My PC has a boot loop problem, but I'm not sure which part is causing it...

[boombam12]

For some context, I built my PC in December of 2020. A couple weeks after some use, and some research, I found out that the RAM I had bought was capable of some overclocking. I overclocked my RAM pretty intensely and continued to use my PC for the next few months without any hiccups. However, one day, it suddenly shut off on me, and I couldn't turn it on. After some tinkering, I found out that the computer only worked with one stick of RAM incorrectly slotted in the 4th slot from the left (I believe if you're using only one stick, you put it in the 2nd slot). If I put one stick in the 2nd slot, the CPU debugging light on the motherboard lights up and the computer never boots into Windows. Despite this, I continued using my PC with only one stick of my RAM in the 4th slot, without any problems, but after a couple months, it suddenly shut down on me again. When I tried turning it back on, I was met with a Windows boot loop, specifically the "SrtTrail.txt" error. After completely wiping my SSD and reinstalling Windows 10 and 11 multiple times, nothing has fixed this boot loop and error. I would wipe my SSD, reinstall Windows, go through all of the updates, download all drivers, etc, and after 4-5 restarts, the computer arrives back to the boot loop all the same. As a result, I've personally reached the conclusion that it is not a software issue, but a hardware one. However, I am not sure which specific part(s) is causing this issue. I've already tested the PC with a different set of RAM sticks, and have taken out and put back in the CPU in the motherboard, both of which didn't help. My prime suspects are either the CPU, and/or the motherboard, but I obviously do not have any spare CPU or motherboard lying around to prove which part is broken.

 

If anyone have any insights or suggestions, please let me know, I'm happy to provide any further details if there are any questions.

[RONOTHAN##]

I think we need some more details about the type of memory OC that you had setup, primarily what voltages you set for the IMC. The fact that initially didn't want to boot with a stick in slot 2 makes it sound like you had a memory channel on your CPU die. 

 

Also exact parts help at the same time, like knowing if you have a motherboard with a rather high failure rate or something along those lines. 

[boombam12]

4 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I think we need some more details about the type of memory OC that you had setup, primarily what voltages you set for the IMC. The fact that initially didn't want to boot with a stick in slot 2 makes it sound like you had a memory channel on your CPU die. 

 

Also exact parts help at the same time, like knowing if you have a motherboard with a rather high failure rate or something along those lines. 

The OC setup is attached (I honestly don't remember what I was doing here, which is probably why my PC got f'd up), and here are the parts:

• Ryzen 5600x
• MSI B550 Gaming Edge Wifi
• Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz 2x8GB

[RONOTHAN##]

52 minutes ago, boombam12 said:

The OC setup is attached (I honestly don't remember what I was doing here, which is probably why my PC got f'd up), and here are the parts:

• Ryzen 5600x
• MSI B550 Gaming Edge Wifi
• Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz 2x8GB

Got it, nothing in there is really all that dangerous. Only thing I can think of that would break something is that you set the SOC voltage too high by accident, typing in 1.25V rather than 1.125V (max save voltage for this is 1.2V). If everything was copied correctly, this isn't dangerous in the slightest. If it wasn't, it would have to depend on what voltage setting wasn't copied correctly. 

 

My gut's telling me that it's more likely to be a CPU issue than a MB issue, though unfortunately the only real way to know for sure is to test a different one and see what happens.