No boot PC, is it mobo or cpu

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Apr 7, 2017
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Hi geniuses,

OK had a "can't find boot drive" senario the other day, which turned into a no boot at all thing. Basically no beeps, no post, a slight clicking from speakers (every 2 or so seconds). There was a time or two when it got to bios but 99% of time it didn't do squat. I unplugged everything tried with inbuilt graphics, replace cmos battery, tried each ram individually... I have reset bios plenty...

I have also reset the heatsink and cpu chip twice, stripped it down to just mobo, cpu, heatsink etc and powered on with screw driver same thing. so not short on case / screw...

Even though it doesn't beep or post, if i remove all ram i get the ram beep warning. So at least its noticing that.

Recently during testing it powers on and then powers off and then powers on etc sometimes quickly after turning on sometimes a while...

To troubleshoot further what should i try? One thing of note I feel the heat sink on the chip at the bottom of board feels a little loose could that be it?

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Gear
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i7 4770
GA Z87-D3HP
Noctua cpu cooler... blah blah
 
Solution
DRagor
Well, right. Did some research, and I think that last row of pins should have 12 pins ... and on your picture there are clearly only 10 visible. So 2 got either broken or melted - well does not really matter which, either way it's impossible to repair them.
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DRagor

DRagor

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So no ram=beeps, ram = no beeps. Next step therefore is try another known-to-be-good ram stick.


Nah, loose heatsink on PCH could cause overheating problems but that not happen on boot, as the chipset is cold then.
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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yes if ram is in then i get no post beep (that lovely single beep) but if i remove ram i get the warning ram missing multiple beeps.

So you think think it could be defective ram?
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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cool,will try when i find some...

the clicking noise that happens is just like the click when you reset too, is that a typical symptom?

 
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DRagor

DRagor

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No reason to suspect CPU for now. If the components would be brand new, I would split chances 50/50 ram/mobo. Since it's used, it is hard to believe all your ram sticks failed at once, so mobo fault becomes more likely then ram fault. Plus 'can't find boot drive' problems are tied to either drive or mobo; but you made strip to no-drive, so this leaves mobo as the most likely suspect - for now of course.
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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Your logic stacks up so far ;D

Now my issue is do i hunt down the same exact mobo and try and "pretend nothing happened" and see if it all goes back to normal... or do I upgrade and go through installing windows and programs etc all over again (really don't want to as I have a lot to do - gigs of work software and music production software to reinstall sigh...

If I got another Z87 style board would that mean i could forgo a reinstall?

 
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DRagor

DRagor

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To avoid reinstall you would need exactly the same model of motherboard. Exactly, down to revision number. Anything else and you're facing very high probability of Windows clean install required.

However don't be so quick going for new mobo hunt. It is still way to early to blame mobo for sure. I'd rather have some evidence on hand before spending money. Make a test with different ram sticks, or test your sticks at friend's comp (at this point all you would want to know is if the other comp boots with your sticks).
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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interesting update: ok i tired new ram etc and nothing new until i swapped up the slots...
what I found: both new and old posted (beeped once) in 1/3 config (imagine further-est two from CPU but any config where a ram is in the two slots nearer the CPU it doesn't post. It kinda appears to be the two slots closest to CPU are damaged or somehow blocked / shorted. I shone torch in slots looked at pins etc cannot see anything to fishy. I also remounted the loose heatsink. So it looks like old ram appears to be ok (enough to post a beep) but appears to be the two ram slots themselves no worky. normal config for this mobo is the slot one skip one slot and install in the other (i have two sticks of 8gb) will i get lumped with slower speeds if i use slot 1,3?
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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Cool I had read similar. Also of note there was a lot of other posts about the tension of the heat sink (over tightened screws etc bowing the circuit board near the first two modules) will try that...

BTW I was able to get it to (after much fluffing) boot direct to windows without all the repair boot stuff that was coming up.

Now to see if I can A) have a stable computer B) use all ram slots...

So regarding the bent pins on CPU these should all look uniform to the extreme? all at same angle with no deviations? Can I use a credit card etc to bend them back if they are bent?

Thanks so much for your help ;D


 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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Hi again, tried loosening the cpu cooler's plate a smidgen and re set the chip/heatsink again. I also looked at pins but could see anything odd there were a couple that may of looked a little shorter but could of been the light (boy are they smaller/tighter these days). Anyway at present its running normally with the two in slot 1/3 and only getting single channel 16gb ;( but at least it posts / works fine in the quick testing i have done...

Other than defect on board from CPU to ram slots or defected pins (which would be kinda weird as its been fine and unplayed with for yonks - not sure what would suddenly augment/damage the pins)

If there is nothing else to troubleshoot I guess I should start looking for a second hand duplicate board (there is one in australia ebay for 99 + 19 postage)

Or wait to upgrade...

Thanks for your time and awesome help.



 
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DRagor

DRagor

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Right. Fortunately cameras in our phones are getting better and better :) Even now is often better to make picture and search for broken pins on picture rather then with own eyes.

Nothing more to test. Why it happens now? It's electrical thing - it can fail anytime it's powered on.
 
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downupleftleftabuttonrightdown

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ok here is a dropbox of a zoomed in photo it looks like there is a blob bottom right of pic... in the other photos it looked more like camera flash ... almost looks melted back...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jwh5rtqt48hfsne/bentpinfunnoramma.jpg?dl=0

P.S
[/quotemsg]
Nothing more to test. Why it happens now? It's electrical thing - it can fail anytime it's powered on.
[/quotemsg]
Sorry i was meaning, I was wondering why that a pin would suddenly bend / get damaged when the cpu / heatsink hadn't been touch in a long time. maybe power surge on board? gold melts pretty easy?
 
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DRagor

DRagor

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Well, right. Did some research, and I think that last row of pins should have 12 pins ... and on your picture there are clearly only 10 visible. So 2 got either broken or melted - well does not really matter which, either way it's impossible to repair them.
 
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