Troubleshooting a Peculiar PC Startup Issue: My Experience and Insights

Recently, I’ve found myself grappling with an unusual problem with my desktop PC that has left me scratching my head. The system, when turned off overnight, refuses to boot until it receives a blast of warmth from my trusty hair dryer. This behavior has led me down the rabbit hole of diagnosing potential hardware issues. Here’s what I’ve learned through this experience and the steps I’ve taken to troubleshoot it.

System Specifications

To provide some context, here are the specifications of my setup:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
• Motherboard: Asus PRIME B350M-A (with the latest BIOS update)
• RAM: 2x HyperX FURY 8GB 2400MHz
• Power Supply Unit: Thermaltake 600W 80 Plus White Smart Series

My components are fairly new, ranging from 1.5 to 2 years old, and they are all operating at standard settings—there’s no overclocking or voltage tweaking involved.

The Issue

The core of the issue is straightforward: when I power down my PC overnight, it fails to start again the next morning without first being heated up. Once it does boot, the computer runs perfectly fine for hours or even days. In my attempts to diagnose the problem, I’ve carefully reassembled the machine and tested with just one memory stick while minimizing the number of connected peripherals.

I also ran stress tests using Prime95 for around 9 hours without any errors, with CPU temperatures peaking at around 89°C. Additional tests, including Memtest86 and OCCT, returned no errors, further indicating that the components appear to be functioning normally under load.

Environmental Factors

I live in a tropical climate where temperatures consistently range from 24°C to 32°C, accompanied by high humidity. While this may seem relevant, it was not immediately clear how it impacted my hardware.

Diagnosis and Findings

Unfortunately, without a spare PSU or motherboard for direct testing, I had to rely on creative methods to troubleshoot. After a bit of experimentation and frustration, I’ve come to suspect that there may be a poor connection somewhere on the motherboard. This suspicion was reinforced when I noticed that the Windows clock was also falling behind, despite being set to auto-update and having the correct timezone. After manually syncing it at 11:39 AM, it should have shown 12:52 PM,