Computer will not post within "x" amount of time of shut-down

[robert74567]

Hello,

My computer (ASUS M4A79T, running an AMD Phenom II x965 @ 3.8GHz with 8 gigs of ddr3 and an evga gefore 285 gtx video card) has been showing some EXTREMELY unusual symptoms for a while now.


Basically, if it is SHUT DOWN for any reason (sleep, bios setting change that requires a hard re-boot, hibernate, normal-old-shutdown, etc) it will refuse to post. I hit the power switch, and everything turns on (fans, lights, water-cooling pump, hard drives, the monitor wakes up in expectation, everything), but the boot-process does not start, and the monitor eventually just goes to sleep .

I have to wait ~20 minutes with the system off before I can boot up. After this waiting period the system will INVARIABLY post.

A few things that I have noticed about this peculiar disease:

a) if I "restart" the computer, it will boot up right away. No wait needed.
b) In the boot instances where the system does not post, it's almost like there isnt enough power being delivered to the board. On the instances where it DOES post, i notice this same thing for a few seconds, but then my water cooling pump will rev up into high gear, and the fan lights will glow brighter, and I KNOW that in a second or two I will see my boot-sequence information listed on the screen.

Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on..? Because I have no idea. Short of buying a new power supply (which seems like it may be the problem, to my untrained eye), which may or may not fix the problem, I don't know what to do.

thanks in advance for any help

rob


edit: these symptoms and my overclock are completely independent.

 

[FinneousPJ]

If your overclock isn't to blame it's almost certainly the PSU.

 

[robert74567]

what do you suppose is wrong with it? I wish I could tell you what kind of psu it is, but I built this computer ages ago and just started using it again quite recently

 

[robert74567]

..I think i'll tear it out (or see if it's labeled in back). Maybe I was foolish and bought a crapper. Sorta doubt it though.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I'd guess it's failing to pass your motherboards voltage regulation tests when warm but obviously cannot be sure.

 

[robert74567]

PSU's a corsair tx 650W

sorry for chain posts

 

[robert74567]

I'd guess it's failing to pass your motherboards voltage regulation tests when warm but obviously cannot be sure.

it's interesting you say that...it seemed to be extremely (abnormally) warm.

Like 80c+ warm... easily hotter than my non-watercooled video card that runs at 90c under full load

edit:

two things...

1) not sure if what I said at all supports your point, but it's something i noticed so i thought i'd say
2) is this a fatal issue, or something that can be (safely) fixed by lowering/disabling the standards of the test?

 

[FinneousPJ]

That sounds really bad. Is the PSU fan working?

 

[robert74567]

No, it looks as if genius me from two years back put the power supply in upside down (there was a grate for airflow to pass through, but when I moved -- the reason I started using the pc again -- one of the case's feet broke off and I consequently took off the other four).

I just flipped it around and booted up. Gonna put it through some prime95 for a few minutes and shut down. God I will be happy if it was something this stupid all along.

 

[robert74567]

my god how is it possible that I was this stupid...

put it to sleep in the middle of full load (something I wouldnt have dared do before) and woke it up 20 seconds after. worked fine.

For my own understanding (if you happen to know), how did this overheating cause such a fatal problem?

also, do you think a month of my psu running this hot could have caused long-term damage...? It was never an issue before I moved (broke the feet of the case)

 

[FinneousPJ]

If it still works, it works

Thank gods you have a quality unit.

As for an explanation, it's rather impossible to know exactly but obviously electrical components are designed for a limited range of temperatures and you have exceeded them.

 

[robert74567]

Turns out that I may have jumped the gun a bit. I went for a hard shut-down and wasn't able to boot. I'm on my laptop right now...

I mean, if I have full functionality of sleep I would be more than happy as I only shut it down once in a blue moon (everything else would be sleep for power savings, or restarts for new programs/updates).

Gonna play the waiting game and then test out the functionality of sleep.

Any suggestions from your end?

 

[FinneousPJ]

Hm, maybe you have caused permanent damage or it's still overheating or there's yet another problem.