Hey everyone! I built my first PC years ago, starting with a modified HP that just wasn't cutting it, and now I mainly use it for gaming and light tasks. Recently, I ran into a serious issue: my computer wouldn't shut down properly and hung on 'restarting' for hours. Eventually, I had to cut the power. After that, when I tried turning it back on, the fans would spin, but I couldn't access the BIOS. I tried a bunch of troubleshooting steps: removing the CMOS, replacing the battery, letting it sit, and resetting the JBAT1 pins. Resigned to my fate, I disconnected all my drives and tried again, and somehow, the BIOS showed up! I was able to play games again, but my luck ran out. A few days ago, I shut it down and haven't been able to power it back up since. I've repeated all the tricks to no avail. Then I noticed a small chip near the PCI_E1 port that seems slightly damaged. Could this chip be the culprit behind my motherboard issues? I can't afford a new one right now, but I'm thinking about grabbing a used motherboard similar to my current setup as a temporary fix until I can build a new one. Here's my setup:
- MSI B85-G41 PC Mate
- Intel Core i5 4460 (Haswell)
- G.Skill Ripjaws 4 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
- XFX Radeon RX570 8GB
- Corsair CX750 PSU
- Samsung 850 250GB EVO SSD
- WD Blue SA510 1TB SSD
- WD Blue 1TB HDD
- An M2 SSD from an old laptop used via USB 3.0 adapter
1 Answer
Hey! That sucks about your PC. The chip might not be the big issue, especially if it looks just dirty, but if it's near a PCI slot, it could just be interacting with that. More often, motherboard problems stem from busted capacitors. Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM? Remember, your computer won’t post without RAM, and if you have a GPU, try removing it and booting from the integrated graphics instead. Best of luck!
Thanks for the tips! I haven't tried booting with just one stick of RAM yet. I'll definitely give that a shot and see if it changes anything.