Computer issue

[igormon]

Alright I'm not sure if this is where to post this but here we go anyways.

In a nuttshell, my pc shut off and restarted itself, every time windows began loading it would shut off then instead of starting up again the led's would sorta flutter on/off and the fans would spin rather slowly.

I'm thinking its a MOBO issue.

I have had previous issues where the pc wouldn't boot, and something as simple as re-seating ram or disconnecting a drive would do the trick and it would work for awhile.

In fact I ran into boot issues that were resolved with the above mentioned method when i put in a new heatsink.

I was just wondering if anyone has had this kind of issue before. I am fairly confident it is not the CPU or memory as that would not explain the fluttering I mentioned previously.

I had the CPU overclocked before ran stability tests and ran into no issues which is why I'm not pointing my finger at the CPU.

This to me only leaves MOBO or PSU. If it was PSU I would think it would be an issue that occurs a little more often and this MOBO has always given me trouble. The fluttering seems to be like the motherboard is essentially shutting on and off the PSU for whatever reason.

What are your thoughts? I really wished I could OC this old build but given that there arent really any atx motherboards out there anymore I dont really have many options.

Intel Q660
4GB DDR2 800
EVGA 470 GTX
ASUS P5K

 

[suteck]

I would think psu before mobo. Many Many things can go wrong when the psu is going bad. You say you've always had trouble with the mobo? Have you always had that psu with it?

 

[igormon]

I would think psu before mobo. Many Many things can go wrong when the psu is going bad. You say you've always had trouble with the mobo? Have you always had that psu with it?

I've always had this PSU with it. The actual fluttering of leds as previously mentioned is a more recent occurring problem but that wasn't too common until now really.

I suppose the PSU can be going out and I'm just blaming my mobo because of its previous problems. Thats something id have to look into later on, I'm in the middle of exams atm and need my computer to run, (as best it can) until exams are over.

 

[suteck]

Can't borrow one from a friend to see it that solves the problem? It's been my experience that they only get worse with time. I hope it gets you through exams.

 

[Raiddinn]

Leave the computer on once you get it on.

There is a short period of time right when you turn the computer on where everything tries to draw maximum power and a lot of dying PSUs have trouble getting over that hurdle.

If you can get them past it, though, they don't need to face similar situations most of the time so you can just leave it on and it won't have this trouble coming on problem anymore.

In my experience, at least 80% of the time the first thing to go in a PSU that is getting old is the PSU. If I had a computer that was working and then started working only intermittently, I would blame it right away on the PSU.

I have seen this happen many times when I was a network admin and I had it happen a few times in personal PSUs as well.

 

[jsc]

What kind of PSU?

 

[igormon]

Can't borrow one from a friend to see it that solves the problem? It's been my experience that they only get worse with time. I hope it gets you through exams.

Right now I cant borrow no, we'll see how it goes I guess. I think it should be able to limp to the finish line haha. Thanks

What kind of PSU?

600w OCZ GamXStream

Leave the computer on once you get it on.
There is a short period of time right when you turn the computer on where everything tries to draw maximum power and a lot of dying PSUs have trouble getting over that hurdle.
If you can get them past it, though, they don't need to face similar situations most of the time so you can just leave it on and it won't have this trouble coming on problem anymore.
In my experience, at least 80% of the time the first thing to go in a PSU that is getting old is the PSU.  If I had a computer that was working and then started working only intermittently, I would blame it right away on the PSU.
I have seen this happen many times when I was a network admin and I had it happen a few times in personal PSUs as well.

Thanks for mentioning that I didn't think about it.

Because of my earlier issues with my motherboard I was a little biased and jumped to the conclusion that it was a controller on the board just messing up.

I had OC issues as well on a stable setup, which I guess can also be attributed to PSU failure.

Perhaps during operation the PSU might "die" for a second, restarting the PC then not being able to pump out enough amps during startup.

Ill definitely look into this more as soon as i have time freed up. Thanks