startup problems

[aliasaid]

I've been having trouble starting my computer for the past couple of months. And here's the weird thing, once it does start it works totally fine until i turn it off for a while and turn it back on.

This only occurs once my computer has been off for a few hours and i turn it on. If the computer was just on, and i turn it off and on, nothing weird happens.

When i turn it on, the motherboard beeps, but there's no signal to the monitor. I turn off the computer, and on again, the monitor gets a signal, but the screen is really messed up, with horizontal and vertical lines everywhere (even on the black screen at the very beginning). I turn the computer off and on again, and the third time the screen is good and everything works fine, no problems after that! i leave the computer on for many hours, i game, i watch movies, all sorts of stuff and nothing wrong happens. It only happens when i'm first starting the computer. And its usually the 3rd time turning it on that gets the computer working properly. Its almost as though it needs to be warmed up first before it starts to work properly.

My guess is its the video card. I reseated it, re-applied the thermal paste, but nothing seems to make this go away. And even if it was the video card, why would it work perfectly fine afterwards? It could also be the PSU, my Omega 1000watt PSU isn't exactly top-notch. But again, using the same logic as before, why would it work totally fine afterwards?

Has anyone heard of computers needing to be warmed up first? lol

it hasn't been a big problem, since i've gotten used to turning it on 3 times everyday.

thanks for any help.

 

[Slaymate]

My 1st guess is the power supply. Sounds like it's having major fluctuations til it gets warmed up and then I'd bet the voltages are barely in tolerance.

 

[aliasaid]

Hmm.. interesting idea. That makes more sense than video card.. mainly because i'm 100% sure this is a really crappy PSU. I think i'll test it out by doing the paper clip test for a few minutes before trying to turn on the computer and see if it'll turn on properly on first try!

Thanks for your thoughts Slaymate.

 

[aliasaid]

Some interesting developments:

I unplugged my floppy drive (since i can't recall if i've ever actually used it) and now my PC starts up on first try! BUT a new problem came up. When i play a game like CS:Source or PES2009 my computer will restart after about 5 minutes into it. It never did that before. Before, it took a few tries to get the computer to start, but when it started, i could play for hours no problem, but now that i unplugged the floppy my computer is restarting when i open one of the said games. How weird is that?!

I'm still convinced its the powersupply....... but could it be gpu temperature? I'm sure CPU temps are good. Haven't found a way to measure gpu temps, but that doesn't seem like the issue anyways because the computer never restarted before....

any thoughts?

 

[PcRepairGuys]

I agree with slaymate. Sound like the psu is being overtaxed. I understand it is 1000watt but that doesn't mean it isn't giving out. How old is it? Also, try to reseat the connector just to rule that out.

 

[aliasaid]

New development:

When i try to turn on my computer, the screen turns on fine and the startup info is displayed; but when its time for windows to load, the monitor will say "signal out of range", and it'll list some V and H frequencies. Its not the computer that says it, its the monitor itself. I have to restart like a gazillion times for it to actually work.

Does this still sound like a PSU issue? or is it a video card issue?