My PC was working normally last night, but today it would not start. I opened the case, checked and reseated the cables, and unplugged and reconnected the motherboard connections, but there was no change. After removing the RTX 2070 and holding the power button for about 20 seconds with the system unplugged, it finally started. However, it would not reliably boot again until I repeated the power-draining process and swapped between the RTX 2070 and an older GTX 960. I also removed the CMOS battery for about five minutes. Eventually, the system began booting consistently with the RTX 2070. I entered the BIOS, corrected the date and time, and Windows then loaded normally. It has continued working for now, but it only seems to recover after being unplugged and having the remaining power discharged. I'm concerned that the power supply may be failing, or that a power outage or surge affected the motherboard or PSU despite using a surge-protected power strip. I have also recently had problems with my monitor repeatedly entering power-saving mode, so I'm wondering whether the DisplayPort cable could be involved. What is the most likely cause, and what should I test to prevent this from happening again? My system has a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RTX 2070, TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI motherboard, 32GB of RAM, and Windows 11 Pro.
1 Answer
The symptoms sound consistent with the PSU entering over-current or latch-off protection. Some power supplies stay latched off until they are fully disconnected from the wall and the remaining charge drains, which would explain why holding the power button helps. The best test is to temporarily install a known-good PSU with enough capacity and the correct cables. If the problem disappears, replace the PSU rather than continuing to rely on the current one.
I’m also considering the DisplayPort cable because the monitor has recently been stuck in a power-saving loop. I’ll replace that first if possible, but I’ll test with a known-good PSU if the boot problem returns.