What to RMA; CPU or Motherboard?

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Giggles93

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Jan 4, 2015
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I've been having trouble with my new (first) build. It will not power on reliably (probably 1 time out of 30), and when it DOES power on and boot up, it's incredibly unstable (locking up, graphical errors, and BSOD). However, the first couple of times I got it to boot up, it seemed to work really well. It got progressively worse, and now it just bluescreens after 30 seconds.

I've gone through the POST/boot problems sticky, and no dice. Even breadboarding with only the PSU, CPU and mobo, it will not power on (either with the power switch or shorting the pins).

I've checked the PSU with a tester, everything seems to be a-ok with it. Glad I got that because the XFX support guy told me to RMA the PSU!

So, it should be either the motherboard or CPU, right? Is there any way of determining 100% which part is faulty? I've heard that motherboards are far, far more likely to fail. Is this true? So if I can't determine which is faulty, I should send the mobo back first?

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33
PSU: XFX TS450
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB)
SSD: Kingston SSDNow 120GB
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750Ti
 
Solution
Xyos
Motherboards and CPU's RARELY fail unless physically damaged. I don't know how you tested the PSU, but sometimes issues can't be found with volt meters and PSU testing kits. This is what I would do:

Buy a cheap (but reliable) PSU. The EVGA 500W, $40.00 PSU is what I would go for:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438016&cm_re=EVGA_500w-_-17-438-016-_-Product

Swap the power supplies out, then test it. If it's fine keep it. If its not, simply return it to newegg (30 day return policy). I honestly think its a power issue.
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Xyos

Xyos

Distinguished
Oct 5, 2009
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Motherboards and CPU's RARELY fail unless physically damaged. I don't know how you tested the PSU, but sometimes issues can't be found with volt meters and PSU testing kits. This is what I would do:

Buy a cheap (but reliable) PSU. The EVGA 500W, $40.00 PSU is what I would go for:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438016&cm_re=EVGA_500w-_-17-438-016-_-Product

Swap the power supplies out, then test it. If it's fine keep it. If its not, simply return it to newegg (30 day return policy). I honestly think its a power issue.
 
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Solution
B

brispuss

Splendid
Dec 27, 2014
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CPU's rarely fail, the motherboard is far more likely to fail.

The cause of the problems may be due to faulty DIMM's or faulty video card.

First make sure ALL cables, DIMM's, and video card are seated properly/firmly!

If problems continue, remove video card and try it in another computer, and/or use integrated graphics instead as a test.

If video card seems OK, but problems still occur, then try one DIMM at a time in one slot, then in the next slot etc. Do this for all the DIMM's. This will help determine if the DIMM's and/or slots are faulty. Could also try DIMM's in another computer. Also could try other DIMM's (at hand or borrow some).

If DIMM's appear to be OK, and the computer still has problems, try another known working PSU (at hand or borrow one).

If problems persist, then most likely the motherboard is faulty. Although there is a very slight chance the CPU is faulty, but this is unlikely.

 
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Giggles93

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Jan 4, 2015
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The PSU suggestion sounds reasonable. So I guess that if it turns out to not be the PSU, it's pretty much guaranteed to be the motherboard?

Also if it helps my PC was only switched on for a combined time of maybe 3 hours so far.
 
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