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PC keeps restarting – pls help

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Tags: Hardware

Hello everyone,

I built a PC in 2020. I will include the specs below. The main purpose of it was for streaming youtube content.
The issue i had about 8 months back was that the PC would turn on fine, but after about 5 mins, it would automatically restart. I tried to disable automatic restart, but it would still continue to do it. About a month ago, it started restarting every 20 seconds with no display.

Things I have tried so far: –
Removed, cleaned and reinserted RAM.
Removed cleaned and reinserted GPU .
Tried turning on the motherboard without GPU and RAM.

NONE of the above have worked. It still only starts for 10 seconds and then turns off without any display.
Any help appreciated pls. Thanks.

Motherboard – ASRock ATX Motherboard (B450 PRO4)
PSU – Corsair RM550x – Fully Modular 80+ Gold
Processor – AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Processor
GPU – ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 OC Edition 6 GB GDDR5
RAM – Crucial Ballistix BL2K8G32C16U4B 3200 MHz, DDR4, DRAM, Desktop Gaming Memory Kit, 16GB
SSD – Crucial P1 1 TB CT1000P1SSD8 Internal Solid State Drive-up to 2000 MB/s
CASE – Corsair SPEC-DELTA Carbide Series, RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case

Here is a link to a video of what is happening. i installed some motherboard speakers to see if i could troubleshoot with the beeps.

Topic

[kees_b]

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to PC keeps restarting – pls help

That means that something is defective.

The common way to find out is to remove as much as possible and see if that helps. If not, take everything out of the case and connect that absolute minumum of hardware laying on a piece of cardboard and try again. If still no luck, start replacing the components used one by one if you found the culprit.

But it could be a temperature issue. I’d start with checking the CPU en GPU fans.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by kees_b.
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by kees_b.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

I tried this with just the power supply, motherboard and processor. the video in my post is just with these in the system.

That PSU. Why so small?

In reply to PC keeps restarting – pls help

My gamer PC with some GTX 1660 started with a RM850 850W PSU. Seems too small for the long term. It may work when new but the stress means someday there will be trouble.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to That PSU. Why so small?

I have to agree with my fellow moderator. That PSU might have been sufficient when you first built it, but clearly not enough in my opinion. I can’t say for certain, but that appears to be the “weakest link” in your build.

Another potential issue could be if there is insufficient air flow in the computer case, and it is overheating, causing the computer to reset. When I custom built my first computer, I used a mini-tower enclosure with insufficient airflow and it also kept resetting. I bought a full tower case, transferred my computer components, added multiple large fans and had no such issues after that.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

i changed PSU, tried with a Corsair RM850x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX 850 Watt Power Supply

No use. It is still doing the same thing.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to That PSU. Why so small?

Is there a PSU you would recommend for my setup with the above specs?

Something bigger.

In reply to Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

I don’t know your market or country but my gamer rig was fine for years with the GTX 1660, i7, all SSD on the 850W.

When I swapped in the RTX 3070 it began to show the symptoms of a too small PSU. The rig now has a 1,000 Watt PSU and it’s been stable since the change.

PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to PC keeps restarting – pls help

Certainly! Here’s a summary of the steps to address a PC that keeps restarting:

1. Check for overheating and ensure proper cooling.
2. Update device drivers for graphics, motherboard, etc.
3. Keep Windows updated with the latest patches.
4. Scan for malware and viruses.
5. Test hardware components like RAM and hard drive.
6. Investigate software conflicts, uninstall or update problematic software.
7. Examine the Windows Event Viewer for error messages.
8. Verify the power supply unit (PSU) functionality.
9. Boot into Safe Mode or use advanced boot options if needed.
10. Consider using System Restore to revert to a stable state.
11. Disable automatic restart after system crashes.
12. Consult a professional technician for hardware issues if problems persist.

Step 8.

In reply to PC keeps restarting – pls help

How do you do that?

The next usual item after the PSU is

In reply to PC keeps restarting – pls help

The motherboard.

Yes it could be an assembly error such as a heatsink or compound (no contact or old compound) but I only have the clues given here. The next usual after fitting the larger PSU is to pull the heatsink off the CPU to clean and repaste. Then a fan check. The criteria is “all fans work like new.”

After that, swap the motherboard.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to The next usual item after the PSU is

Thanks for the reply, i have ordered the paste and will repaste the heatsink tomorrow. I hope that sorts it out 🙂 will keep you posted. Thanks for the help!

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to The next usual item after the PSU is

UPDATE**

So i repasted the heatsink and the same thing kept happening. PC restarts every time.

So i removed the hard disk drive and inserted an older hard disk from another computer. It has windows 8 i think and the computer started ran absolutely fine. No restarts even after the PC was on for an hour.

So i thought it might be a hard disk issue. I ordered a new SSD and installed windows 10 on a usb drive. After installing the SSD and trying to install windows, as soon as i try to setup windows and enter username it starts restarting again. This is sooooo frustrating.

This changes my opinion about the motherboard

In reply to Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

Or maybe not. Different versions of Windows use memory (RAM) differently.) So this could point us to a memory issue.

Try this: Run it with a single stick of RAM. Still reboots, swap that stick with the other and try again. Be sure the BIOS is current and no overclocking is in force.

Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

In reply to This changes my opinion about the motherboard

So i tried what you suggested and used just one memory stick at a time. It is still restarting after about a minute of being on. I give up lol

With new PSU, drive

In reply to Reply To: PC keeps restarting – pls help

It’s what remains that is suspect.

Again, the BIOS must be current and with defaults for testing. I’ve run into PCs that seemed to not respond to what we’ve covered so far but when on my bench I find the BIOS wasn’t current or to the defaults and I make progress from there.

If it still fails, it’s time for a new CPU, RAM and board combination.

[Author]

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