Computer wont start, think its the ram
Discussion
Ive had an ongoing issue where my computer wont boot.
I turn it on and it cycles for about 5 seconds of turning on before it goes off, then 5 seconds later it comes back on, and eventually it would start, but this time it never did.
Looking online it was suggested to remove a stick of ram, and this has worked.
The computer is quite old (2010 maybe?) but was powerful when new and still does everything i would expect of a pc.
The ram stick i have removed is a corsair cmz16gx3m2a1600c10.
It seems that 1600 mhz is very slow by modern standards. Would i be best splashing out the extra and getting an upgrade for both?
Also, is there something that could have caused this damage?
Thank you
I turn it on and it cycles for about 5 seconds of turning on before it goes off, then 5 seconds later it comes back on, and eventually it would start, but this time it never did.
Looking online it was suggested to remove a stick of ram, and this has worked.
The computer is quite old (2010 maybe?) but was powerful when new and still does everything i would expect of a pc.
The ram stick i have removed is a corsair cmz16gx3m2a1600c10.
It seems that 1600 mhz is very slow by modern standards. Would i be best splashing out the extra and getting an upgrade for both?
Also, is there something that could have caused this damage?
Thank you
Sounds more like the PSU to me. You can get problems on older ones if you turn the PC off and then fiddle around inside when the PSU is still hot. I've had that happen to me several years ago.
The problem with upgrading is that you'll struggle to find parts that are compatible, or if you do, they will cost more than a newer component.
At 8 years old I'd buy a new one.
The problem with upgrading is that you'll struggle to find parts that are compatible, or if you do, they will cost more than a newer component.
At 8 years old I'd buy a new one.
snuffy said:
Sounds more like the PSU to me.
PSU or overheating. If it were a RAM error you'd usually still be able to POST. If it's not even turning on it'll likely be a PSU or Motherboard problem.Benbay001 said:
The ram stick i have removed is a corsair cmz16gx3m2a1600c10.
It seems that 1600 mhz is very slow by modern standards. Would i be best splashing out the extra and getting an upgrade for both?
1600MHz is fine. If you haven't upgraded a computer in 8 years then you're not really going for speed... ButIt seems that 1600 mhz is very slow by modern standards. Would i be best splashing out the extra and getting an upgrade for both?
snuffy said:
At 8 years old I'd buy a new one.
This. You have to ask yourself if it's worth the time and hassle of trying to troubleshoot it rather than simply getting a new computer.
So it turns out its not the RAM.
I took the computer into work where I had space and tools and knowledgeable people to help me.
After the original post I turned the PC off and on again, just to check and the problem returned.
So its been narrowed down to CPU or something on the motherboard.
Im going to buy new of both, but am relatively clueless on how to spec them.
The PC as it stands has a Gigabyte GA z87 HD3 Motherboard
AMD r9 280x graphics card
Some sort of i5 processor (I can confirm later)
750w PSU
1tb hard driver
120gb SSD
Please help me spend my money.
I took the computer into work where I had space and tools and knowledgeable people to help me.
After the original post I turned the PC off and on again, just to check and the problem returned.
So its been narrowed down to CPU or something on the motherboard.
Im going to buy new of both, but am relatively clueless on how to spec them.
The PC as it stands has a Gigabyte GA z87 HD3 Motherboard
AMD r9 280x graphics card
Some sort of i5 processor (I can confirm later)
750w PSU
1tb hard driver
120gb SSD
Please help me spend my money.
Changing the motherboard will be a world of hurt. Windows will most likely not boot because all sorts of hardware have changed (disk controller being the major one). It's not as simple as just swapping a new MB in and expecting it to work.
As suggested, an off the shelf new one is your best bet.
And you could buy a new MB and/or CPU and it still could be something else and which case you've bought them for nothing, spend hours on the thing and still it does not work.
As suggested, an off the shelf new one is your best bet.
And you could buy a new MB and/or CPU and it still could be something else and which case you've bought them for nothing, spend hours on the thing and still it does not work.
snuffy said:
Changing the motherboard will be a world of hurt. Windows will most likely not boot because all sorts of hardware have changed (disk controller being the major one). It's not as simple as just swapping a new MB in and expecting it to work.
I had similar issue with mine just before Christmas, wouldn't even get to the BIOS but if I removed the RAM, it would beep at me! Bought another motherboard/CPU combo (as I couldn't be sure which was at fault) and swapped everything over. Windows booted fine, MS Office said it wasn't happy but I went through the MS automated phone call malarky and all is now well. Mine was an 1155 motherboard, not that that should make any odds to the chance of success or not.S6PNJ said:
snuffy said:
Changing the motherboard will be a world of hurt. Windows will most likely not boot because all sorts of hardware have changed (disk controller being the major one). It's not as simple as just swapping a new MB in and expecting it to work.
I had similar issue with mine just before Christmas, wouldn't even get to the BIOS but if I removed the RAM, it would beep at me! Bought another motherboard/CPU combo (as I couldn't be sure which was at fault) and swapped everything over. Windows booted fine, MS Office said it wasn't happy but I went through the MS automated phone call malarky and all is now well. Mine was an 1155 motherboard, not that that should make any odds to the chance of success or not.A lot of companies do upgrade bundles (Overclockers UK for example, although they are aimed more high end at gamers) - this will generally include CPU, Motherboard, RAM and a CPU cooler, which you know will all work together. For value for money I would look at AMD Ryzen.
You will need to reinstall windows so backup anything you want to keep (also you will need to build it, which might be an issue if you have never done that before).
You will need to reinstall windows so backup anything you want to keep (also you will need to build it, which might be an issue if you have never done that before).
Benbay001 said:
Really? A new motherboard and cpu is like £300.
A new PC that will last me another 6 years or so will be £1000
except you won't just need a new motherboard and cpu, if it's running windows and got an oem license, you'll need a license, thats £120. A new PC that will last me another 6 years or so will be £1000
Its probably got ddr3 memory, modern motherboards are ddr4, so if you want it to be up to date, you'll need to replace the memory too, so thats another £100 or so for 16gig.
If the HDD is old as the pc that is pretty close reaching the end of its life it certainly not something you can rely on to last another 6 years so better be replacing that while your at it, that's another £50
you've now looking at nearly £600
For £500 you can get a pretty decent pc
Just an update.
I have ordered a new motherboard, cpu and ram.
ADMI CPU Motherboard Bundle: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 6 Core 3.9GHz with AMD Wraith Cooler, ASUS PRIME B450M-A
Corsair CMK16GX4M1A2400C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4 2400 MHz
Plus a copy of windows.
To answer the previous suggestions of PSU, im 99% sure it isnt, as i tried two other power supplies and the problem persisted.
I managed to get the pc to boot the other day, so i have simple left it running as a short term solution.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I have ordered a new motherboard, cpu and ram.
ADMI CPU Motherboard Bundle: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 6 Core 3.9GHz with AMD Wraith Cooler, ASUS PRIME B450M-A
Corsair CMK16GX4M1A2400C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4 2400 MHz
Plus a copy of windows.
To answer the previous suggestions of PSU, im 99% sure it isnt, as i tried two other power supplies and the problem persisted.
I managed to get the pc to boot the other day, so i have simple left it running as a short term solution.
Thanks for the suggestions.
snuffy said:
Changing the motherboard will be a world of hurt. Windows will most likely not boot because all sorts of hardware have changed (disk controller being the major one). It's not as simple as just swapping a new MB in and expecting it to work.
I'm going to have to take this back and change my mind !I've actually just changed my motherboard and it worked fine.
I went from one of these:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170N-Gami...
to one of these:
https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/H270%20Pro4/index....
When Windows booted it said it was updating various things (before it got to the desktop). When it started up it then said it was not activated. Re-entering the licence key fixed that one.
The only slight thing was that the old sound driver/application was loading on start up and it would not let me uninstall it. When I tried it came up with a error (I assume because it could not find the hardware). A big of googling and it seemed others had the same problem. I downloaded something that said it would uninstall stuff and it did.
So actually, it was a piece of piss !
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