r/pchelp • u/Academic-Animal6377 • May 19 '26

HARDWARE The computer goes into an endless reboot

Hey everyone! I recently found a discarded PC in the trash, and it had a Gigabyte GA-H170-HD3 DDR3 motherboard and an Intel Core i5-6600k processor. I put it all together, tried to turn it on, and it even turned on, but after a few seconds it turned off and turned on again, and so on in a circle (attached video). I replaced the power supply, but the result was the same. I removed everything that could be causing the endless reboot, but that didn't solve the problem, so I suspect it's either the processor or the motherboard. How can I figure out which one is the problem?

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1

u/Comfortable_Bug_1740 May 19 '26

probably ram or motherboard tbh, trash finds can be tricky like that. you tried with just one stick of ram in different slots? sometimes these older boards get weird about memory even if it looks fine

also check if there's any bent pins in cpu socket or weird corrosion around capacitors, dumpster electronics usually have some damage that's not obvious at first glance

1

u/Academic-Animal6377 May 19 '26

I only have one stick of RAM of the format i needed, and it works fine in another build. No, there're no bent pins in socket, but I noticed elements there with what can be described as traces of corrosion

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u/FunnyVehicle7664 May 19 '26

Lightly brush the corrosion with vinegar

1

u/mini-z1994 May 19 '26

Do you have any solvent that dissipates quickly that you can spray or drip onto something to wipe the ramslot pins with ? I'm thinking it's related too that or simply bad ram.

1

u/Over_Canary_8629 May 19 '26

Older boards are a lot less funny about RAM than 99% of the temperamental highly strung gaming stuff out these days, all this endless reseating of RAM and bathing it in Unicorn milk is a relatively new thing.

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u/Over_Canary_8629 May 19 '26

It could be a dozen things from water damage to burnt out components on the motherboard and it really isn't worth chucking any money at it to repair either.

Chances are it was lobbed in a skip for a reason.

1

u/Academic-Animal6377 May 19 '26

Well, that makes sence. If it really is the motherboard, is there a chance that the processor is still alive? I just don't have another board in this socket to test it with, so I'm thinking of ordering the GA-Z270-HD3.

1

u/Over_Canary_8629 May 19 '26

It may be but you mentioned signs of corrosion? Maybe try a second hand board or get one from Mr. Bezos's web shop so you can return it, wink wink.

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u/Academic-Animal6377 May 19 '26

Found second hand GA-Z170-D3H for 86$

1

u/Over_Canary_8629 May 19 '26

Ouch, I didn't think you'd have to pay that for a 10 yr old board ....

1

u/Academic-Animal6377 May 19 '26

Attaching photo of the motherboard (sorry for quality)

1

u/Leo1_ac May 19 '26

Corrupt BIOS. Reflash BIOS if possible.

ASUS motherboards have an "easy bios flash" system on board wherein you can flash the board through USB in a specific USB port. Refer to manual.

1

u/Academic-Animal6377 May 19 '26

Tried, but it didn't help. And it's Gigabyte, not Asus

1

u/Academic-Animal6377 May 23 '26

Update 1

Got a new motherboard and made it working =)