How can I determine which component is causing my system to fail without replacing them all one by one?

michaelevy804

Reputable
Feb 17, 2016
4
0
4,510
Today my PC crashed and after restarting it it now stays on for about two second intervals and then turns back off, turns itself back on a few seconds later and repeats this process perpetually. The fans on the GPU, CPU and case all come on as well as all of the LEDs but nothing displays on the monitor at all; it just shuts down before the BIOS start loading or anything.

More peculiarly, every once in a while it'll stay on for around 20-30 second periods of time rather than just 2 or 3. Still nothing shows on the monitor though.

I've looked into this issue a bit and it seems like this problem could be caused by pretty much any component - the GPU, CPU, RAM or PSU. Is there a way I can diagnose which one is causing the failure?

It's a custom build that has been working flawlessly for about a year and half I think
 
Solution
1) Remove the GPU and run the monitor off one of the integrated graphics ports.

2) Try a different PSU if you have one handy (or borrow from a friend).

3) Unplug everything from the PSU except for the motherboard (DVD, HDD, SSD, LED lights... ect).

4) Try RAM modules one at a time and in different memory slots on the motherboard (try different RAM too)

5) Motherboard and or CPU :pfff:

Good luck...
Remove the GPU, if the system works, it's either the GPU or the PSU. If it doesn't, it's the mobo, CPU, or PSU. RAM rarely causes boot errors unless it completely fails, which again is not something most will ever see.

After that, you'll need to have replacement parts to tell what's the issue, but generally the PSU is the first place to look (and if you have a workbench with proper monitoring hardware you might be able to test the performance of the PSU)
 

rcxtra

Reputable
Sep 15, 2015
410
0
5,160
1) Remove the GPU and run the monitor off one of the integrated graphics ports.

2) Try a different PSU if you have one handy (or borrow from a friend).

3) Unplug everything from the PSU except for the motherboard (DVD, HDD, SSD, LED lights... ect).

4) Try RAM modules one at a time and in different memory slots on the motherboard (try different RAM too)

5) Motherboard and or CPU :pfff:

Good luck...
 
Solution