Interesting problem booting I've never experienced before

[Juriah]

Scratching my head on this one because there never been a problem with computers in the last 14 years I couldn't resolve... I've narrowed it down to two possible problems.. PSU or MB.. I'm leaning more towards PSU have problems under load, when booting video card draws a lot of power... I don't want to go buying new parts just yet to test it out but open to suggestions?

This is what is happening: Boot process goes through POST no problem, makes me think MB is fine. Then comes to a black screen with white blinking hyphen instead of going to Windows loading screen as it does normally.. I thought it was Windows problem first or hard drive issue but did all the proper maleware/antivirus checks all clean and other operating system and hard drive diagnostics Everything comes back error free.

It was an intermittent problem but now pretty consistently occurring but alleviated if I disconnect any one component, use the onboard video, or disconnect one of my two extra hard drives. The only thing that makes me hesitate to declare it a PSU problem is I checked all the voltages on the PSU and they all check out nominal, even under load not dipping below accepted levels... runs perfectly when it does boot up correctly or if I disconnect a component from the power.. are you like me and think it's the PSU?

Computer type PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number self-custom
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1
CPU Intel(R) Quad, Core i5 3.4GHz
Motherboard ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
Memory G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Graphics Card(s) Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
Monitor(s) Displays 26in LED
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Hard Drives LG DVD Burner, LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner 3D Play
OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB (SSD)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Maxtor 350GB 7200RPM SATA 3
PSU Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2
Cooling several massive dbl fan cpu heatsink, multiple 250mm, 200, 80mm fans
Internet Speed 50Mbit
Antivirus Malewarebites, Spybot S&D, Avast, Trend Micro etc
Browser Firefox/Chrome

 

[Golden]

Can I make a suggestion? Uninstall Trend Micro, and see it the problem replicates.

You already have Avast, so Trend is not required and may hamper the post-boot environment. Admittedly your problem sounds as if its pre-boot, but Im taking a bit of a guess after seeing your antivirus setup. Leave Malwarebytes as it is.

Exactly how many fans are connected?

 

[gregrocker]

Spybot is also about ten years outdated with tech enthusiasts, ever since it bloated up with buggy add-ons. I'd replace it with SuperAntiSpyware.

Use MSE with Windows Firewall only, Malwarebytes for on-demand scanning.

Other tips for what works best with Win7 in Clean Reinstall.

 

[Juriah]

Lol I should have mentioned I don't use anti-malware or antivirus unless I need to fix something.. So much for preventative maintenance lol I don't goto suspicious websites or download shit I don't trust, i rarely get infected.. It's easy to check if a website is safe first before following links

I'm pretty sure I answered my own question for most part.. I already deep scanned all hard drives in safe mode and console came up with nothing.. Thanks for the suggestions, I definitely feel like its a power related issue even though voltages check out since if I unplug a hard drive or video card then comp boots and runs like a champ.. I know you tried your best I appreciate it

 

[Juriah]

Oh to answer q.. 4 case fans plus PSU fans and two cpu heatsink fans. Temps stay good.. Havent used trend micro in years.. and it was only via browser.. I scan from boot disks

 

[DocBrown]

You might want to caculate PSU requirements


:ar: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator