Endless on / off loop

[Deleted]

Hello!

I've built 3 PC in my gaming career so far and I built another today, however I'm stuck in endless loop where the following is happening:
I turn the PC on, it goes for around 3-4 seconds, the turns off for around 3-4 seconds, then turns on again and this happens endlessly. The computer doesn't even load into BIOS. The fans on CPU, GPU are spinning, all the power cables are connected where they're supposed to be. I do not have PC speaker therefore I don't hear any beeping.

Specs:
i5 6600k
Gigabyte Z170x-gaming3
2*8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4
Gainwaird Geforce GTX1070
EVGA G2 550W
Samsung EVO 850 250GB
Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM HDD.

So far I have tried:
Reseting BIOS by removing battery from the MOBO.
Switching RAM positions.
Booting without GPU.
Booting without GPU and SSD and HDD.
Booting without GPU, SSD, HDD and one RAM stick [done once with each stick].
Removing all the components from the mobo and placing them back in.
Booting with a different PSU.
Using a different CPU fan.

All the above things had no effect on the loop, the scenario was always same.

I have not tried:
Booting with a different CPU.
Booting with a different MOBO.
Booting with different RAM sticks.

I've ordered all the PC parts from a different country than where I currently reside so running to a shop and asking for a replacement is, at the moment, not an option.

I do have access to ~4 years old 500W bronze+ PSU, which i'm planning on trying tomorrow. I do not have access to another skylake CPU/ MOBO.
UPDATE: The PSU is fine as it ran with no problems in a different machine.
I've thoroughly checked the MoBo and one pin in the LGA 1151 socket is bent.

Any help or suggestion on what to try/ how to solve the issue will be greatly appreciated. Thank you !

[Arbiter]

I suppose it could be a number of things. Defective PSU, Defective Motherboard, Something might not be plugged in fully, etc.

When you removed the battery, did you also remove power from the wall for about a minute?

I would also just make sure that all plugs from the PSU are completely plugged in. I've seen it cause issues in the past and they can sometimes be quite stiff. Have to make sure it clicks.

[Bigbazz]

I've seen this happen before with a dodgy power supply, to be specific with my PC back when I first got it in 2011. it would not loop constantly but it would often do it a couple times before it would boot, in addition to a few other "quirks". It turned out to be the PSU and replacing it fixed the issue entirely, of course until it died completely 3 days ago, but ya know 5 years of being overclocked and used heavily daily.

[Deleted]

I suppose it could be a number of things. Defective PSU, Defective Motherboard, Something might not be plugged in fully, etc.

When you removed the battery, did you also remove power from the wall for about a minute?

I would also just make sure that all plugs from the PSU are completely plugged in. I've seen it cause issues in the past and they can sometimes be quite stiff. Have to make sure it clicks.

I removed the battery for about 4 minutes. The PSU's I/O button was in O position and I also unplugged the power cord from the wall prior to removing battery.
I have also removed all the wires and plugged them back in - no effect.

I've seen this happen before with a dodgy power supply, to be specific with my PC back when I first got it in 2011. it would not loop constantly but it would often do it a couple times before it would boot, in addition to a few other "quirks". It turned out to be the PSU and replacing it fixed the issue entirely, of course until it died completely 3 days ago, but ya know 5 years of being overclocked and used heavily daily.

I wouldn't call EVGA G2 PSUs dodgy [it's seasonic]. I tried to use my old PC's PSU [500W 80+ bronze] and the issue persisted. I tried to use the new PSU in my old PC and it ran flawlessly. This rules the PSU issue out.

I guess it's either the CPU or the MoBo. Has anyone here had experience with getting a faulty component right off the bat? The manufacturers are bound to run some kind of tests before they put the item for sale, are they not? In other words, what are the chances of me successfully RMAing stuff that's brand new?

[Bigbazz]

It's not about the brand being dodgy, my point was it's a common issue you might see if you have a faulty a power supply and that can happen to any power supply, even brand new. If you've ruled out that then I don't know, I had a 700w Artic Power and replaced it with an OCZ 850w Gold and it removed any/all issues I had, and I had a variety of strange intermittent issues with my graphics card (then a HD6970) and with boot on/off looping.

That was when I first built my system in 2011, so all the parts were fresh for me too.

[Arbiter]

I wouldn't call EVGA G2 PSUs dodgy [it's seasonic]. I tried to use my old PC's PSU [500W 80+ bronze] and the issue persisted. I tried to use the new PSU in my old PC and it ran flawlessly. This rules the PSU issue out.

I guess it's either the CPU or the MoBo. Has anyone here had experience with getting a faulty component right off the bat? The manufacturers are bound to run some kind of tests before they put the item for sale, are they not? In other words, what are the chances of me successfully RMAing stuff that's brand new?

EVGA's G2 units are Super Flower, actually, not Seasonic. That said, yea the OEM is great, but even the best PSU's can still potentially be defective. If you're completely confident that the other PSU you tried works then it's entirely possible that the motherboard could be the issue. CPU's won't typically be DoA but still not impossible either. I'd check for any pins that could have been bent and if you have any way of testing the rest if your parts in another system I'd do so. Otherwise, it might not be a bad idea to see about replacing the motherboard. If it hasn't been long since you purchased it then you may just be able to get it replaced from the retailer you bought it from. Otherwise Gigabyte should replace it if nothing they suggest fixes the problem.

[Lathais]

You mentioned swapping the RAM, but did you try 1 stick at a time? My friend got faulty RAM and this is exactly what his PC did to him, even though he was convinced it was the PSU. Tried with just one stick of RAM and it booted right up, so he RMA'd the RAM and everything was fine with the new RAM.

[Deleted]

It's not about the brand being dodgy, my point was it's a common issue you might see if you have a faulty a power supply and that can happen to any power supply, even brand new. If you've ruled out that then I don't know, I had a 700w Artic Power and replaced it with an OCZ 850w Gold and it removed any/all issues I had, and I had a variety of strange intermittent issues with my graphics card (then a HD6970) and with boot on/off looping.

That was when I first built my system in 2011, so all the parts were fresh for me too.

Fair enough, I misunderstood then!

You mentioned swapping the RAM, but did you try 1 stick at a time? My friend got faulty RAM and this is exactly what his PC did to him, even though he was convinced it was the PSU. Tried with just one stick of RAM and it booted right up, so he RMA'd the RAM and everything was fine with the new RAM.

I tried both sticks in ddr slot 1+2, then 3+4, then I tried each stick alone in ddr slot 1. I suppose it is possible that both ram sticks are faulty but what are the chances... Either way I'll try RAM in a different computer and see the results.

- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE:

Alright I've thoroughly checked the MoBo and one pin in the LGA 1151 socket is bent.

The way it's bent is this: all the good pins are bent in one direction. The faulty one is bent in the opposite way and it's bent all the way down so it touches the surface of the socket.

Question: Is it possible to bend ONLY one pin in a way described above by user error? Is it possible the pin has been bent by the factory? Is it generally possible to RMA mobo due to bent pin? [We're talking about EU]

I'm buying a different mobo tomorrow which should fix all my issues however any insight on bent pins is more than welcome.

[Thunderball]

I dont have LGA 1151 socket pinout but on LGA 1150 that pin was ground, i.e. nothing that will prevent normal operation if it's the only problem.

[Lathais]

Alright I've thoroughly checked the MoBo and one pin in the LGA 1151 socket is bent.

The way it's bent is this: all the good pins are bent in one direction. The faulty one is bent in the opposite way and it's bent all the way down so it touches the surface of the socket.

Question: Is it possible to bend ONLY one pin in a way described above by user error? Is it possible the pin has been bent by the factory? Is it generally possible to RMA mobo due to bent pin? [We're talking about EU]

I'm buying a different mobo tomorrow which should fix all my issues however any insight on bent pins is more than welcome.

It's possible you did it, or that it came that way and yes, you can usually RMA a bent pin. You can also likely bend it back, I have done this before and know other people who have as well.

[Deleted]

I tried to bend it back, however the pin is touching the surface and stuck inbetween adjacent pins and I have neither the proper tools nor the steady hand to do it safely. I figured I'd rather RMA it instead of trying to fix it and bend other pins while doing so.

Anyway thank you everyone for help, I'll update tomorrow after I get my hands on another mobo. Cheers !

- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE: Changing the motherboard did indeed solve the issue. Thanks everyone for giving advice. Thread can be closed now!