Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Alert

PC Hardware Issue

Mar 12, 2017 7:28AM PDT

Not sure where to start but I guess specs would be useful.

Specs:
Motherboard: MSI Z270 Tomahawk
CPU: i7 7700k
CPU Cooler: Corsair H50
RAM: HyperX Fury 16GB DDR4 2133 (2x8GB)
GPU: PNY GeForce GTX 980ti reference model
Storage: SSD - Crucial MX200 2.5" 250GB internal solid state drive
HDD - Seagate barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
PSU: Corsair 750M

Issue: So my PC was working perfect fine and normal. All of a sudden I started getting issues where all my monitors (3) would go black and then come back on. So I instantly figured I had a problem with my GPU. Then the issue escalated further. My PC would be on for no longer than an hour and all my screens would go black then the pc would shut down and practically restart itself except for I would notice that my GPU would not turn on with the rest of the pc. I tried taking it out and blowing the dust out of the gpu with canned air and put it back. It worked for a good day before my pc completely died. The same issue happened again where it restarted itself only with the GPU not powering up. So I took it out tried cleaning it changing pcie slots. Nothing worked. Then I realize when I was trying to turn on my pc other stuff started breaking too. My case fans wouldn't turn power on and neither would my CPU radiator fan. But the mystic lighting on the MSI Z270 Tomahawk would light up and it seems like the motherboard would be fine. Now I can't figure out what the issue is. I don't know if it's the GPU and I don't have another pc to test it in. I'm not sure if my PSU is dying and maybe not outputting enough power. I'm not sure if there's an issue with my motherboard because the case fans won't work anymore. Any help or suggestions is appreciated. Thank you.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Since cleaning did help
Mar 12, 2017 7:34AM PDT

I'd move to the next step. Which is heatsink compound replacement. After a few years it can get old and crack so like a 50,000 mile car service you get in there and change all heatsink compounds then check fans on the final checkout.

- Collapse -
Probably should have mentioned
Mar 12, 2017 7:50AM PDT

I probably should have mentioned this but I assembled this pc not even 6 months ago yet. It does have new thermal paste and also at the moment that wouldn't help because I can't get the pc to boot up at all I thought the issue was the gpu but now when I try to power up the pc it seems like the motherboard does power on but the case fans and the power button and hdd lights for the case do not power up but the mystic lighting on the MSI z270 tomahawk motherboard does light up.

- Collapse -
Make it smaller
Mar 12, 2017 10:57AM PDT

Start unplugging stuff.

When you get down to psu+mobo+cpu/hsf if it still won't power on remove the mobo from the case and put it on a piece of cardboard.

If it still won't power on your down to 3 parts.