately. 

 

[SavageShow]

Gotcha, was a long shot. Unfortunately it seems like a dead PSU then.

 

What we just did should clear your CMOS which would set your mobo back to factory defaults.

[SpookyCitrus]

4 minutes ago, Alexb770 said:

 

How do I do this if I can't get the PC on? Like I said I can't get it back on. The motherboard will flash briefly after flipping the PSU switch back on, but that's it. 

Unplug the powersupply from the wall, remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard(Silver circular battery usually under the GPU or towards the lower end of the mobo) and let sit for 5 minutes or so, or hold the power button for 20 to 30 seconds. Put the battery back in and try powering the system on again.

[SpookyCitrus]

Just now, SavageShow said:

Gotcha, was a long shot. Unfortunately it seems like a dead PSU then.

 

What we just did should clear your CMOS which would set your mobo back to factory defaults.

The CMOS won't clear unless they remove the CMOS battery and then do the steps you suggested, which OP did not do as they do not know how and it was not listed.

[SavageShow]

Just now, SpookyCitrus said:

The CMOS won't clear unless they remove the CMOS battery and then do the steps you suggested, which OP did not do as they do not know how and it was not listed.

Usually clears the CMOS for me but definitely worth a try removing the CMOS battery and trying again.

[SpookyCitrus]

Just now, SavageShow said:

Usually clears the CMOS for me but definitely worth a try removing the CMOS battery and trying again.

Depends on the board and battery, I've had a few systems I've worked on where if the battery is still at a decent level and it isn't removed holding the power button won't clear CMOS no matter how long you hold the button. I've just added it as a step to clearing the CMOS regardless when I'm doing it just in case.

[SavageShow]

Just now, SpookyCitrus said:

Depends on the board and battery, I've had a few systems I've worked on where if the battery is still at a decent level and it isn't removed holding the power button won't clear CMOS no matter how long you hold the button. I've just added it as a step to clearing the CMOS regardless when I'm doing it just in case.

That makes perfect sense and would have been better for me to include!

[Alexb770]

1 hour ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Unplug the powersupply from the wall, remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard(Silver circular battery usually under the GPU or towards the lower end of the mobo) and let sit for 5 minutes or so, or hold the power button for 20 to 30 seconds. Put the battery back in and try powering the system on again.

EDIT: PC turned back on. Gonna have to shut it back off and put the GPU back in and connect it to a screen, but this is good progress   Thank you!

 

EDIT 2: Got it hooked back up but nothing happened, so it seems like I'm back to square one lol. Might be worth noting that one of the variables here was that my GPU wasn't plugged in when I managed to power on my PC last time. 

 

 

Currently trying this and have the timer running. In the meantime, I noticed there was a bunch of white powder covering the battery. Pretty sure it was just dust, but could that have been the issue. Here's a picture as well

[SpookyCitrus]

10 hours ago, Alexb770 said:

EDIT: PC turned back on. Gonna have to shut it back off and put the GPU back in and connect it to a screen, but this is good progress   Thank you!

 

EDIT 2: Got it hooked back up but nothing happened, so it seems like I'm back to square one lol. Might be worth noting that one of the variables here was that my GPU wasn't plugged in when I managed to power on my PC last time. 

 

 

Currently trying this and have the timer running. In the meantime, I noticed there was a bunch of white powder covering the battery. Pretty sure it was just dust, but could that have been the issue. Here's a picture as well

 

That is just dust. Try it with the GPU unplugged again. If it works again it's two possibilities. Either your PSU is bad and is not properly powering the system when the GPU is connected. Or you're GPU is dead and is causing the system to error. If the computer works again with the GPU removed I recommend hooking the GPU up in a separate system to test it if possible. That will determine if the GPU is the culprit if it causes that system to do the same thing. If the separate system works with your GPU then I would say the PSU is bad and needs to be replaced. Those are your next steps for testing, so if you have another system to test great otherwise hopefully you know someone who does. If you can't find another system to test your GPU in you will most likely need to take it into a shop or roll the dice on just purchasing a new PSU and hoping for the best.

[SpookyCitrus]

@Alexb770I see you marked my post as the solution, is the computer working properly now with the GPU installed?

[Alexb770]

1 hour ago, SpookyCitrus said:

That is just dust. Try it with the GPU unplugged again. If it works again it's two possibilities. Either your PSU is bad and is not properly powering the system when the GPU is connected. Or you're GPU is dead and is causing the system to error. If the computer works again with the GPU removed I recommend hooking the GPU up in a separate system to test it if possible. That will determine if the GPU is the culprit if it causes that system to do the same thing. If the separate system works with your GPU then I would say the PSU is bad and needs to be replaced. Those are your next steps for testing, so if you have another system to test great otherwise hopefully you know someone who does. If you can't find another system to test your GPU in you will most likely need to take it into a shop or roll the dice on just purchasing a new PSU and hoping for the best.

Figured I'd respond to wrap this whole thing up, basically I got it working fine again but I don't really know how. I used your battery reset method and after a couple of tries it "just worked." GPU's perfectly fine too. I did notice that when I tried booting it with my case fan LEDs plugged in, it wouldn't work. After restarting the process of resetting the CMOS battery again, but this time with the LEDs unplugged, it worked. Just thought that was very strange since fan LEDs aren't very taxing from a power draw standpoint (maybe that trial was just coincidence?)

 

I've been able to turn the PC on and off freely without any trouble so far, but I'm not sure if I really fixed the issue (which like you and others said, is likely my PSU dying). Regardless, I'm just hoping it holds out till later this summer/fall when I do a proper rebuild. Thanks again for all the help

[SpookyCitrus]

5 minutes ago, Alexb770 said:

Figured I'd respond to wrap this whole thing up, basically I got it working fine again but I don't really know how. I used your battery reset method and after a couple of tries it "just worked." GPU's perfectly fine too. I did notice that when I tried booting it with my case fan LEDs plugged in, it wouldn't work. After restarting the process of resetting the CMOS battery again, but this time with the LEDs unplugged, it worked. Just thought that was very strange since fan LEDs aren't very taxing from a power draw standpoint (maybe that trial was just coincidence?)

 

I've been able to turn the PC on and off freely without any trouble so far, but I'm not sure if I really fixed the issue (which like you and others said, is likely my PSU dying). Regardless, I'm just hoping it holds out till later this summer/fall when I do a proper rebuild. Thanks again for all the help

No problem, glad we could help you get it back up and running again. Best of luck!