Computer Starts Then Shuts Down Endlessly

[UCLAAA]

The longest trip I’ve ever taken was to Okinawa Japan. My dad is in the Navy so we had to go to Japan because the military told him to. I don’t remember the exact time it to get there, but it took between 16-24 hours. We went to their by plane. Their wasn’t really much to do on the plane, but they played movies the whole plan ride so we just watched movies and slept the whole plane ride. The only thing we saw most of the plane ride was water and mountains, so there wasn’t much scenery until we got close to Japan.

Hello, I built my first computer about 3(or 4) years ago when I was 13(or 14). I wasn’t very experienced with it, but I managed to build a list of computer parts that were actually compatible with each other. For Christmas, my dad ordered me all the parts, I put them together, but we had to go on vacation so we left it with one of my dad’s engineer friends and he finished it and got it up and running. Fast forward 3(or 4) years and the computer is broken. The graphics card (HIS 4850) was overheating, I opened it up, cleaned out some dust, and replaced the thermal paste with some Vaseline+toothpaste (im BROKE and couldn’t afford thermal paste, and lost the one I used 4 years ago for the build.) It worked for about 2 weeks then it started overheating, then I got the weird lines across my screen, then the graphics card died. After about 4 months of having to use the slow family computer I finally got some money, and I brought a Sapphire 1GB 5450 and some artic silver 5. I don’t play games as much as I did when I was younger so I figured the 5450 would be good for everyday use. I also took off the stock fan to try and put on some new thermal paste since the other one was 4 years old.

Anyway I got the graphics card, put it in, and ATTEMPTED to put on the stock fan again, but I don’t think it was all the way on. It seemed like it was locked in place pretty well though. So I started up the computer just to see if it would boot, but nothing came up. And now the computer constantly power up, then shut off, then power up and shut off. So I think I may of overheated my Q6600 or something for not having the stock fan on correctly and burnt it out. Because I took off the stock fan again and the CPU was kinda hot, but not burning hot, and it didn’t smell burnt. Or I may of shortened out the PSU even thought I grounded myself. I am extremely frustrated right now. So does anyone know what could be going on with it? Is my Q6600 burnt out? Is my PSU dead? I don’t have motherboard speakers sadly etheir so I can’t tell whats going on with beeps. I should of just left everything as it was and just replaced the graphics card instead of trying to clean out my computer. I got classes right now and my computer is back in my dorm room obviously, so I can’t do any testing atm.

Specs:

Asus P5Q Pro
Q6600 (NO OC)
Gskill DDR2 800 2x 2GB
Corsair 450w
Sapphire 5450
WD 640 GB HD

 

[Lyden]

Just so you know, most motherboards will not let a processor 'burn out'. It will make it run so slow that you won't be able to do anything.

Is it even posting? Does it get to your BIOS?

 

[UCLAAA]

Thats good then lol. No it doesn't get to my bio, it just says something like "Power saver option" then the monitor goes into standby.

 

[mad_mike333]

When you push the power button on your computer, do the CPU, GPU & PSU fans spin? & for how long?

i currently have an issue with my PSU, here is a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6fW_U-98I

if this is what is happening with you then it is most likely a non-working PSU.

also do any LEDs come on when you power it on?

 

[arson94]

That Power Save Option message I'm assuming is a message from your monitor stating it's about to initiate the Power Save Option and go into sleep mode because it's not receiving any signal. Then it sleeps as you said.

The last time I had a computer power up and down like that I just needed to clear CMOS by pulling the battery out for 10 min or so. When CMOS resets, it'll actually boot into BIOS and I can reset all my settings like I need. It's weird, and doesn't make any god damn sense to me either but it works. Whatever I say. Give it a shot and maybe it'll help you.

 

[UCLAAA]

When you push the power button on your computer, do the CPU, GPU & PSU fans spin? & for how long?

i currently have an issue with my PSU, here is a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6fW_U-98I

if this is what is happening with you then it is most likely a non-working PSU.

also do any LEDs come on when you power it on?

Yea my fans spin and light out, the cpu fan also spins. It spins for about 3-10 seconds then it powers down. The green light on my motherboard also turns on.

Im probaly going to purchase some mobo speakers soon

 

[UCLAAA]

I was wrong. The fans and everything do spin, but the rear fan spins kind of slow, and the front fans led flickers on and off.

 

[arson94]

I was wrong. The fans and everything do spin, but the rear fan spins kind of slow, and the front fans led flickers on and off.

Unplug the front and rear fans that are acting weird and try to boot then. Also, you ignored my last post so I must ask if you ever tried to clear your CMOS. If not, do it after you unplug the malfunctioning fans.

 

[UCLAAA]

Unplug the front and rear fans that are acting weird and try to boot then. Also, you ignored my last post so I must ask if you ever tried to clear your CMOS. If not, do it after you unplug the malfunctioning fans.

Sorry, never had time to get back to you. I tried taking out the CMOS battery multiple times after and before I unplugged the fans and it still didn't work.

 

[arson94]

Well maybe ignored was the wrong word to use then lol. I'd want to think this is due to your motherboard. But it's hard to say unless you have another board or PSU to test.

 

[UCLAAA]

Well maybe ignored was the wrong word to use then lol. I'd want to think this is due to your motherboard. But it's hard to say unless you have another board or PSU to test.

Ehh sadly I don't.

 

[jsc]

Work systematically through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If not, continue.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU.

Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU. Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps:
Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

 

[UCLAAA]

Extremely sorry guys, I've been busy. But I finally got some motherboard speakers off amazon. I connected them to my motherboard correctly but for some reason they aren't making a beeping noise.

I'll be trying the suggestions above soon.