Trying to figure out what piece of hardware is bad...

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J-King

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Apr 10, 2012
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I built my computer about 5 years ago and I've been having a problem that's been slowly getting worse.

I come in in the morning and no boot device is on my screen, so I reboot and it get some hung up on the splash screen before eventually showing no boot device again. I turn off the computer, turn off the main power supply switch and wait for the motherboard to drain power. Then I turn everything back on and it's good. I've been doing that for a few months but today after I did that the computer booted up and 10 mins into my session on chrome all my windows froze and there was the blue "window is thinking" circle on my cursor whenever I moused over the task bar. It also would not launch any new programs. So I manually restarted and no boot device again, the motherboard could not see the SSD or DVD. I was able to run a test on the SSD while the computer was up and it tested excellent.

My first thought is my motherboard going bad. Then I thought maybe the power supply because of having to turn off the power supply for 30 seconds to get everything running again.

And ideas on which of those it could be? I'd hate to have to do a shotgun repair on this thing.
 
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C

CorsairSSC

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Aug 9, 2016
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My guess is your drive is failing. Even though the SSD test said the status was "excellent", I believe this is an error. The life of an SSD begins to end over the 5-year mark. I suggest you test your booting problems with another drive (if possible).

Also, please list all of your specs, including Windows version (no peripherals).
 
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
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What are the parts on your pc?

I might suspect the psu first if it is not of good quality.

If you can boot, try running memtest86+ to check ram.


Diagnosis is usually done by replacing suspect parts.
But, that is an expensive proposition if you do not have spare parts or another pc to work with.
It might be best to take your pc to a trusted local shop for diagnosis.

I say trusted because some unethical shops have been known to swap in inferior parts to unsuspected customers.
 
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J

J-King

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Apr 10, 2012
9
0
10,510
EVGA Z68 SLI 130-SB-E685-KR
8G Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600 (9-9-9-24)
i7 2600K 3.4
MSI Twin Frozr GeForce 560 TI 448 core
160G OCZ Agility 2 SSD
Standard SATA DVD-RW
Corsair HX650 PSU

Do you think a failing SSD would also cause the motherboard to not see the SATA Optical drive in bios?

I won't take it to a shop, I am a computer tech. Just wanted to get some input before I start replacing parts. get more brains on it to try to reduce the parts replaced before finding the culprit.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,277
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174,240
Your psu is good quality, not likely the problem.
Are all the connections secure?

Try testing with memtest86+.
It does not use windows and boots from a USB, cd or (gasp! floppy)

I do not see why your optical sata drive is not visible.

I suspect your SSD. It has terrible negative reviews on newegg:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227543

160gb is not very large for a C drive.
If it is near 90% full, it will have trouble doing updates.

Look to a 240gb Samsung 850 evo as a replacement.
Their free ssd migration app will move your C drive painlessly.

 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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May 9, 2013
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Computers wear out over time, and by year 4 your supposed to be looking into replacing it before year 5 because of the wear and tear, and most of all incompatibility the old hardware has issues with. For example if you look at Hard Drive Warranties based on 40 Hour Work week as 'normal' use, they only guarantee 'as advertised' for 3 years.



Totally sounds like a Hard Drive failure, which means total loss of your Data.



Okay totally contridicting here: if the Mobo in BIOS/UEFI can't see the SSD then how did you now 'test' it was working? If you tested BEFORE it couldn't be seen doesn't mean NOW it still 'is' working, Though having both devices down suggests the I/O on the MOBO failed rather than the SSD.



Well I would suggest, as you gave us no info on the model of equipment specifications I would side first with replacing the PSU then look to the Mobo afterwards, as cheap failing PSUs have been a serious issue in the industry for last 10 years. If you could get one from a working computer, and try it on this one, see what happens be the no cost test to determine your next step IMO
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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May 9, 2013
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Hrmm well based on this list I would point out this is way behind the curve, especially for any gaming, Given that this is a VERY old system (Gen 2 CPU and they just released Gen 7), that failed, and isn't really upgradable ( we are using DDR4 now for example) and won't be cost effective, it might be time to retire the old girl and look at a new system.

On the cheap I just saw a Dell Optiplex @Walmart for $400, i5/Gen6 with a 1TB drive, out of the box with W10 and warranty. Easily pick up a 1050TI (personally I would buy a 1060) toss it in without any fuss and you will see a HUGE performance gain than what you have now for very little cost, and under warranty that anything goes wrong Dell would fix it for you (as compared to all your current parts are WAY out of warranty).
 
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J

J-King

Honorable
Apr 10, 2012
9
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Tom
Ok so maybe I was bad at explaining.

When the issue happens, it shows no boot device. I go into BIOS and it can't see any of my SATA devices. Then if I turn off the power supply switch (on the back) and leave it off for 30-45 seconds then the computer boots to the SSD and can see all the SATA devices again. I tested he SSD during a time that I could boot into windows. I can run another test using Hirens Boot CD outside of windows.

All I'm asking for is thoughts on what could be wrong. I don't need a lecture on data loss, I back everything up. I don't need a lecture on the life of computers. I don't replace parts until I get failures, not just because they are old.

I posted my specs in a second post but I'll post again for you.

EVGA Z68 SLI 130-SB-E685-KR
8G Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600 (9-9-9-24)
i7 2600K 3.4
MSI Twin Frozr GeForce 560 TI 448 core
160G OCZ Agility 2 SSD
Standard SATA DVD-RW
Corsair HX650 PSU
 
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