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windows 10, 16GB (2x8GB) RAM, R9 380 Video Card

I was playing the new Skyrim remastered, when the game crashed with the screen going crazy and a loud stuttering noise. I had to cycle the power off.

I took care of some other things and when I tried to restart -- nothing doing. The PC would power on but no boot, tested on two monitors with two different connector types.

I unpluggd the PC and held th power down for 30seconds to a minute--several times. No dice.

I reseated video card and RAM. No dice.

I switched to the onboard video card, same behavior, no signal, no boot.

I removed a RAM stick. It boots and the bios message was that the overclock wa failing. I did several tests with the RAM and only on would allow the PC to boot up. OK, we're fine right?

Wrong, after identifying the failing component, I tried to hook up the R9 video card again, but same symptoms as when I restarted he first time. No display, no keyboard, no boot.

This is my media PC, and is hooked up to a large TV. So I even tried setting the resolution to 1280 x 1024.

I reseated the CPU and video card power connectors. But, I cant get the computer to boot with either the R9 380 connected to the PSU or the RAM stick in.

Is this a PSU issue?

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    Since you can get the PC to boot up by removing components, I would remove the video card and use 1 stick of RAM again and then look in Event Viewer to try and get a bit more information. Can you tell us what wattage your PSU is?
    – DrZoo
    Oct 30, 2016 at 2:40
  • 650W Thermaltake. I have the video card in socket but disconnected from PSU and it is working using onboard video memory.
    – pastepotpete
    Oct 30, 2016 at 17:35
  • OK, today, I restored the BIOS to system defaults -- and got the r9 working. I also learned there is a DRAM LED light on the mobo. I definitely have a bad RAM stick.
    – pastepotpete
    Oct 30, 2016 at 20:14

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It sounds a lot more like a RAM issue or a CPU issue, relating to that overclocking failing message you got. Were you overclocking your PC? If so, how long was it since you first started to run it overclocked - a day, week, months? It does not boot up with the onboard video chip neither, so this is why it sounds like a system issue, and not a graphics card issue.

What kind of stuttering noise did you hear when the system first failed? Can you describe it a bit more? This may be a key element in figuring out what failed. However, if I go with the assumption that you were overclocking, it could have overheated the RAM, the motherboard and even the CPU if your cooling was insufficient. Did you ever monitor the CPU cores' temps, and the GPU temp while playing your 3D games?

The final thing I would like to know is: What power was your Power supply in watts AND even more importantly, what BRAND was it? A well-known brand like Coolermaster or a no-name? This would indicate it's quality. Did you calculate how much power your system would draw at full load from the PSU when playing an intense game? The maximum SUSTAINED power that a PSU should be asked to give out is, I've realized, no more than 70-80% of its rated maximum. Otherwise, it will wear out a lot faster.

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  • This is really a comment and not an answer to the original question. You can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. Please read Why do I need 50 reputation to comment? What can I do instead?
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Oct 30, 2016 at 10:17
  • I think I was overclocking. This was a system that was built for me, for work, later given to me when I left the company, was configured by a third-party. When I got into the BIOS last night it was set to some sort of custom configuration. 650W Thermaltake. At one point, I added up power needs and came to somewhere under 500w. Skyrim froze and then, the screen segmented into a repeating noisy pattern with the same color palette as was on the screen when it froze. The noi sounded like it was a looping note from the Skyrim BGM. It's ATX midtower with fans, temp hasn't been checked lately.
    – pastepotpete
    Oct 30, 2016 at 17:30

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