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Intermittent boot problems

Last response: in Systems
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I have a home built system that I have been running for at least a year now that I just upgraded some parts on. I have been getting blue screens at random times with differing messages. After the last blue screen, which happened after an hour of gaming, the computer wont boot up. To be more precise, the computer powers on (fans and HDs spin up) with no post for about 35 seconds and then it loses power. It will then try to boot again and lose power after about 5 seconds. This cycle then repeats until I switch the back of the power supply to off.

Here is my build
Intel i5 2500k @ 3.3Ghz (idles at 22c with aftermarket cooler)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA (at stock bios settings)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) @ stock speed/voltage
Sapphire HD 6870 1GB
OCZ 600W modular PSU
and a couple HDs of varying makes and sizes
Running Win 7 64 bit Ultimate

Here has been my troubleshooting efforts so far:
Ram was tested both with memtest and in alternate computer and appears to be working well
PSU was manually tested with friends PSU tester and passed with greens on everything
After last blue screen each component was manually inspected for overheating and were cool enough to touch
Case was examined for any shorting of wiring or contacts and appears fine
Overall inspection shows everything in working order
Minimum devices were used when attempting to get out of power on/off cycling in case of excess power load which didnt resolve the problem.
resetting the CMOS did not resolve the problem.
The system will not POST or throw beep codes at all when cycling in this manner, but every once in a while I will get lucky and it will boot and run flawlessly for a random period of time. (tells me most components are doing there job at least for a while)

So my thinking is that the PSU is the problem and that after running for a while it is losing voltage or amperage in the rails which is causing system instability. This would not show up when being tested by the PSU tester because it is not putting as much of a load on it as my system does when operating. I am at wits end trying to think of what is causing this issue and would greatly appreciate any advice to what I might be overlooking or what you would try to do. Thanks for your help guys!

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There are two things I would try first:
1) Get a 2nd PSU to try. Plug it all in and see if it boots.
2) If that doesn't work then try a different (PCIe) video card and check if it boots up like that.

Thanks for the response trapper, I believe the original PSU is under warrranty so do you think I should get it replaced and save some $$ or just order a higher wattage one with more consistant voltage/amperage on the rails. Unfortunately I dont have access to another PSU that can power everything in that computer.


trapper said:
There are two things I would try first:
1) Get a 2nd PSU to try. Plug it all in and see if it boots.
2) If that doesn't work then try a different (PCIe) video card and check if it boots up like that.

Before you RMA your PSU (which should be sufficient to run that rig) have you made sure all of the modular cables are plugged in correctly and tightly? One important cable being loose on the PSU's end could throw things off.

Yes all connections were checked systematically both on the connector and PSU end, I inspected the pins on the mobo and the connectors and everything looks good. I just dont want to waste time and money RMA the PSU if they are going to just run it through a tester and say nothing is wrong with it.
trapper said:
Before you RMA your PSU (which should be sufficient to run that rig) have you made sure all of the modular cables are plugged in correctly and tightly? One important cable being loose on the PSU's end could throw things off.

The only other way to check if it is the PSU for sure is to try it on another PC. Pull the PSU out of the case and just plug it somewhere else and see if that PC is able to boot.

I want to say it's the PSU, but without testing it all I'm not 100%, and spending money on the wrong thing sucks.
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