PC bootloops during (or after?) POST, not sure which component is at fault.

[Conjo]

This PC was working fine the night before, but now it refuses to turn on.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7 12700KF

Motherboard: MSI PRO B660M-A WiFi DDR4

RAM: 2x HyperX DDR4 8GB 2666 mhz (no RGB)

GPU: MSI RTX 3060 GAMING X 12G

PSU: Deepcool DA500 (500W, 80Plus bronze, older model) - label pic

(PSU used to be an XPG Pylon 750w but that died last year, about a month after purchase lol)

 

Details and what I've tried:

Debug LEDs light up in order: CPU -> RAM -> GPU, then reboots (video - here you can see CPU indicator lights up again, but that happens whenever I cut power to the PC, so it's not very indicative of anything in this situation I guess).

No BIOS settings where changed afaik (and I did try clearing CMOS, but that didn't work, only made the CPU and RAM stages of the POST take a little bit longer).

I checked that it wasn't the power button malfunctioning as I read a couple of cases where that was the issue.

 

Then I took everything out, put it on top of the motherboard box and tried:

Booting with the bare minimum (CPU+cooler, GPU, 1 stick of RAM only) - didn't work.

Reseating CPU, GPU, and RAM (and try different ram slots) - didn't work

Using a different GPU (GTX 1650 Super) - didn't work.

Using the other 16x PCIe slot for the GPU - didn't work.

Not having any GPU inserted - It stays on with the GPU debug LED turned on.

Using a different motherboard and CPU (MSI B365M + i5 9400f), it works with both GPUs, and the same PSU and RAM (each stick). 

 

So the problem is somewhere between CPU and Motherboard, but I'd like to say the PSU could be the problem too, since CPU and MB are both less than a year old, have been working without issues, and there's no reason for them to randomly fail. And the PSU might be a bit tight on power budget for these components, so maybe it got damaged over time? but that'd be really weird too. 

 

I'd really like to hear any other thoughts on this before buying some new parts.

 

[TatamiMatt]

18 minutes ago, Conjo said:

This PC was working fine the night before, but now it refuses to turn on.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7 12700KF

Motherboard: MSI PRO B660M-A WiFi DDR4

RAM: 2x HyperX DDR4 8GB 2666 mhz (no RGB)

GPU: MSI RTX 3060 GAMING X 12G

PSU: Deepcool DA500 (500W, 80Plus bronze, older model) - label pic

(PSU used to be an XPG Pylon 750w but that died last year, about a month after purchase lol)

 

Details and what I've tried:

Debug LEDs light up in order: CPU -> RAM -> GPU, then reboots (video - here you can see CPU indicator lights up again, but that happens whenever I cut power to the PC, so it's not very indicative of anything in this situation I guess).

No BIOS settings where changed afaik (and I did try clearing CMOS, but that didn't work, only made the CPU and RAM stages of the POST take a little bit longer).

I checked that it wasn't the power button malfunctioning as I read a couple of cases where that was the issue.

 

Then I took everything out, put it on top of the motherboard box and tried:

Booting with the bare minimum (CPU+cooler, GPU, 1 stick of RAM only) - didn't work.

Reseating CPU, GPU, and RAM (and try different ram slots) - didn't work

Using a different GPU (GTX 1650 Super) - didn't work.

Using the other 16x PCIe slot for the GPU - didn't work.

Not having any GPU inserted - It stays on with the GPU debug LED turned on.

Using a different motherboard and CPU (MSI B365M + i5 9400f), it works with both GPUs, and the same PSU and RAM (each stick). 

 

So the problem is somewhere between CPU and Motherboard, but I'd like to say the PSU could be the problem too, since CPU and MB are both less than a year old, have been working without issues, and there's no reason for them to randomly fail. And the PSU might be a bit tight on power budget for these components, so maybe it got damaged over time? but that'd be really weird too. 

 

I'd really like to hear any other thoughts on this before buying some new parts.

 

I dont know if you have enough wattage with 500W

 

Especially with an E-Tier PSU

 

 

Whats your entire system specs storage, case, any case fans, cooler etc

 

Gonna fire together what your wattage is

[kitnoman]

It shouldn't be the PSU. Why? because it would either work or not work. Other issues, is when it's still working but the PSU fans does not, so the reason why the system shutoff is due to overheating. So unless it's that, shouldn't be the PSU, as it does turn on. Because the only time a PSU overheats due to it's fan not working is when it has a high load and can't cooldown. While the other times, it would not just work anymore. Also, you tried it on another system and it work. So yes, you could use a better PSU, but it shouldn't be the problem for this.

So you mentioned you tried 1 ram stick, just to be sure, have you tried using the other stick? But personally, it could be the motherboard. You can try to check the CPU pins. When you leave it on. Did you notice if the CPU heats up or remains cold? Plus if the PC keeps on cycling, normally, I would just leave it for a minimum of 30mins and even of up to full hour. If it's the CPU, the LED would be stuck on the CPU LED light and not really cycles. So I'm more incline to believe it's the motherboard with this one. You can try to replace the CMOS battery from the other motherboard. You can borrow another 1700 motherboard and check. But even if it works after using another motherboard, it's hard to pinpoint the issue, much less fix  it, unless you have tools. If it's still under warranty, I would suggest to immediately borrow a CPU or motherboard or both.  

[TatamiMatt]

6 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

It shouldn't be the PSU. Why? because it would either work or not work. Other issues, is when it's still working but the PSU fans does not, so the reason why the system shutoff is due to overheating. So unless it's that, shouldn't be the PSU, as it does turn on. Because the only time a PSU overheats due to it's fan not working is when it has a high load and can't cooldown. While the other times, it would not just work anymore. Also, you tried it on another system and it work. So yes, you could use a better PSU, but it shouldn't be the problem for this.

So you mentioned you tried 1 ram stick, just to be sure, have you tried using the other stick? But personally, it could be the motherboard. You can try to check the CPU pins. When you leave it on. Did you notice if the CPU heats up or remains cold? Plus if the PC keeps on cycling, normally, I would just leave it for a minimum of 30mins and even of up to full hour. If it's the CPU, the LED would be stuck on the CPU LED light and not really cycles. So I'm more incline to believe it's the motherboard with this one. You can try to replace the CMOS battery from the other motherboard. You can borrow another 1700 motherboard and check. But even if it works after using another motherboard, it's hard to pinpoint the issue, much less fix  it, unless you have tools. If it's still under warranty, I would suggest to immediately borrow a CPU or motherboard or both.  

Im thinking moreso because of the bootloop it isnt pulling 500W initially as its right on the border, but when fans spin up, storage, GPU and RAM initialises it exceeds the PSUs wattage and shuts down, but because its still in boot, it retries it as it sees it as a failed boot, and commence loop

 

That said, i could still be wrong, just a theory

[Conjo]

10 hours ago, TatamiMatt said:

Whats your entire system specs storage, case, any case fans, cooler etc

 

Gonna fire together what your wattage is

3 case fans with ARGB (InWin Sirius Loop), the cooler is the Peerless Assassin 120 with the 2 other included ARGB fans.
Storage is 1 nvme (PCIe gen 3), 1 sata ssd, and 1 hdd (7200RPM).

Case is this Fantech Pulse CG71, only has that RGB thing on the front and its front IO.

And a bunch of usb peripherals (gaming mouse and keyboard, a simple usb 2.0 hub, wireless dongle for a headset, sometimes a cheap usb capture card and an arduino uno r3)

9 hours ago, kitnoman said:

Other issues, is when it's still working but the PSU fans does not, so the reason why the system shutoff is due to overheating. So unless it's that, shouldn't be the PSU, as it does turn on.

So you mentioned you tried 1 ram stick, just to be sure, have you tried using the other stick?

 

You can try to check the CPU pins. When you leave it on. Did you notice if the CPU heats up or remains cold? Plus if the PC keeps on cycling, normally, I would just leave it for a minimum of 30mins and even of up to full hour.

 

You can try to replace the CMOS battery from the other motherboard.

In this case the PSU fan does turn on.

 

I did try each stick of ram separately, on each slot, but that didn't make it work on that motherboard if a GPU is on it.

 

The CPU and cooler do get warm. Didn't really try to let it reboot for that long though, will check that when I can. 

 

And the CMOS yeah I can try that, but if it was dead it would show an error message at least, no? will try later anyways. 

 

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I guess I do need a new PSU if I want to keep that hardware combination reliably/efficiently working in any case, so I'll get a new one anyways.

[TatamiMatt]

 

Theres fans down below too and the power is RIGHT on 500W pretty much with no peripherals (some pieces are stand ins but should provide the same wattage)

[Conjo]

Ok so new psu arrived, doesn't fix the issue (and the psu is working perfectly)
So it has to be the motherboard. 

Sadly I don't have access to another one for the same CPU (or another CPU) to 100% confirm it is, but I have no reason to believe it's the CPU