Computer turns on but does not start up

mgee173

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Nov 22, 2013
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10,510
Hi guys! First off, thanks for taking the time to look at my post. I have what seems to be a fairly unique problem. When turning on my computer everything turns on normally except for the GPU. With the GPU the fans twitch every 5-7 seconds and stop. The thing that makes me entirely confused is that a few times (out of the 30 or so attempts) I was indeed able to boot up and use it just like I normally would. When I did get it up I played CSGO for maybe 15 minutes before it shut off again and would not turn back on. Where should I start to begin this fix or if absolutely necessary what do I need to order to fix this? For what it's worth, the computer doesn't beep at all when I turn it on. When it does decide to work it beeps a few times and then goes through the mobo start screen and the rest of the boot process.

Specs:
-Mobo : Asus M5A97
-GPU : EVGA GTX 960
-PSU : Thermaltake 750W
-RAM : G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB (2x4gb)
-CPU : AMD 8150 Black Edition


Any help is GREATLY appreciated, thanks a bunch guys.

EDIT:

Also, just to catch you guys up to speed on what I've tried :

-Using one stick of a ram, then switching it out for the other stick
-Switching the GPU from one PCI-E to another (alternated RAM each time)

I purchased the GTX 960 assuming my video card was the culprit ~5 months ago. It worked fine up until maybe 2 weeks ago and randomly quit with the same problem as the last card (fans twitching)
As stated in my original post I have (for no reason I could find) gotten it to do a full boot a few different times. Once in Windows I was able to do pretty much anything. I downloaded a program (EVGA Precision) and used it to ensure my fans would kick in at a much lower temperature than usual. It worked for maybe 20 minutes and randomly died again. I can post pictures of how my computer is set up although I don't think that is the issue. I don't have many spare parts laying around to troubleshoot but I'm hopeful one of you gurus out there will be able to help me pinpoint the problem.

EDIT 2: On my PSU there are a total of six ports for PCI-E cables. I only have one (SATA power cable) that runs to both my hard drive and my DVD drive (in that order). Is it possible that I need to purchase a separate cable to run from the PSU to the GPU? Currently it is connected through one that runs off a PCI-E cable from the internals of the PSU. This brings about another question, if it is in fact in need of a new PCI-E cable then why would it have worked in the past and randomly crapped out on me?


Thanks everyone, hopefully together we can figure this thing out!!
 
Solution
It sounds like a power issue.
If it was your gpu, the screen would just go blank, but the computer wouldn't shutdown.
Do you have a spare psu you could try?
I could be wrong, but have read on a few sites that the thermaltake psu are pretty crap, I might be wrong though because the watts seem to be sufficient for your setup.
What I would do is strip your rig to bare bones, remove everything except 1 stick of ram. Boot to bios, check temps.
If all good add another device and boot to bios.
Do this until it doesn't boot at all, then you have your culprit.

Devildjinn

Honorable
Jun 4, 2015
161
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10,760
It sounds like a power issue.
If it was your gpu, the screen would just go blank, but the computer wouldn't shutdown.
Do you have a spare psu you could try?
I could be wrong, but have read on a few sites that the thermaltake psu are pretty crap, I might be wrong though because the watts seem to be sufficient for your setup.
What I would do is strip your rig to bare bones, remove everything except 1 stick of ram. Boot to bios, check temps.
If all good add another device and boot to bios.
Do this until it doesn't boot at all, then you have your culprit.
 
Solution

mgee173

Honorable
Nov 22, 2013
10
0
10,510
Devildjinn thank you very much for the reply. I will follow these steps and get back on to report any information I'm able to gather. Thanks for taking the time to try and help a random stranger!