Newb needs help with PC that spontaneously doesn't boot

[JRHT]

I've been having some problems with my PC recently in that it randomly won't boot up.

It will start the boot-up sequence, maybe even make it to BIOS but then just shut down before trying to boot up again. It doesn't happen all the time, and hasn't happened for a month until this evening, where after about 15 mins of repeating this sequence, it managed to boot up.

The LED display on the motherboard (Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1) reads 8, which sadly is not listed amongst the LED codes listed in the manual.

Does anyone know what this code means?

No parts have been changed on this PC for three months, where I removed a network card, but the issue was happening before that change, albeit more frequently.

Possibly related, the PC has been making a high pitch whining noise occasionally when playing Skyrim, but only when there's significant smoke or cloud effects on screen. I haven't isolated where the sound comes from as yet, but my main suspects are the CPU, the CPU cooler or the PSU.

I've got a spare CPU cooler which I'll test out, but my gut's telling me it's the CPU or PSU that's dying a slow death.

 

[EarthDog]

Possibly the power supply. Only way to test is to swap it out.

 

[trents]

Is this computer overclocked? Please give more information about your hardware. All we know about at this point is the motherboard. What about make, model, wattage (and age) of PSU. What is the video card? What about CPU and memory? If the PSU is old and and of low wattage and marginally able to keep up with wattage demands in the first place, well it could be slipping over the edge.

 

[OptyTrooper]

High pitched whining noise? You might think I'm crazy but I bet that's your GPU (graphics card). Nvidia cards can do that if the power is not sufficient or a choke is bad. Odd I know but true.

Thanks to EarthDog for elaborating. He is quite correct on the coil whine issue.

 

[EarthDog]

It could also be natural coil whine which happens on both and and nvidia cards...but worth checking out for sure. Just because there is coil whine, doesnt mean a part is bad though.

 

[JRHT]

Thanks for your responses everyone!

Specs are as follows:
CPU: i7 4790K
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 Wifi-Bk (wifi card not installed)
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
RAM: G.Skill (2x8GB) F3-2400C11D-16GXM Ripjaws X DDR3
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Turbo OC 8GB
Case: Silverstone Raven RV02-EW
PSU: OCZ ZX 1250W 80+ Gold
Storage: Samsung SSD 2.5" 7mm SATA 512GB 850 PRO
Storage: Samsung 3TB drive (unsure of model)
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

I tried swapping the CPU cooler over today, but the PC still had the same multiple bootup issue and whine in Skyrim, so I do think that's the problem.

When reviewing my records, I found that the PSU is 6-7 years old now, so it may just be coming to the end of it's life.

Does anyone know what that code "8" on the LED display means?

 

[EarthDog]

OCZ power supplies werent great new iirc... that may or may not be it. Certainly have the power though (over 3x worth lol!!).

As for the code, a quick google while mobile didnt yield anything. Try this:
https://software.intel.com/en-us/ar...early-boot-up-stage-by-intel-system-debuggerr

Or, reach out to gigabyte and ask them about the code.

If you have another power supply around, try it and see if the problem stops.

 

[JRHT]

I've got an X-tec PWXT-500S lying around that I ripped out of a PC at work, but the cabling on it doesn't appear to be sufficient to plug everything in. It doesn't have a outlet that'll support the graphics card, that's for sure

 

[EarthDog]

I wouldnt try it with that no name brand, that is for sure.

 

[JRHT]

My thoughts too. I'll bite the bullet and pick up an 850w PSU and swap that in and see if it fixes the problem. If nothing else, it'll be on hand when/if my existing PSU gives up the ghost.

 

[EarthDog]

A quality 550w psu is PLENTY to power that system including overclocking. Evga g3 is what i would look at. Arguably the best tier 1 psu that gives bang for the buck.

 

[JRHT]

I may get a second graphics card in future, so that's why I try and leave a fair whack of headroom.

 

[EarthDog]

Truth be told, a quality 550w would power that system. Your gpu is 180w...2 is 360w. Cpu is 88w...the rest is almost negligible, really. Even a bjt of overclocking headroom.

That said, id go 750w in case you want 2x 250w (flagship) cards in the future. 850w is overkill on the wallet too.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...17438093&cm_re=750w_g3-_-17-438-093-_-Product

You'll be hard pressed to find something higher quality for less. $80 is a steal on this psu.

 

[trents]

How many miles on that Samsung hard drive? Samsung hasn't made hard drives in years. I would look at the health of those storage devices. You might want to run CrystaldiskInfo to check the SMART info. Some of your system components are getting long in the tooth.

 

[OptyTrooper]

A quality 550w psu is PLENTY to power that system including overclocking. Evga g3 is what i would look at. Arguably the best tier 1 psu that gives bang for the buck.

Second this EVGA is the only brand I use in benchmarking.

 

[wingman99]

You could try disconnecting things that are not necessary to boot and see if it will boot better. Is it a cold boot problem and warm boot same problem?

 

[JRHT]

Just an update on my problem - I replaced the PSU and the bootup issue remains.

From memory, it's a cold boot problem only, but I will report back if something changes.

I've contacted Gigabyte to confirm what the "8" error message means and will go from there.

On the plus side however, the new PSU has stopping the whining noise that was happening in Skyrim, so that's a plus.

 

[trents]

Time to start looking at other components: Memory, hard drive and GPU.

Have you run a stress test on the RAM? try memtest86 fro four passes.

 

[oxynutz]

Clean out all the dust in your power supply, fans, radiators, filters; sounds like gradual dust build up. If the buildup is bad enough in your case (can be accelerated by pet hair, computer sitting on carpet, poor fan setup/air flow) the dust will become conductive and short your system which will cause power issues. It's not immediately life-threatening to your pc but needs to be taken care of ASAP.

I'm only assuming this because you said you haven't done any work on your PC. Otherwise, I'd attribute it to things like bios, hardware changes, incorrectly assembled components etc. etc.

 

[wingman99]

Just an update on my problem - I replaced the PSU and the bootup issue remains.

From memory, it's a cold boot problem only, but I will report back if something changes.

I've contacted Gigabyte to confirm what the "8" error message means and will go from there.

On the plus side however, the new PSU has stopping the whining noise that was happening in Skyrim, so that's a plus.

Well if it is a cold boot issue only and your using Default BIOS setup. I would suspect memory or motherboard running out of tolerance since you replaced the PSU.