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Hey there, folks. I try not to ask personal questions on here, but I’ve run into a problem that’s really demonstrated some weak areas in my experience doing IT so far. I’m mostly self taught and I’ve been working a desktop support job where most questions are software related. If a hardware problem came up, it was solvable with a quick part swap. A power supply here and there, some bad memory, disk drive replacement, and the like. Also printers but those are heck to deal with. Now I find myself in need of some real hardware troubleshooting skills, and having to learn on the fly.

My home PC blew its power supply. I figured it was no big deal, swapped it out with a nice Corsair supply that was a bit of an upgrade, and went on about my business. Ever since then, if I try to run a video game - any video game - for any length of time, it will eventually lock up, making a horrific buzzing noise and just giving me a hard lock on whatever’s on screen at the moment. Completely unresponsive, and I have to force a shutoff. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t seem to have a problem with anything else I do specifically, although I’ve had it crash twice when I had Chrome pulled up and idling on a random webcomic site. I’m completely stumped on this one.

I’ve got an MSI motherboard, Nvidia GeForce 960, and whatever garbage sound card came installed. I’m running Windows 10, and I do use the GeForce experience app to keep my graphics drivers updated. (If y’all need more details, I can grab them when I get home - just thought about posting this now, or I would have brought the info with me).

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  • Uninstalled and reinstalled my graphics drivers
  • Scanned for corrupted system files
  • Checked for viruses and malware (I run Avast at home, so I also checked the logs to see if it had caught something that might have done any damage)
  • Ran a memtest
  • Ran chkdsk
  • Kept an eye on my CPU temp to see if it was getting too high - stayed around 45 degrees celsius when running Overwatch (which seems quite high, but the fans were running)
  • Double checked all my power connections from the install I did
  • Visually inspected the motherboard to see if there was any obvious physical damage

I’ve reached the limits of my hardware troubleshooting experience. I am sure there are other things to do, but I’m used to 1) Using a little common sense, 2) Googling similar problems, 3) Picking a likely solution, 4) Figuring out what that solution is actually doing to the machine, and 5) Testing the solution I found to see if the problem’s fixed. That’s failing me here, because I don’t really have the money to purchase a bunch of parts to swap out. Based on the research I’ve done so far, it’s one of a few things:

  • A nasty Windows 10 bug caused by fast startup (pretty sure that’s not it, I turned this off and still had the problem)
  • My graphics card is dead (odd that it plays movies and functions perfectly well for all other activities
  • My memory’s bad and it’s just not showing up on a memory test (and it just occurred to me I need to pull one stick at a time and see if the computer fails no matter which stick is in - easy test since there’s two 8GB sticks)
  • The motherboard was damaged
  • Something’s wrong with the fan that’s supposed to cool the CPU, since the temperature seems to be a little high and the CPU overheating might cause random shutoffs?

I need some advice on how to continue. I already dropped more than I could afford on a new power supply. I can start swapping out parts, but I don’t have any compatible parts on hand so I’ll have to buy them. A new memory stick isn’t so bad, but if I have to replace the motherboard, the graphics card, and the power supply at that point I’ve basically bought a new PC.

I appreciate any help you folks can offer. I know the basics of hardware troubleshooting, but I’m definitely not an expert - at the office, for the most part I just swap in parts from an identical PC 'til the device starts working, then replace the damaged part. Should I take the whole thing apart, put it on an improvised bench, and just start testing one piece at a time? I have not tried to assemble a computer outside of a case before, but the process seems straightforward.

I guess a lot of this boils down to needing help with a more efficient and effective hardware troubleshooting process. What is good practice? If this had happened at work, I’d have far more spare parts, but I’m not sure if swapping in parts is just a lazy way of doing things and there are better ways to check for hardware damage. Also, what are some good ways to learn and practice better troubleshooting? Just offer to fix peoples’ PCs? I can’t really charge for it due to conflicts of interest with my workplace.

Also, if you folks can recommend a course or book that could educate me on better hardware testing and troubleshooting, I’d appreciate it.

I apologize for the massive post, but I really appreciate your reading this far!

82 Spice ups
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What Corsair power supply are you using?

usually its not the case but what about your power supply compatibility with graphics driver when you expect performance?

Also i saw a funny post where it happened because of static.

lastly try best answer from the link below and let me know if it helps.

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It’s a Corsair 750x - listed as compatible with the motherboard, but I actually didn’t think to check to see if it was compatible with my graphics driver.

Will do, thanks!

Edit: I did talk to tech support for the company that supplied the motherboard, and they said they strongly recommended against upgrading the BIOS. (Which perplexed me. I know you have to be cautious but I’ve never been told NOT to upgrade before). It’s a solid four years out of date at this point. I was wondering if it was not compatible with the much newer Corsair power supply without a BIOS update.

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Sounds like the video card is bad. Do you have another to swap it out just to test? I don’t think there is a diagnostics for the video card…

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When a power supply goes it’s usually from a surge or a brownout. In both cases the motherboard is almost certainly an issue. I’ve had this happen on many PCs I’ve worked on in the past. Normally when the mobo is damaged it’s usually a high chance the cpu is also toast. However, it sounds like you’re only experiencing issues while in high demanding situations. This is likely because the damaged component is overheating on the board.

I would suggest replacing the board.

You also mentioned you’re experiencing a high CPU temp? AMD chips don’t like to be above 55 degrees Celsius and Intel will go up to 65+ before you experience issues. If you’re pushing either of these you’ll want to look into liquid cooling (cheaper than a robust air cool solution). I’m mentioning this because most bios have a “Cool and quiet” or similar function that will throttle your processor when reaching a certain temp, and in AMD’s case you should probably turn off Cool and quiet as it will throttle when it believes the processor is not “in heavy use”.

Hope this helps.

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What temps does you _G_PU report?

Have you tried backing up your data then wiping the system and reinstalling from scratch?

Tried CMOS clear?

The problem with issues like this is narrowing down the fault to a specific item. I have suggested software/firmware options above but it does sound like a hardware fault.

Do you have the option to borrow a similar GPU from a mate for a quick test? Or even any vid card? Then run a game or perhaps a benchmarking app that will stress things.

As for the PSU, there’s rarely a compatibility issue with a PSU and a motherboard or GPU. The PSU just needs the correct type and quantity of connectors and be able to deliver the required level of power to the system.

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So, in days gone by I had this happen with a bad intel based graphics card. I narrowed it down to that by running DxDiag and doing the video tests. 2D passed brilliantly but 3D at a certain test… well the computer was hard locked.

Judging by the fact that you have a failed PSU… I would guess that it is possible that damage was done to the more sensitive parts of your Graphics card. DxDiag doesn’t offer the same tests it did on my Pentium III so that wont help anymore. But try swapping the card and test that way.

Also, make sure that you use PSUs with Active PFC. This helps protect your internal components.

Additionally look for popped tops on the capacitors on your motherboard.

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In my experience with situations like you described it’s going to be the graphics card. Just like the above comment from Mike it probably works fine under no load, but once you put a load on it goes kaput. I would start by swapping one in or moving that one to another machine and seeing if the issue follows.

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Agreed, sounds like a graphic card if the issues happen under gaming load.

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Fortunately, I cheaped out on the graphics card. Probably gonna be more than I wanted to spend, but I’ll give it a shot, thanks.

I’ll double check the memory and the GPU temp first, too. I’ll also check to see if Nvidia has a benchmarking software program I can use to try and force the computer to crash.

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What MBoyle said. Power supply ‘compatibility’ isn’t really a thing. But you CAN go by the age-proven rule, “You get what you pay for.” A $50 and $150 700w power supply will NOT be the same thing. As for your BIOS update, you’d be good to go for it. The techs might not want to risk your PC locking up or blowing another power supply right in the middle of the update, though.

It sounded from your post that you DO have more of a grasp on this than you give yourself credit for. Your lack of components will be problem for troubleshooting, though. The power supply blowing out might have hurt the motherboard, RAM or graphics card… or any combination of the three. Or an issue WITH a component might have caused the power supply to blow. Fun and games. But since you have a ‘working’ system, one thing you can do is open the side of your case and prop a big fan (the kind you use to cool yourself off in Summer) up so that it blows into the case. The more air, the better. Then play your game. See if it takes longer to lock up with the fan blowing extra air in than without. That would point to an overheating problem, especially since you’ve noticed higher temps already.

Don’t rush into buying a new graphics card if you can help it. The BitCoin goldrush has pushed prices for them really high…

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Ugh, should not manage thread when coworker is talking to me. Sorry to unmark best answer, but I’ll hafta come back when I have a better idea what’s wrong with it. Thanks all for your help!

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Welcome to Spiceworks, by the way! :smiley:

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A good tool for monitoring your components is Speccy, it’s free and downloadable from here…

Download Speccy | Find your computer specs, free! .

Also if your Mobo has a built in gpu, use it and see if it is indeed your 960 that is causing the issue or something else crashing.

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“I’ve got an MSI motherboard, Nvidia GeForce 960, and whatever garbage sound card came installed.”

“Ever since then, if I try to run a video game - any video game - for any length of time, it will eventually lock up, making a horrific buzzing noise and just giving me a hard lock”

What exactly is this garbage sound card? I’ve had similar issues on my PC when gaming, although it’s the opposite - it’s an expensive multichannel audio recording / playback type card (Echo 3G, ancient nowadays). Because it is not mainstream, it can cause games to lock up, and at the moment of lock up, it blasts noise through the speakers, blue screens and then the machine reboots.

If it really is an add-on card, try pulling it out and use the onboard audio to test the game(s).

Games have very sophisticated audio these days, and the interaction of the audio driver with the game could cause the type of crash you are having. Especially if it is a ‘garbage sound card’ which may not have a lot of driver support or design. I haven’t really seen that since the 90’ as on-board audio is pretty decent now.

Worth a shot.

I think you are doing a great job so far troubleshooting this issue. Most of computer troubleshooting is by elimination, swapping parts, and the catch 22 - years of experience. And, since the popularity of the Internet - Googling. Searching the internet for answers has become a great tool, but learning to know what information is ‘right’ and what is ‘a waste of time’ also takes time and experience.

I guess the bottom line is, to learn more and get better at hardware / software troubleshooting, you just have to keep at it, and put the time in - like most things in life.

TB

TB

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I may be cynical but I think that they may have put in timers or failure detection such that after certain amount of time like 13/25/37mths some system will go (usually 1 mth after warranty) and other parts that can detect failures like GPU detect PSU or mobo failures then fail themselves.

…

I use a Dell Alienware gaming PC (60 mths warranty) while kids use DIY gaming rigs…

When my alienware fails, Dell usually change only 1 part at a time like HDD, mobo or even GPU…

But when DIY PC fails, its usually an array of stuff needs to be changed at once…

…

Gone are those days where a PC can last 10yrs or a lappy that can last 7 yrs with stuff inside knocking or overheating etc.

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See what happens if you stress the PC (play a game) with a known good graphics card. Given your symptoms, I’d guess a damaged graphics card. If you’ve got a recent-ish intel chip, there’s probably integrated graphics on it, and that would do just fine. If you still get the same problem, you can move on to the next thing, which would likely be the motherboard. You can test that in the same way by swapping in a known good one but that;s obviously a lot more hassle.

Best of luck getting it sorted!

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Pc Check (BIOS Based) and also Burn-in test (Windows based) Can run independant video card stress tests so you can find out if it is purely a graphics card thing or if something else is to blame. Burn-in can also do stress tests on Sound cards (not to sure about PC Check) but using these you should be able to (hopefully) isolate the issue.

My money is on either: Your Graphics card on the way out, (though based on the model that shouldn’t be the case for 6~ years down the road) or the junky sound card.

Hope this helps,

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When the PSU failed it has probably damaged something else in your system. Unlikely to be the CPU. My money is on the motherboard, but swap out parts one by one and test until you find the culprit.

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Power could also be the issue. When the graphics card is not under a heavy load it won’t consume as much power, but when you start gaming and it goes under heavy load, it needs more juice. What was the wattage of the old power supply vs the new one? Could be the fact that your PSU is not providing enough power. In case it isn’t a PSU issue, go over all the connections and chips on the board and GPU to make sure none of them look scorched. If you have access to another GPU for testing, stick it in and see if the issue still persists. Make sure all connections are secure and tight. Some GPU’s require power directly from the PSU, make sure you have the power connector plugged into the GPU if it does. If there is a crash, you might get lucky and event view logged it, go check and see if there is a reason for the crash. Check the bios settings and make sure something did not get changed that was not supposed to. Comptia has a great course on hardware, and the A+ cert, while not a huge career booster, would be a benefit for you.

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