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Question

Hardware failure likely, please help

Sep 3, 2018 9:45AM PDT

So, some background. Weeks ago, my pc shut itself off and wouldn’t turn back on. After running through a long series of fixes :checking the psu, both old and a new psu, reserving cmos via jumper and battery, and removing things to determine the problem, I discovered that my GPU stopped my PC from turning on. I could use the onboard graphics and that held me over. I contacted EVGA, they replaced it, PC worked fine afterwards. Now I’m experiencing the same issue all over again, only this time around with the GPU removed I still cannot use the onboard graphics. The PC powers on, fans run and components flash for roughly 3 minutes and then it will shut off and repeat. I’m at a loss now because I tried all of the above actions and still nothing worked. To reiterate, this has happened with 2 PSUs and 2 GPUs in under a month. I fear my motherboard is failing, but id appreciate any other options to try and rule those out first. I’ve searched a ton on other forums and would appreciate any help, thank you in advance.
Sys specs:
Asrock Z97 Pro-4 motherboard

8GB ballistix sport RAM

EVGA GTX 980 TI

I5-4690K

Tx750M PSU

Win 10 Home

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The usual
Sep 3, 2018 9:51AM PDT

Is to reduce the parts count till it stays powered up. You can't sniff out if it's the motherboard without swapping out the motherboard. That really irks folk that are not in a shop or repair depot but that's how it's done.

There are reasons for early death or problems like a too hot box or overclocking. But to check if the motherboard is the issue we do one thing before we pop in a new board. We get out the Volt meter and take a measure of the PSU rails. This is your most basic tech skill and can not be dismissed.

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The usual
Sep 3, 2018 9:57AM PDT

So temperatures have always been fine and the PSU seems to function fine. When this problem occurred originally and I replaced both the PSU and GPU, both PSUs worked fine once the GPU was replaced. I’ve tried removing everything to see what will work, that worked previously by removing the GPU, but now the PC will turn on and shut down in a loop without ever truly booting, leading me to believe that it’s not the GPU causing the issue.

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So what Voltages did you read with the Volt meter?
Sep 3, 2018 10:42AM PDT

Again, this tool and work is not optional if you are repairing most electronics.

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Answer
Powers down
Sep 3, 2018 10:28PM PDT

Remove the gpu.
Plug the monitor into the mobo.
Power on.
If you get a bios splash screen enter the bios and let it sit.
Does it power down?

What does components flash mean?