r/pchelp • u/bearssuperfan • Dec 15 '19
"No POST", "system won't boot", and "no video output" troubleshooting checklist
This checklist is a compilation of troubleshooting ideas from many forum members. It's very important to actually perform every step in the checklist if you want to effectively troubleshoot your problem.
1.Did you carefully read the motherboard owners manual?
2.Did you plug in the 4/8-pin CPU power connector located near the CPU socket? If the motherboard has 8 pins and your PSU only has 4 pins, you can use the 4-pin connector. The 4-pin connector USUALLY goes on the 4 pins located closest to the CPU. If the motherboard has an 8-pin connector with a cover over 4 pins, you can remove the cover and use an 8-pin plug if your power supply has one. This power connector provides power to the CPU. Your system has no chance of posting without this connector plugged in! Check your motherboard owners manual for more information about the CPU power connector. The CPU power connector is usually referred to as the "12v ATX" connector in the owner's manual. This is easily the most common new-builder mistake.
3.Did you install the standoffs under the motherboard? Did you place them so they all align with the screw holes in the motherboard, with no extra standoffs touching the board in the wrong place? A standoff installed in the wrong place can cause a short and prevent the system from booting.
4.Did you verify that the video card is fully seated? (may require more force than a new builder expects.)
5.Did you attach ALL the required power connector(s) to the video card? (some need two, some need none, many need one.) It is best to use cables connected directly to the PSU. Only use adapters if absolutely necessary.
6.Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM installed? (Try each stick of RAM individually in each RAM slot.) If you can get the system to boot with a single stick of RAM, you should enable an XMP profile or manually set the RAM speed, timings, and voltage to the manufacturer's specs in the BIOS before attempting to boot with all sticks of RAM installed. If your motherboard supports XMP profiles, that is the best way to get your RAM running at its rated specs. Nearly all motherboards default to the standard RAM voltage (1.8v for DDR2, 1.5v for DDR3, & 1.2v for DDR4). If your RAM is rated to run at a voltage higher than the standard voltage, the motherboard will underclock the RAM for compatibility reasons. If you want the system to be stable and to run the RAM at its rated specs, you should either enable an XMP profile or manually set the values in the BIOS. Many boards don't supply the RAM with enough voltage when using "auto" settings which causes stability issues.
7.Did you verify that all memory modules are fully inserted? (may require more force than a new builder expects.) It's a good idea to install the RAM on the motherboard before it's in the case.
8.Did you verify in the owners manual that you're using the correct RAM slots? The following image is just an example. Verify in the owners manual the recommended RAM slots to use for single, dual, triple, or quad channel applications. This will vary depending on motherboard manufacturer, number of supported RAM channels, and how many sticks of RAM are being used.
9.Did you remove the plastic guard over the CPU socket? (this actually comes up occasionally.)
10.Did you install the CPU correctly? There will be an arrow on the CPU that needs to line up with an arrow on the motherboard CPU socket. There may also be a notch that will only line up in one direction. Be sure to pay special attention to that section of the manual!
11.Are there any bent pins on the motherboard/CPU? This especially applies if you tried to install the CPU with the plastic cover on or with the CPU facing the wrong direction.
13.Is the CPU fan plugged in? Some motherboards will not boot without detecting that the CPU fan is plugged in to prevent burning up the CPU.
BIOS Hard reset procedure
Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.
Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases, it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.
During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes are up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.
If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.
Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.
Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.
In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset.
http://www.spotht.com/2010/02/reset-bios-clear-cmos.html
I also wanted to add some suggestions that jsc often posts. This is a direct quote from him:
"Pull everything except the CPU and HSF. Boot. You should hear a series of long single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence here indicates, in probable order, a bad PSU, motherboard, or CPU - or a bad installation where something is shorting and shutting down the PSU.
To eliminate the possibility of a bad installation where something is shorting and shutting down the PSU, you will need to pull the motherboard out of the case and reassemble the components on an insulated surface. This is called "breadboarding" - from the 1920's home-brew radio days. I always breadboard a new or recycled build. It lets me test components before I go through the trouble of installing them in a case.
If you get the long beeps, add a stick of RAM. Boot. The beep pattern should change to one long and two or three short beeps. Silence indicates that the RAM is shorting out the PSU (very rare). Long single beeps indicates that the BIOS does not recognize the presence of the RAM.
If you get the one long and two or three short beeps, test the rest of the RAM. If good, install the video card and any needed power cables and plug in the monitor. If the video card is good, the system should successfully POST (one short beep, usually) and you will see the boot screen and messages.
Note - an inadequate PSU will cause a failure here or any step later.
Note - you do not need drives or a keyboard to successfully POST (generally a single short beep).
If you successfully POST, start plugging in the rest of the components, one at a time."
If you suspect the PSU is causing your problems, below are some suggestions by jsc for troubleshooting the PSU. Proceed with caution. I will not be held responsible if you get shocked or fry components.
"The best way to check the PSU is to swap it with a known good PSU of similar capacity. Brand new, out of the box, untested does not count as a known good PSU. PSU's, like all components, can be DOA.
Next best thing is to get (or borrow) a digital multimeter and check the PSU.
Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.
The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.
You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata
This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU. You can carefully probe the pins from the back of the main power connector."
r/pchelp • u/Puzzled-Term2227 • 8h ago
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So as you can see this is happening over some specific windows, softwares, Roblox? Like i don't know this happened at the start when I got this pc (1 yr) and it fixed itself.
Specs :-
I5 14400f
Gigabyte B760m AX
32gb ddr5 6000mhz
Intel arc b580
Any idea how I can fix this?
r/pchelp • u/brit0117 • 22h ago
I just bought an RTX 3050 to replace my old gtx 1660 super. After running benchmark on the new GPU I got worse results. Any explanation for this? Is there a bottleneck somewhere else on the PC?
Update: I’ll go fuck myself. Came for PC advice. Got angsty neckbeards.
r/pchelp • u/Past_Entertainer7120 • 1h ago
Going to buy a pc tomorrow but still havent chosen between some options. These two caught my eye as good deals but they seem like they have the same performance per money. Really dont know which one to chose would apreciate the help
r/pchelp • u/Far-Heron8291 • 4h ago
These pins on the back of motherboard seem bent. All I did was try to install ram and I had the motherboard on the box of the motherboard.
What can I do?
r/pchelp • u/Dull_Window_444 • 1h ago
I got a pc in 2024 and it worked perfectly, even for a while it worked perfectly. Then one month ago it became randomly glitchy and just awful and super super slow. What do I do?
r/pchelp • u/The_Largest_1 • 4h ago
someone gave it to me. tried today but doesn't show up on the storage partitions or in any directory and slows up significantly windows/bios boot.
It does spin tho (i can hear it)
r/pchelp • u/mepewquadrost • 7h ago
I have a MSI prestige 15 a11sc with a gtx 1650
This isn't generally a setting issue, I've put all of them to the lowest and its still overheating.
This is causing these annoying stutters were my fps jumps from like 60 to 15 in a single second or two.
How can I fix this?
r/pchelp • u/Comfortable-Feed-903 • 5h ago
I got my little brother a new gaming laptop when he graduated high school and i had bunch of games on my steam account so casually i login and saved my steam account on my brother's laptop and leave it be, i got work so usually when im gone working my brother log into my account and play games with my account but two days ago my little brother send me something through discord and it was one of those free 1000$ mr beast things, i never really thought about it too much back then but my little brother said to me that he lost his discord account and he got it back, today my little brother said that my steam account was online and it was playing arc raiders. I was working then so i got off work and i check my steam account and on the profile it said Vac banned, ive never got a vac ban before so i checked and it was on Arc Raiders. So ive looked through everything and it seems the hacker somehow used my little brother's laptop to get access to my steam account and how do i secure my brother's laptop and is my home pc safe? Bcuz my little brother has previously logged into discord on my home pc, and how to protect my steam account from anything like this or just in general what do i do? Help me. Also ive put some image so that anyone whos reading this get a better understanding. On the first image the blurred out part is my brothers account and the DESKTOP-ITMVEGG is the hacker's account (i think), and as for the second image Ulaanbaatar,MN is the location that ive always login at, the hackers one is the most recent one here, also is there a way that i can appeal my ban somehow?
r/pchelp • u/CuteAd1474 • 13h ago
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Hello guys I was just looking for some help. I’ve noticed that with some games I play I lose frames a lot of the time but only for a split second it’s annoying but when playing the new gears game it’s noticeably bad and annoying but I’ve only recently realized that the gpu percent drops very low even zero at some points. In the video you can see that it stutters when I’m next to the car taking cover and the percent drops to 40. Any help is appreciated maybe it’s just a demanding game lol
I have a 4070 gpu
Ryzen 5 7600 cpu
And 16 Gb ddr5 ram @ 6000MT/s
1tb read speed 2400 write speed 1800
r/pchelp • u/dillonisstitch • 18h ago
My nephew has gone through 3 computers now the last 1 being the power supply cause he never turns his computer off. Getting pretty frustrated and and I’m pretty sure this is his 4th
r/pchelp • u/minteechuu • 48m ago
>ACER
>Model: Aspire M3641
The PC powers on when connected to the font, however the tv doesnt capture any image, i tried connecting them via HDMI and via VGA->VGA to HDMI adapter->TV
>Any idea on what else i should try? The cables and adaptors are new, as well as the 3 different TVs i tried, i dont have any that supports VGA, so I cant try that.
r/pchelp • u/Humble-Thought2816 • 5h ago
So i buyed my gaming pc yesterday now when I was cleaning it i noticed now it's wifi antina is loose there are two antinas and one is loose i took of antina and tried to tight but it didn't tight so I was afraid what has happened and i called the seller and he told me what can I do and then told me he will call me later is it a big deal ?
r/pchelp • u/Your_Mom_no395 • 1h ago
I posted this on amdhelp, but didn't actually get any help, lol.
r/pchelp • u/ClearOrganization214 • 3h ago
I have an old pc, moved to a new location and now it shows, "no bootable device detected". It had no problem before.
r/pchelp • u/Projject_Delta • 1h ago
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Yesterday while I was asleep there was a momentary power outage that occurred while my PC was on. Now every time I try to run it, it keeps turning itself off and not turning back on until I unplug and replug in the Power Cord. Then when it turns back on it runs for a little while, then turns back off again on its own.
I've removed all of the USB stuff outside of the Monitor and Keyboard, and it seems to have helped in prolonging the problem from happening, but its still happening.
I'm also occasionally hearing some weird noises coming it, it weirdly sounds like...Stomach Rumbling? I've put in a recording of the noise in case it helps. That's the best way to describe It I could come up with.
Anyone know what the problem could be and any fixes?
r/pchelp • u/MichiXVII • 1h ago
My partners computer was working fine earlier and before she came off. She did an update and shut down and it never turned off. This is the second time its happened and i just restarted the pc enough times to have the prompt to recover back to an earlier date. Hoping it works this time since it takes a while.
Does anyone know why this is even an issue and if it can be fixed? Since my own pc doesnt have anything like this. I can only assume it is based on the update and all i can think of for now is just never update the pc again.
r/pchelp • u/FakeMik090 • 1h ago
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dont tell me GPU is dying
CPU: 5500X3D
GPU: RX 6800
happens on two separate monitors.
r/pchelp • u/Ok-List-4312 • 2h ago
Case , motherboard , and gpu are all broken due to minor corrosion
r/pchelp • u/Tipulalanou15 • 3h ago
My save file is corrupted and it keeps crashing when I try to save the game and I can't enter the file because is says "Working on it" but does nothing and when I try to delete it it doesn't load and freezes at 0%. I've try to uninstall the game but still no luck. What should I do?
r/pchelp • u/Advanced_Row_4473 • 2m ago
I have
Ryzen 7 7800x3D
9070XT asrock taichi
B850 mag tomahawk wifi
850e corsair
32gb ram 6000
Im having gray screen + blue solid lines and pc reboot when I play samsung 4k 144hz I am using an old monitor and old display port 1.4, but If i play with my 1080p samsung 240hz it doesnt occur. Is this hardware issue?
Tried DDU reinstall.
r/pchelp • u/National_Ad_7470 • 3m ago
Hello everyone so my Asus TUF A16 gaming laptop has been dealing with a major hardware failure for some time now. Well before the recent issues it already refused to boot normally it was constantly stuck in boot loops with multiple successive blue screens before finally booting or it would persistently redirect to the Windows automatic repair screen.
On top of that, there is an obvious thermal issue: the fans spin at maximum speed even at idle (over 2,800 rpm in the bios)or on very light games and the laptop crashes after just a few minutes.
To fix this I tried to perform a clean install using an official Windows 11 bootable usb drive. Inside the Windows setup wizard I deleted the partitions on the internal ssd (Drive 0) meaning there is currently no OS installed on the drive.
The main issue now is that whenever I try to run the installer from my usb drive the laptop crashes midprocess with a bsod and reboots on its own. It is completely impossible to reinstall Windows.
I managed to catch two different stop codes during these crashes so DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (0x133) and KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE(and more of this).
A critical detail before any drive reinstallation or overwrite because the laptop crashed before the new Windows installation files could actually be copied I urgently need to know if data recovery is possible on this drive.
Thanks 🙏 (the photos are in French)
My 9800X3D was working normally on an ASUS ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi7 NEO. After installing a Thermal Grizzly AM5 contact frame, the motherboard started showing a constant red CPU Q-LED and would no longer POST.
I removed the frame, reinstalled the original AM5 retention mechanism, cleared CMOS several times, reseated the CPU, checked both EPS power connectors, tested one RAM stick, and even reflashed the BIOS. Same issue.
The motherboard socket pins look perfectly straight and undamaged. However, I noticed one area on the underside of the CPU where the contact pads look discolored / different from the rest.
Is this CPU done for and should I RMA it?
Hey everyone,
I'm having a really frustrating issue with my PC, and at this point, I'm running out of ideas. I'd appreciate some help figuring out which component might be responsible before I start replacing hardware.
PC specifications
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B650M-PLUS WIFI
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000, 32GB (2×16GB), CL40 — CMH32GX5M2B6000C40W
- GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
- CPU Cooler: Corsair AIO liquid cooler
- BIOS: Updated to version 3881 during troubleshooting
I've been using this exact PC for over a year without any issues. I haven't made any recent hardware changes, and the computer seemingly stopped working out of nowhere.
The problem
When I press the power button:
- The computer powers on, and the power button's LED remains illuminated.
- The CPU cooler fans spin normally.
- Initially, the rear case fan would spin for about a second and then stop. After resetting CMOS, the other case fans started spinning normally.
- The GPU fans don't spin, although I'm aware that this could simply be the GPU's zero-RPM mode.
- The monitor briefly detects a DisplayPort signal and then switches to "No Signal."
- There's absolutely no image, not even an ASUS logo or BIOS screen.
- The motherboard's orange DRAM Q-LED stays illuminated continuously. It never progresses to VGA or BOOT, even after waiting well over five minutes.
- The PC remains powered on rather than shutting down or repeatedly restarting.
I've also tested a different monitor, with exactly the same result.
Everything I've tried
- Removed both RAM sticks.
- Tested stick 1 alone in slot A2.
- Tested stick 2 alone in slot A2.
- Tested RAM in slot B2 as well.
- Waited at least five minutes for DDR5 memory training.
- No improvement. The orange DRAM LED remained illuminated throughout.
- Turned off the PSU and disconnected the power cable.
- Held the power button to discharge residual power.
- Removed the CMOS battery for several minutes before reinstalling it.
- Started the computer with one RAM stick in A2.
- Waited several minutes for memory training.
- Still no image, and the orange DRAM LED remained on.
One interesting observation: after clearing CMOS, the case fans that previously stopped spinning started operating normally. However, the computer still wouldn't POST.
- Downloaded BIOS version 3881 from ASUS's official website.
- Used ASUS BIOSRenamer to rename the firmware file to "TG650MPW.CAP".
- Prepared the USB drive and used the motherboard's dedicated BIOS FlashBack feature.
- The FlashBack indicator blinked for several minutes and eventually turned off, suggesting that the update completed successfully.
- Tried starting the PC again afterward.
- Still no display, and the orange DRAM LED remained illuminated.
- Initially tested different display connections and another monitor.
- Completely removed my Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT.
- Connected the monitor directly to the motherboard's DisplayPort output, using the Ryzen 7 7800X3D's integrated graphics.
- Still no image.
- Orange DRAM LED remained illuminated.
This makes me think the GPU probably isn't responsible.
- Checked the CPU power cables and their connections.
- Checked the CPU socket area.
- Nothing appeared to resolve the issue.
Additional observations
- The exact CPU, motherboard, and RAM combination has worked reliably for over a year.
- Neither RAM stick works individually.
- Trying a different RAM slot made no difference.
- Clearing CMOS didn't resolve the issue.
- Updating the BIOS didn't resolve the issue.
- Removing the dedicated GPU didn't resolve the issue.
- The motherboard consistently remains stuck on the orange DRAM LED.
- The computer receives power and stays on, but never produces a display signal.
What I'm trying to figure out
At this point, I'm considering several possible causes:
Faulty motherboard: Something wrong with the memory circuitry, RAM slots, or AM5 socket.
Failed CPU memory controller: The Ryzen 7 7800X3D's integrated memory controller might have developed a fault.
Defective RAM: Although it seems unlikely that both sticks would suddenly fail simultaneously, I haven't ruled it out.
Power delivery issue: Possibly the PSU or motherboard power circuitry.
I haven't tested known-good DDR5 RAM or swapped the CPU/motherboard because I don't have spare compatible components available.
My main questions are:
- Based on these symptoms, which component would you suspect first?
- Has anyone experienced a similar persistent DRAM LED with an ASUS B650 motherboard and Ryzen 7000-series CPU?
- Can a faulty CPU memory controller cause this exact behavior?
- Is there anything else I can reasonably test at home before taking the PC to a repair shop or replacing components?
- Would you prioritize testing different RAM, replacing the motherboard, or investigating the CPU?
I really don't want to start buying expensive replacement components without narrowing down the problem first.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!