my pc wont boot/post

rekoil · Mar 27, 2013

So, doing a little gaming the other day and my pc shutdown suddenly. I pulled the plug, sniffed the case (smelled fine) the plugged it back in and tried to power it up. All I got was a quick whir of the cpu fan, a quick red light on the vCard then it stopped and reset the same cycle... Quick cpu whir, quick light on vCard, repeat. At one random point I saw a message onscreen saying something about an "overclock" error, but I have been unable to replicate the message.

After some research, I bought a new psu, but it made no difference.

I then began to pull components and try to boot. I pulled the vCard and same cycle of whir/light power down. With the vCard still out, I pulled 1 stick of RAM from slot 2. The pc booted normally with the 1 remaining stick and onboard video. I switched RAM sticks in slot one an it again booted fine. I added the vCard with still 1 stick and the reset cycle started again.

At this point I assume its either my mobo, RAM or vCard, but I have no idea which.

Any ideas?
Specs:
Biostar g31-m7 te mobo
Intel core 2 duo e7500 cpu
Thermaltake tr2 600w psu (new)
4gb (2x2) PNY dd2 pc2-6400 ram
WD 320 gb data caviar blue hdd
Diamond Raedon hd 4850 1gb ddr3 pci-e vCard

Windows vista ultimate sp2

Thanks in advance!

masmotors · Mar 27, 2013

rekoil :

So, doing a little gaming the other day and my pc shutdown suddenly. I pulled the plug, sniffed the case (smelled fine) the plugged it back in and tried to power it up. All I got was a quick whir of the cpu fan, a quick red light on the vCard then it stopped and reset the same cycle... Quick cpu whir, quick light on vCard, repeat. At one random point I saw a message onscreen saying something about an "overclock" error, but I have been unable to replicate the message.

After some research, I bought a new psu, but it made no difference.
it coulb be a hdd drive died i had same problema bad psu blew my hdd out i rma and got ssd while i waited for the hdd also try ram sticks one at a time in diff spots

I then began to pull components and try to boot. I pulled the vCard and same cycle of whir/light power down. With the vCard still out, I pulled 1 stick of RAM from slot 2. The pc booted normally with the 1 remaining stick and onboard video. I switched RAM sticks in slot one an it again booted fine. I added the vCard with still 1 stick and the reset cycle started again.

At this point I assume its either my mobo, RAM or vCard, but I have no idea which.

Any ideas?
Specs:
Biostar g31-m7 te mobo
Intel core 2 duo e7500 cpu
Thermaltake tr2 600w psu (new)
4gb (2x2) PNY dd2 pc2-6400 ram
WD 320 gb data caviar blue hdd
Diamond Raedon hd 4850 1gb ddr3 pci-e vCard

Windows vista ultimate sp2

Thanks in advance!

masmotors · Mar 27, 2013

could be your hdd or ram check that

rekoil · Mar 27, 2013

masmotors :

With either stick of RAM in slot one, the pc booted just fine. Windows started and I could access everything on the hdd. Could it be the 2nd slot on my mobo went bad?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

Any other ideas out there? I know it's not the newest computer, but it had been working great up to this point.

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Can you test the graphics card in a friend's PC?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

That's a good idea, I cam take it to work and try I guess. I'm starting to think it's not the motherboard or the memory. I've tried both sticks of memory in both slots (individualy) and computer starts fine. The weird thing is even with the vCard pulled out, I get the reset problem when both sticks of RAM are installed. Could that mean a voltage or timing thing? Should I fully jumper reset the bios maybe?

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Try clearing the CMOS (unplug the power cord and remove the CMOS battery for few minutes) and see if still the same.
Does the PC boot with single RAm in slot 2?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

So I cleared CMOS (jumper method) and it still would not POST with 2 sticks of RAM. After I again pulled a stick, i know it reset CMOS because date reset. This is driving me nuts!

Yes the computer boots just fine with 1 stick in either slot and WITH either stick.

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Memory or board issue, hard to say. Can you test different RAMs?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

I could buy more to test, although the thought of buying more ddr2 in 2013 is kinda scary...

I took the current RAM to my office and tried it and it worked just fine.

Is there a software issue i might be missing? Because i can't think of a physical hardware malfunction that would allow both memory sticks to work in either slot, but not in conjunction...

Also, i will try the vcard in my office today as well and will report back.

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

I agree, buying RAMs is not an option, as the issue might be with the board's memory controller.
Maybe running single RAM module?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

First off, i really appreciate the help!

I would have to use the PC minus the vcard and 1 stick of RAM, which basically makes it almost unusable. The only legible resolution with the onboard video is 640x480. On a 21in monitor this doesn't look so good...

I'm still curious as to what even possibly happened for this to occur. First time i've hit a wall with troubleshooting a PC.

Quick question- if i buy a new Mobo, CPU and RAM, will I have any issues with using my current HDD? Again, it's a WD 320gb SATA caviar blue. By issues i mean re-installing windows and such?

I haven't given up just yet, but i'm getting to that point.

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Is it Vista 64 bit ?

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

Yes it is

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Not discussing the licensing terms (if OEM), you can use the HDD.
Some related threads: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/247087-32-want-migrate-computer-losing-data
I asked about 64 bit thinking at memory support (with newer boards, you would use more than 4GB).

rekoil · Mar 28, 2013

thanks, i'll check out the link. And thanks again for the help. I'm guessing your out of ideas as far as the current setup, cause i sure am!

alexoiu · Mar 28, 2013

Probably a board chipset issue, but it's hard to know for sure.

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