Is This a Sign of a Failing PSU on a Middle Age PC?

dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 10:20

Hi folks,

About 4 or 5 years back, I got some forum help to build a mid-high end PC from scratch, as I'd never done it before and don't keep tabs on the various pieces of hardware out there (i.e., I'm not that tech saavy on hardware). PC has worked great for my family for about 5 years now. Yesterday my dad was using it and it started to behave a bit funny, it wasn't booting into windows until we removed one monitor connection (normally use a two screen setup) and then worked fine. Today, it doesn't work even with only one monitor plugged in - when switched on, fans start moving, initial HDD light flash, but after that nothing happens. BIOS won't load, but PC is clearly on.

Am suspecting it could be a PSU issue and might be worth replacing, even if it's just a cheap PSU to get it going for another 2-3 years?

Here's what I built:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 –
Mobo: Gigabyte B85-D3H –
RAM: Patriot S 8GB Kit DDR3 1600 –
GPU: Sapphire 7870 2GB OC –
SSD: Samsung 840 Series 120GB –
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB –
ODD: Pioneer DVR-220 –
PSU: Antec Neo Eco 520C –
Case: Fractal Design Core 3000 USB3.0

Computing

Comments

  • swimmingtoad on 01/11/2020 - 10:42
    +2

    It's hard to diagnose without further testing. From my experiences the motherboard is at fault the majority of the time.

  • Caped Baldy on 01/11/2020 - 10:45
    +1

    There's a chance things have become loose. I had to fix a PC by reseating the RAM. I'd recommend opening the PC to check this and get rid of loose dust as well.

    If you do end up replacing the PSU it doesn't hurt to get a nicer one that will last multiple builds.

  • dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 10:48

    Yeah as I don't have much experience with testing these things I wasn't sure how to go about it. I will check the RAM and whether anything has come loose - but I have no idea how to test whether it's the motherboard that's failing - I figured it was likely the PSU because of the monitor issue I mentioned above.

  • Cartman2530 on 01/11/2020 - 10:50

    It could also be the motherboard, i had a gigabyte board with a 2600k that had the same problems as yours, initially thought it was the graphics card and PSU until i swapped out both and the problem remained. For what its worth, i still have the old PSU and graphics card running in my new PC with no problems.

    My troubleshooting method is to remove absolutely all peripherals except for the boot drive, ram, cpu & PSU to make sure the computer works fine with just those, and start adding all the parts back in one by one and testing to check operation.

    If not working, see if you can swap parts with another computer to see if the problem goes away.

    • dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 19:04

      Thanks for the info. Did you end up just replacing it with the same motherboard?

      • Cartman2530 on 03/11/2020 - 16:54

        No, I used the opportunity to upgrade to a 3700x, X570 mobo.

  • DemocracyManifest on 01/11/2020 - 10:52

    Sounds like graphics card or motherboard has gone

  • skid on 01/11/2020 - 11:11
    +2

    Might be the GPU (judging from the dodgy monitor connection). Try taking out the 7870 and plugging the monitor into the internal GPU on the motherboard.

    • dinglejerry on 02/11/2020 - 08:49

      Yeah as per my post in the thread looks like this was it.

  • Ahyao17 on 01/11/2020 - 11:21

    Similar thing happen to me a few times. My comp is about 7 years old with similar hardware.
    All I did was turn it off at the mains for a few seconds then turn back on and things work again.
    Can try this first.

    • dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 19:08

      Lol, thanks - very first thing I tried, but made no difference.

  • Switchblade88 on 01/11/2020 - 11:45

    Could definitely be the PSU - intermittent and seemingly unrelated symptoms definitely fit the description.

    If you can find another PC to salvage you can get a free PSU to test with, but otherwise a modern PSU is cheap and compatible (unlike old motherboards, RAM etc which are hard to find). Worst case and it's NOT the old PSU… you've already bought a new one for your next new PC build!

  • whooah1979 on 01/11/2020 - 11:48
    -2

    Do a hard reset.

  • Ocker on 01/11/2020 - 11:58

    If the monitor is not displaying a picture then it may well be the PC has in fact correctly loaded BIOS.
    The problem may be the video driver has failed to load, hence the PC itself may be working fine and you would never know it

  • ShannonN on 01/11/2020 - 13:55

    Check also the internal battery may be low and causing bios probs they last about 4 years

  • roastchook on 01/11/2020 - 15:18

    Unplug everything except a mouse keyboard and single monitor. Turn off at PowerPoint and restart. Start basic. Try recovery disk if you made one. Don't jump to conclusions.

    • dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 19:03

      Already done that, made no difference.

  • dinglejerry on 01/11/2020 - 20:17

    Ok so by way of update, pulled out and re-seated the ram, and took out the graphics card - started working (off integrated graphics). Put the graphics card back in, and I noticed only one fan on it was running, and again the PC stopped loading further. Put some compressed air through the graphics card, and both fans started working, put it back in but still the same issue. Took the card out, and the PC started working again. So seems pretty conclusive?

    That said, wondering if I can find a half decent replacement video card for it - not that it's being used for intensive gaming, but running of integrated graphics :/

    • sTein0 on 02/11/2020 - 09:20

      Are you sure its the GPU causing the problem, because it may be that the PSU is not able to deliver enough power to the GPU. Have you tried having the GPU in, yet running it off integrated graphics. If so, its probably the GPU which is faulty. I would recommend buying a used/new rx 570/580 as they are great cards for 1080p gaming and would be a decent match with your CPU.

      • dinglejerry on 02/11/2020 - 09:29
        +1

        we don't really use that machine much for gaming though - how much would one go for?

        Yes when the Graphics card was in there it wouldn't boot, even if it was all running off integrated graphics in terms of monitor connections.

        • sTein0 on 02/11/2020 - 09:34

          They go for around 150-200 bucks, but if you don't really game on it, I would just go for a cheap 2gb GPU from ~2012-2014 for around 50-70 bucks used (but make sure your PSU can handle it). From what you are saying its probably an issue with the GPU, however there is a small chance the mobo has something to do with it, but that's very slim.

          • dinglejerry on 02/11/2020 - 09:34

            @sTein0: Yeah now that I have pulled the graphics card out it seems to be working well

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