Computer help
at my wits end..
Thursday, June 7, 2012 by vStyler | Discussion: PC Hardware
K so, My bro-in-law got his PC around the same time I did.. about 2 years ago..
Its an i7 940, 8 gigs of Ram.. MSI X58 Pro-E motherboard. Win 7 x64
It had some bad ram a while back that was causing it to blue screen, got new, fixed that, then same sort of issue with a video card, replaced that.
Been running fine for a while now, but then started just restarting every once in a while by itself.
Has gotten worse and worse, now i cant hardly get it to boot at all, if it does boot up its usually restarted itself within minutes but most the time it resets itself before it even starts booting.. goes back to the logo screen.
Ive checked the ram, checked the video card, with the ones from my own PC... still doing it.
The lights on the motherboard, fan etc dont even go off, its not shutting down so to speak, almost like someone is hitting the reset button.
Unlikely its a virus Ive ran numerous virus and spyware apps, clean as a whistle, is used only for music production - Offline.
any suggestions at this point would be appreciated..
Cheers.
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Reply #2 Thursday, June 7, 2012 5:57 AM
That was really my last resort, I have another power supply in an old PC, but not sure if it has Sata connections, will have to check.
Somehow I don't think thats the issue tho... 
Reply #3 Thursday, June 7, 2012 6:18 AM
If you recently installed a high end graphics card John, the PSU really could be the culprit. It might not be 'bad', but simply inadequate for the demands being made on it. Other possibilities sound like they've been covered.
Reply #5 Thursday, June 7, 2012 9:08 AM
The four most likely issues, in order of severity:
1) Short in the reset button or cable. Easiest to test, just unplug the reset button from the motherboard.
2) PSU. If you have a spare one lying around ('cause everyone does, not just me, right?), swap it out, see if that helps.
3) CPU. Most likely due to overheating. Could be a cooling issue, or the CPU isn't working properly, and is freaking out. Check that the heatsink and fan are seated properly, maybe apply some thermal paste.
4) Motherboard. Trickier to confirm. Basically, rule everything else out, and if it can't be anything else, it's probably the motherboard.
Reply #6 Thursday, June 7, 2012 10:25 AM
John... if you have a relationship with a local PC repair shop, maybe they'll let you test these possibilities through them... like a new PSU?
Reply #7 Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:07 AM
lol... I am the local PC repair shop... or so it seems...
Thanks guys, Ill try those suggestions Rosco, sounds like solid advice.
Reply #8 Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:35 AM
John,
Look at the capacitors on the motherboard and see if any of them are bulging and/or leaking.
Found these pics that may help you identify.
Reply #10 Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:55 AM
Good call. You might also be able to look at the capacitors in the power supply. It's a little harder to see them, but it might also point to the issue.
Reply #12 Thursday, June 7, 2012 12:44 PM
yeah but after looking at the pics of that mobo I don't believe it has that type of capacitors.
Reply #13 Thursday, June 7, 2012 1:01 PM
Reply #15 Thursday, June 7, 2012 3:28 PM
it could be a rootkit you know they like to install them-self's before the boot up screen and logon screen
Reply #17 Thursday, June 7, 2012 8:41 PM
Well, tested another PSU, doing same thing...
Cant even get the bios to come up now, just keeps cycling thru logo screen, I hit delete to go into Bios, it goes black, then restarts back to logo screen.
Reply #18 Thursday, June 7, 2012 8:52 PM
You're sure the HDD is ok?
Send out a help call to yrag.
Reply #19 Thursday, June 7, 2012 9:06 PM
Thought yrag may ave answered...
could it be the battery?
Reply #20 Thursday, June 7, 2012 9:38 PM
Unplug the machine, press and hold the power button for 15-20 seconds, remove the CMOS battery and wait 20 minutes. Reinstall the battery and restart the machine and try getting into BIOS again. ( That should reset the BIOS, you will need to set the system clock)
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Reply #1 Thursday, June 7, 2012 2:30 AM
Had something similar.
When I started my computer it would fire up then shut itself down (not reboot as you describe)
It was the power supply. Just a thought
Regards
Macca