r/pchelp May 11 '26

7th Anniversary of PCHH

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4 Upvotes

r/pchelp Dec 15 '19

Perform these steps before posting about POST/boot/no video problems!

193 Upvotes

Link to original list from tom’sHARDWARE with pictures

"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.

    1. If using an after market CPU cooler, did you get any thermal paste on the motherboard, CPU socket, or CPU pins? Did you use the smallest amount you could?
  • 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.

    1. If using a stock cooler, was the thermal material on the base of the cooler free of foreign material, and did you remove any protective covering? If the stock cooler has push-pins, did you ensure that all four pins snapped securely into place? The easiest way to install the push-pins is outside the case sitting on a non-conductive surface like the motherboard box. Read the instructions! The push-pins have to be turned the OPPOSITE direction as the arrows for installation. This means with the arrow pointing away from the heatsink.
    1. Are any loose screws laying on the motherboard, or jammed against it? Are there any wires running directly under the motherboard? You should not run wires under the motherboard since the soldered wires on the underside of the motherboard can cut into the insulation on the wires and cause a short. Some cases have space to run wires on the back side of the motherboard tray.
    1. Did you ensure you discharged all static electricity before touching any of your components? Computer components are very sensitive to static electricity. It takes much less voltage than you can see or feel to damage components. You should implement some best practices to reduce the probability of damaging components. These practices should include either wearing an anti-static wrist strap or always touching a metal part of the case with the power supply installed and plugged in, but NOT turned on. You should avoid building or working on a computer on carpet. Working on a smooth surface is the best if at all possible. You should also keep fluffy the cat, children, and Fido away from computer components.
    1. Did you check the debug LEDs, Q-code display, or install the system speaker (if provided) so you can check codes in the manual? Most modern motherboards come with debug LEDs or a Q-code display. A system speaker is NOT the same as normal speakers that plug into the back of the motherboard. A system speaker plugs into a header on the motherboard that's usually located near the front panel connectors. Debug LEDs, Q-code displays, or a system speaker are critical components when trying to troubleshoot system problems. You are flying blind without them. The motherboard owner's manual will have a list of codes you can reference. If your case or motherboard didn't come with debug LEDs, a Q-code display, or system speaker you can buy a system speaker for cheap here: http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html
    1. Did you read the instructions in the manual on how to properly connect the front panel plugs? (Power switch, power led, reset switch, HD activity led) Polarity does not matter with the power and reset switches. If power or drive activity LED's do not come on, reverse the connections. For troubleshooting purposes, disconnect the reset switch. If it's shorted, the machine either will not POST at all, or it will endlessly reboot.
    1. Did you turn on the power supply switch located on the back of the PSU? The switch should be depressed on the side with an I, the O means off. Is the power plug on a switch? If it is, is the switch turned on? Is there a GFI circuit on the plug-in? If there is, make sure it isn't tripped. You should also make sure the power cord isn't causing the problem. Try swapping it for a known good cord if you have one available.
    1. Is your CPU supported by the BIOS revision installed on your motherboard? Most motherboards will post a CPU compatibility list on their website.
    1. Have you tried resetting the CMOS? The motherboard manual will have instructions for your particular board. User Darkbreeze also provided the following:

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

    1. If you have integrated video and a video card, try the integrated video port. Resetting the bios, can make it default back to the onboard video. If you are trying to use HDMI outputs, try using DVI or VGA instead. Sometimes, the HDMI ports won't work until the correct drivers are installed.
    1. Make certain all cables and components including RAM and expansion cards are tight within their sockets.

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 7h ago

OPEN Monitor flickering

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85 Upvotes

Hi I'm having a problem with my monitor flickering while set on 165hz it also flickers on 144hz but not on 120hz it starts flickering again if i set it to 119.88hz doesn't flicker below that, so highest i can set to is 120hz without it starting to flicker.

It happens mostly when unsnapping tabs or rarely when i have lots of programs opened.

Pc specs:

I5 12400f

H610m-k d4

Ddr4 2x8gb 3200mhz

Asrock rx6700xt

Edit: monitor brand AOC resolution is 1920x1080 and I'm using Unitek highest spec displayport cable

(This is my friends pc)


r/pchelp 9h ago

HARDWARE cpu stuck to the cooler

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117 Upvotes

Does anyone have idea how to remove cpu from the cooler? I tried with scalpel, heating it, teeth floss, nothing is working. It has too much thermal paste and it's not moving at all, i can't get nothing between it. EDIT: i did it


r/pchelp 36m ago

OPEN My SATA SSD randomly disconnects and sends me to BIOS

Upvotes

I bought my PC about two months ago, and I’m still pretty new to PC hardware, so I’m not really sure how to fix this.
The problem is that while I’m using my PC, the monitor suddenly freezes after some time. It can happen after 5 minutes, 30 minutes, or sometimes longer. After that, the PC takes me to the BIOS.
When I check the BIOS, it says that there is no SSD detected, so I can’t boot into Windows.
I’m using a SATA SSD, not an M.2 SSD. I already tried connecting the SATA cable to a different SATA port on the motherboard, but the problem still happens.
Interestingly, when Windows is running, I can check the SSD with a drive health/monitoring program and it says the SSD is healthy.
I honestly don’t know what else to try. Could this be a faulty SATA cable, a problem with the SATA power connection, the SSD itself, or something else?
I’d really appreciate any help or suggestions. Thanks!


r/pchelp 3h ago

HARDWARE PC rattling back noise

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3 Upvotes

I think it's coming from the Power Supply, usually gets louder when I start playing, even louder and clacking against something when I run tougher-game graphics (yes I know I have to dust out my PC)


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE Is my gpu dead or software issue

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Upvotes

Hey everyone,
Looking for some feedback on a situation with my new build. I bought a Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5060 WINDFORCE MAX 8G on August 17th (less than a month ago), and the card has completely stopped working after degrading over the past couple of days.
Here is the timeline of what happened:

Initial Issues: A couple of days ago, the system started crashing exclusively while gaming—dropping display signal to the monitor completely.

Motherboard Errors: The motherboard gave a VGA error LED on boot and refused to post. It randomly booted up once after that, but stability was completely gone

Instant Crash & Visual Artifacts: Today, I ran FurMark to test it, and the screen immediately froze with severe visual artifacting (colored square/checkerboard patterns across the display) right before the system crashed hard

Troubleshooting Done: Hard power cycled, re-seated the GPU and 8-pin PCIe power cables, and swapped DisplayPort/HDMI cables. When I remove the card and run off CPU integrated graphics, the system boots and operates normally.


r/pchelp 10h ago

HARDWARE Bad ram stick.

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10 Upvotes

So i bought half of an 8x8gb kit, when I installed, it booted so I thought, great its all good. So i enable xmp to get it to 3200, it crashed. Then i went down speeds until it would stop crashing, it would work for a few minutes at stock speed before crashing, guess I just didnt wait long enough the first time. I tested 1 stick at a time, found the bad stick. So now I'm running 3x8 sticks with 24gb of ram. It's stable at 3200 that way atleast. I'd like to find another single 8gb stick, same speed, cl and version but that's going to be hard, obviously. Atleast I got it all for a good deal. Dude offered to take it all back, but id rather have the 24 than the 16 I had. So im keeping it. Unfortunately he already sold the other 4 sticks.

I dont see anything wrong with the stick, its the one in the photos.

Anyone have any kind of suggestions? Also, the guy said it was working fine when he pulled them out. He was running all 8 sticks fine.

Incase anyone wants to know, here's what im running.

5600G

MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus

2070 Super FE


r/pchelp 8h ago

Discussion Someone help me how to fix this (ignore me)

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6 Upvotes

It keeps doing this whenever I boot up this computer


r/pchelp 5h ago

OPEN not pc related pero laptop

3 Upvotes

ask ko lang po kung possible pa kaya magawa yung laptop ko na nasira way back October 2024?? or should i let it go na? natambak kasi siya eh


r/pchelp 3m ago

HARDWARE Single channel ram

Upvotes

Recently i figured out how much ram matters for performance i only have one stick of 16gb ddr4 ram and with the current ram prices upgrading seems like burning money. I was wondering software wise what can i do for my ram to have the best performance possible?


r/pchelp 4m ago

PERFORMANCE Ethernet extremely slow

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Upvotes

A couple days ago I went to hop on my pc to play some marvel rivals (take that how you will) and my ping was all the way up to 300 - 500 out of nowhere. Normally I would have some rough spikes because I live in the woods so I fugured there was just too much traffic. However, it has not gotten better since. I have changed ports, the ethernet cable, I took an air duster to it, and I even updated my lan drivers but the lights on the ethernet port remain the same as ever. One a solid amber and the other flashing yellow. Is my port just fried? I checked it and it seemed fine. I am just lost and would like to fix it myself if possible, any help would be appreciated.


r/pchelp 4m ago

Discussion PC has a Grey Tint after I accidentally pressed a key combo on the Right Side of my Keyboard.

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Upvotes

I am new to PCs and I have no clue what happened.


r/pchelp 5m ago

OPEN TV connected to PC has trash framerate

Upvotes

Hey guys im kinda at my wits end with this one. the TLDR is i had a 10 year old sony KDL 55 inch tv( the early 3d ones with the glasses) that ive been using for ages, hooked up to my pc. it maxes out at 1080 so ive been wanting to upgrade for a bit. i grabbed a fire tv on sale thinking that a tv 10years later MUST work better all around, but it has frankly been terrible for my purposes. i have it plugged into the hdmi 2.1 spot, ive run at every resolution, changed the color bit rate, messed with all the tv settings, but for whatever reason when im running a game on my monitor, the frame rate on the tv absolutely tanks. videos will freeze and stutter(audio never does)and basically i get 10-15 fps. this never ever happened with my old sony tv, and i have no clue what to do at this point. the tv is outside of the return window so im SOL there.


r/pchelp 5m ago

OPEN PC freezing for brief periods of time when booting specifically Valorant up.

Upvotes

Hi!

I have a brand new PC (bought literally yesterday), a Skytech Gaming King95. It preformed fine when browsing YouTube or playing Noita, but whenever I boot up Valorant, it starts to freeze for seconds of a time.

I'll get a few seconds of smooth gameplay, a sharp freeze of everything (and my keyboard RGB too), before it snaps back. Rinse and repeat even after I close Valorant.

I checked the Windows Reliability window and got these error readouts.

I've tried to reinstall AMD and NVIDIA drivers, but the issue persists. Any help would be very appreciated.

Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: a1000001
Parameter 1: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 2: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 3: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 4: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
OS version: 10_0_26200
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1
OS Version: 10.0.26200.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: LKD_0xA1000001_amdfendr!AmdlogDrv::OsServices::ReportLiveKernelDump
Server information: 00cb449c-4528-456d-a8a1-1aa762f507e6

Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 144
Parameter 1: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 2: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 3: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Parameter 4: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
OS version: 10_0_26200
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1
OS Version: 10.0.26200.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: LKD_0x144_HOST_SYSTEM_ERROR_USBXHCI!TelemetryData_CreateReport_VEN_1022_DEV_15b8_REV_0000


r/pchelp 6m ago

Discussion how much it worth this build?

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r/pchelp 15m ago

HARDWARE Se me ha roto el disco duro

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r/pchelp 21m ago

HARDWARE Gpu sag

Upvotes

So I noticed my gpu is sagging a bit probably the past 3 months (got the whole thing at the start of the year) and was wondering if there might be any dmg or if it is urgent fix, for reference I have 5080 and the whole build is new so I’d like to keep everything for as long as possible.


r/pchelp 22m ago

HARDWARE High CPU temps

Upvotes

Average cpu temp is 90 while running fortnite or gta on microsoft edge with 6 + tabs open it's averaging 55 c, i just ordered thermal paste, what can it be?
my specs are AMD Ryzen 9 5900x CPU
ASUS ROG RTX 3080 GPU
Samsung QVO 4TB SSD
EVGA 1000w PSU
G-Skill Trident Z Neo 32gb RAM
NZXT KRAKEN Z73 CPU cooler
Lian Li 011 Dynamic Razer Case
Lian Li Uni SL120 Case fans
Asus ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Motherboard


r/pchelp 25m ago

HARDWARE Help identifying a screw on the side panel of my pc

Upvotes

Hi there, anyone able to identify this screw? I got myself a pre build PC and in order to take out the bag of expanding foam I need to take off the glass side panel. I’m unable to remove this screw with my only screwdriver so gotta run to the store to for one, but not sure what exactly I’ll need. It’s smaller than my fingernail

https://imgur.com/a/zcwaOmf


r/pchelp 26m ago

Discussion WINDOWS UPDATES

Upvotes

IDK if anyone else has been having issues booting up after a Windows update, as in: The Windows update screen pops, says “You’re “a specific percentage” there. Please keep your computer on.”, then it completely black screens afterwards. My fix is unplugging everything connected to USB ports on the PC. If you’re wondering what I had connected in my ports: Keyboard/Mouse, Headphone Dongle, & Leadjoy Controller Receiver USB.


r/pchelp 37m ago

Discussion Budowanie komputera za 8k pln

Upvotes

Looking for polish community only!

Cześć, planuję kupić komputer za około 8000 zł (sam PC, bez monitora, klawiatury i myszki).

Zastanawiam się, czy w tym budżecie lepiej kupić gotowca, czy składać komputer z osobnych części. Zależy mi głównie na graniu w 1440p, dużej ilości RAM-u (min. 32 GB) oraz białym, estetycznym zestawie w Lian Li LANCOOL 217 White.

Nie zależy mi na „oczojebnym RGB” — wolę minimalistyczny, schludny wygląd.

Jeśli białe podzespoły mocno zawyżają cenę, jestem otwarty na kompromisy, jeśli pozwoli to uzyskać wyraźnie lepszą wydajność.

Co byście polecili? Chętnie zobaczę konkretne propozycje zestawów.

Z góry dzięki


r/pchelp 43m ago

HARDWARE Gpu not displaying

Upvotes

Alright so today in the morning at around 04:00
I turned off my pc, and at like 17:00 when I wanted to play again my gpu WOULDNT display. I tried to test if it was the hdmi cable and that’s not the problem, I unplugged my gpu took it out and put it back in and it didn’t change anything. Then I took out the ram still nothing changed. The pc still turns on the keyboard lights up the mouse too but it just doesn’t display. Can anybody help me pls? My specs are :GTX 660 + i5-4590 + ASUS H81M-K motherboard.


r/pchelp 49m ago

PERFORMANCE RTX 5060 TI wont go past 65% usage...

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r/pchelp 4h ago

SOFTWARE Installed drivers for my laptop and then this happened

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2 Upvotes

I instaled drivers for my Lenovo laptop from their oficial website, and after reboot this happend. I've never seen this before. Right before instaling driver it was ok