New PC dies on bootup

Hey you guys.

I've recently inherited a PC from my wife's uncle who had originally built it for one of his grandkids who subsequently didn't need it. When i went round to pick it up last Sunday he had it up and running to show me what he'd installed on it for us, so it was obviously running fine then. We boxed it up and drove it home. When i unpacked it and set it up i booted it up and it started going through the start up routine. As it got towards the end it literally just died on me. I tried a again but the same happened only quicker this time and quicker still every other time i tried until i got to the point where it would die after only a couple of seconds. I've tried unplugging everything to see if it has issues with any of the peripherals, but exactly the same happens. i've tried starting it up with the side panel off to check if all the fans are running or if anything was loose, but it was all good.

From what info i can gather on the net of similar problems people have had, it could be either a faulty RAM module, a dead/dying CMOS battery or most likely a PSU issue - although i've been told that the one i've got is a fairly robust 600v model.

Does anyone know what it might be?

600v power supply

Probably 600W... anyway, jokes aside, make sure the heatsink of the processor is properly seated. It sounds like a heat issue to me. I may be wrong though.

Can you get into the BIOS before it dies?

It's possible i guess. It has gone past the BIOS section whilst booting before. Although there does appear to be a time issue when you try to boot it. First time you try it might stay on for 25-30 seconds, next time will be about 5 seconds less and will continue until it almost switches off immediately after switching on. This leads me to think it's a hardware rather than software issue. Probably either overheating or power supply problem.

Yeah sounds like something gets too hot. Try to reach the BIOS and check the temperatures in hardware monitor.

check your motherboard manual and find CMOS jumper. clear your bios and try to run with it.
otherwise this could be as you said a faulty ram module problem, power supply problem. cpu could be burned.capacitors could be burned.
does your motherboard have some boot attempt signs on it and shows some error codes?

Sounds like a heat issue. Leave it for a few minutes to cool down, that'll give you time to go into the BIOS, there'll be a section that allows you to check the CPU temperature - it's usually called something like "PC Health Status" or "PC Monitor". If the temperature is high and rising, then you may need to remove and reinstall the CPU heatsink to make sure it's fight nice and securely. It could easily have become loose during the journey taking it back.

I just done a repair on a friends Dell PC with swelling capacitors and the fault was it would boot up for about a minute and then the graphics would go completely to the monitor and say no connection on the screen ... the PC would stay powered up just no graphics. Had to get a new motherboard to sort it out.

It could be a number of things with the error you have explained .. from a corrupt boot sector to a RAM issue! but in all fairness the RAM issue would have been there from the start unless its totally blown and not the wrong type which is pretty rare for RAM to just die, I'd take the processor out and check it for any black pins and if none! put it back in again nice and precisely with some fresh thermal gel and start from there, then test the RAM and finally run the XP disc to boot priority when the system starts up and go into repair mode and type in FIXBOOT or FIXMBR into the command prompt, this will write a new boot sector ... If it doesn't work from there then it could be the power supply has issues or whatever? ... I have lots of PC parts around to trial and error parts on most of the PC's I do fixes on and this usually helps in the process of locating the fault. Without them it's like looking for a needle in a haystack sometimes which is great fun

I hope you find the fault mate and good luck with it 👍

Cheers for all the pointers guys, i'll try them out this weekend 👍


*edit Problem solved, the heat sink and cooling fan on the CPU were not properly seated. It clips onto the motherboard with four fiddly posts, two of them had become slightly detached (probably during transit). Took the whole thing off and clipped it back fully. Works a treat!!!

**edit Problem not quite solved, PC now runs for about half an hour before switching itself off. I know what it is this time and as soon as i buy myself some thermal CPU paste i should be up and running.