Question Computer wont boot correctly, which component is the problem?

Sep 8, 2021
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Okay, I hope I'm doing this right as I don't normally use Forums, I apologise if Ive done something wrong here.

Anyway, I'm an 18 year old who built my own computer about 2 and a half years ago. Since then, the only adjustments I have made to it is more RAM and another HDD. I give the Desktop a gentle hoover every couple of months to get rid of the dust in the fans and such.

My problem started approximately 5 days ago where I had it open just chatting to some friends on Discord when a metallic tapping noise occured about 4 times a second. Naturally I was concerned and assumed a Fly had flown into the fan or something and was being hit against my metal case, but to be safe I shut it down and opened up the case to have a little check, I did not find the source of it and gave it another quick hoover to get rid of dust before wiring it up and leaving it for the night.

The next evening, I tried to boot the Computer but nothing was coming through on the monitor, at first I thought the HDMI had gone but after looking closer, my Keyboard wasn't being recognised yet was receiving power, and by that I mean it was lit up with the RGB but pressing Caps Lock, Scroll Lock amd Number Lock not lighting up to say they are active, so instead of it not projecting the image, no image is being created at all and the BIOS isnt even booting up.

I decided to start taking pieces out and trying different things to see if there was an error in any of them until I got down to the last major things the computer needs to run, the CPU, RAM, Motherboard and PSU. I unfortunately do not have spare components I can switch these out with and test. We even tried changing monitors, keyboards, kettle leads, plug sockets, RAM slots, Mouse, tried VGA cables too but all to no avail.

Interestingly, my Dad took the PC to work with him to see if his colleague had any idea. He literally just took the case, PSU, Motherboard, CPU and RAM, plugged it in to a kettle lead and HDMI with monitor he has at work and it booted to the BIOS first time without any problems. Of course, trying this again at home, it won't work again. We tried everything again but to no avail, we can't figure out what it is. The fans run and everything is evidently getting power.

I am currently searching for a job so I dont have the money to just purchase a bunch of parts to test, so I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas about what it could be, what I can try, or anything really?

My PC specs are
ASUS PRIME B450M-A
Ryzen 3 2200G
Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM ( * 2)
I think the PSU is the Bestec ATX-300-12EB3 250 Watts, its re-used from an old PC, and that's all the information I could find written on it.

Unplugged specs, in case this means anything
500GB HDD ( * 2)
GeForce GTX 1050ti

If anyone has any ideas, or knowledge on this, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
the lack of powering of all the parts could be that PSU. It might have enough power to run fans etc but not windows.

Its not a good brand and although you don't have a lot of money, buying a good PSU can save you money as cheap ones tend to kill parts they are with.

You say yourself its old. it might be worn out.

I would get one from Corsair or EVGA. 450watt, you may not need it all but better to have too much than not enough.

also, check if the hdd actually still work. the banging noise is still an unknown.
 
Sep 8, 2021
2
2
15
Visit site
the lack of powering of all the parts could be that PSU. It might have enough power to run fans etc but not windows.

Its not a good brand and although you don't have a lot of money, buying a good PSU can save you money as cheap ones tend to kill parts they are with.

You say yourself its old. it might be worn out.

I would get one from Corsair or EVGA. 450watt, you may not need it all but better to have too much than not enough.

also, check if the hdd actually still work. the banging noise is still an unknown.
Thank you for your response, and as for the PSU, it has a 300 Watt max after checking again, i apologise, not sure if it makes a difference. It certainly could be the problem and I will look into getting a better one. Its strange if it is that, though, as it looks as if everything is getting power. Thats including my external Hard Drive and anything else connected through USB, the Motherboard lights up, the power button is very responsive (which it wasnt with our previous one, we had 2 old PCs and I salvaged what I could) everything seems like its getting power but the fans do start and stop for a second, which I wasnt sure if that was normal or not.
All the Motherboard, CPU and RAM are relatively new (2 to 3 years) so it's certainly possible it's the PSU.

The hard drives, work yes, they could still have been the ticking noise. I can confirm they still work at least. It could have just been a coincidence as one second there was a fly, then the ticking noise, then no fly, so it could be but I'm not sure. Either way if it was the hard drives, they arent the thing stopping the boot to the BIOS as they are unplugged.
 

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