Computer starts when it wants to

[vmong]

Hi guys, basically on my spare PC, its pretty dated, i have a ATi radeon 9550 and sometimes it doesnt boot up. basically when i reset the pc a few times it will boot up. its liek the gfx card cant pump out a signal to the monitor. this is rather annoying as i think that i maybe damaging the pc when i press reset when it hasnt booted?

[kalniel]

Which is it? Can't boot up or isn't displaying a signal?

If it's the latter then it's possible your 9550 is on the way out, or simply isn't getting enough power from the powersupply.

[FifthFreedom]

Can you hear the PC actually working but just not see a signal or does it just stay quiet?

[Will404]

If it is an old PC the PSU is probably not powerful enough to run the 9550

[vmong]

well since the screen doesnt come on i cant tell if its not booting or the GFX card isnt working. i mean yeah the pc turns on etc and it worked previously and i dont think the GFX card has its own power supply. i mean more often than not it works on the second restart.

[kalniel]

Mostly a problem with cold booting then. That could be a number of things - update BIOS first off incase there's a known glitch. Try varying the speeds/voltages in BIOS of other components - sometimes if the power supply doesn't provide a strong enough standby voltage you can have cold boot problems. Oddly you may find overclocking/increasing VDimm voltage to help as the PSU might work better with increased load (happened to me once).

Also check that the card is seated properly, and cables are tight etc.

[vmong]

i dont want to mess with the biod as i dont actually know whats going on there lol! if i mess it up it could be problematic

[Thorsson]

I presume that this was working OK previously and now isn't? Possibly it's the GPU fan, and it won't run, to avoid damage, if the fan doesn't start. You might try taking out the card and seeing if it's blocked by dust. If you've never cleaned it I can guarantee that it needs a clean. Taking the fan apart and reassembling after a clean is normally pretty easy.