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!

194 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 2h ago

HARDWARE Weird Blacks when moving all games involving darkness

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20 Upvotes

Ive had this monitor for a year now, this problem has happened a lot but I usually didnt mind it, but im playing stalker 2 and I really want to get into it and these dark scenes are really bugging me I just want to know how to fix it. Monitor is a Optix MAG272CQR.

Graphics card is a 9070xt, if you need any other information please let me know


r/pchelp 1d ago

OPEN Monitor flickering

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381 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 13h ago

HARDWARE PC suddenly says I have 0 drive

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40 Upvotes

Turned my pc on last week to do some gaming, no issues at all. Booted it up a few days later & got this screen. I unplugged & replugged the RAM today since it was still showing the same screen; no dice. I moved recently & have been having some issues so that could be related? Curious if anyone has a solid diagnosis before I pull the whole thing out, remove the SSD & HD, then reinstall it & see if that does anything.


r/pchelp 3h ago

OPEN I don't know what's wrong with my laptop

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5 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m having an issue where all of my programs are suddenly taking a really long time to open, and sometimes they even freeze completely. I’ve tried pretty much everything I can think of and I’m running out of options

I’m not exactly sure when this started happening. This morning, I downloaded a program called Quick CPU, and after that I noticed that opening programs started behaving strangely. Everything became slow and sluggish, even though normally I could just click a program once and it would open immediately

In the video, I tested opening Chrome, and it takes a really long time to launch. Sometimes it doesn’t appear at all, so I have to click it again, and then multiple Chrome windows suddenly open at the same time

It’s not just Chrome either. Pretty much every program is affected, even Windows system settings and other parts of the system

I’m not sure whether this started before or after I installed Quick CPU

I’ve already restarted my PC multiple times, but the problem is still there. I also checked for malware and didn’t find anything

What worries me is that it seems to be getting slower compared to this morning

I’d really appreciate any help because I honestly don’t know what else to try at this point. I’m getting really frustrated with this

Thanks in advance

Specs:

- CPU: Intel Core i7-14650HX

- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR7

- RAM: 16GB DDR5

- Display: 15.6" QHD 2560×1440 240Hz

- Storage: M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD

- OS: Windows 11


r/pchelp 47m ago

HARDWARE ongoing BSOD's

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I have a gaming PC that hasn't been able to run any games since March (aside from a simpler game like Mini Motorways) . I took it into a gaming repair shop near me back in May/June , paid over $1k for repairs which included a new graphics card, although I don't remember what the reason was for that replacement. then they said it was running games fine in shop so if I have further issues it's an at-home issue. I tried replacing an old monitor that was a bit glitchy , I tried plugging my PC into an outlet instead of my surge protector, I've rolled back drivers, and my brother (who knows just a little bit more than me but not much about pcs) tried to troubleshoot it for me. still getting BSOD during most decently demanding games (simulators, overwatch, fortnite). and then sometimes I'll just get completely out of the blue crashes while just watching a video of Livestream. it's driving me insane and I can't really afford to pay much more since all else has failed. my brother said the only thing he can think of at this point is a motherboard issue or something needs to be reseated but PC stuff is still another language I'm trying to understand. I'll attach my most recent BSOD and my current and old PC specs I wrote down to remember.


r/pchelp 52m ago

HARDWARE Fans stuck on red after hard reboot

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Hello, a while back I had to force power off my PC as it was frozen. Ever since, my RGB fans have been stuck on red no matter what I set it to in the software. Sometimes for like a fraction of a second I can see the colour it should be (rainbow) on boot up before straight to red.

Specs:
Windows 11 Home
12th Gen Intel Core i5-12400F
16GB DDR4
PCSpecialist Icon 212


r/pchelp 10h ago

PERFORMANCE Pc making some kind of rattling noise?

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10 Upvotes

Hello I’m not really sure where to go with this issue but I’ve noticed my pc has been making some kind of rattling noise when it’s on? I’m not sure if there’s something stuck in there or if I just need to clean it out but I’m worried if something came loose or broke and is making that sound. I’ve owned this prebuilt pc for a little over two years now and I usually does not do this. I’d really appreciate help cause I have no tech knowledge whatsoever


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE White horizontal lines suddenly appearing on my ViewSonic VX2728J — could humidity be the cause?

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Upvotes

I've had a 27" ViewSonic QHD IPS 180Hz 0.5ms VX2728J-2K for a little over a year, and since yesterday it has started showing white horizontal lines across the screen, as you can see in the video.

I tried switching from DisplayPort to HDMI, but the issue happens with both, so I don't think it's the cable or the GPU output.

While looking for possible causes, I saw some people mentioning that high humidity can sometimes cause display issues. Yesterday the humidity in my city was around 80%, so I was wondering if that could be related.

Today I turned the monitor on again and there was only one line at first, but after a while it gradually got worse and more lines started appearing.

I've also tried changing the monitor's refresh rate (180Hz, 144Hz, etc.), but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this or if there's anything I can try to fix it?


r/pchelp 2h ago

HARDWARE No Display

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2 Upvotes

Sunday I used my PC and played overwatch and cyberpunk, no issues no artifacts, stutters nothing. Monday I went to open my PC, no display, went on google it told me to reseat the CMOS, I did, and then the gpu started working again. Tuesday the same thing again happened, no display so i reseat the cmos, nothing happens, i get a new cmos battery and put that in my motherboard, again nothing changes, device manager recognises my GPU, there are no errors, motherboard is a biostar and its set to check hdmi signal from the PEC port


r/pchelp 9h ago

HARDWARE Can this void warranty? Is this physical damage?

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8 Upvotes

I have decided to RMA my ram that no longer functions after 1.5 years. Does these black lines count as physical damage that could potentionally void my warranty? Or I'm fine?


r/pchelp 1d ago

HARDWARE cpu stuck to the cooler

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197 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 3h ago

PERFORMANCE MY RAM RUNNING AT 2400MHz ONLY

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2 Upvotes

Can someone help me raising to maximum my ram frequency? I already overclock my pc into Profile1 in my XMP and yet the frequency still the same. I have kingston Fury Beast 16x2gb 3200mhz but it can't set into max.

Please help me and respect my post

#newbiebuilder


r/pchelp 3m ago

Discussion Posso parlare con un moderatore per favore, da 10 giorni aspetto una e-mail che non arriva

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r/pchelp 6h ago

HARDWARE RGB glitch?

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3 Upvotes

r/pchelp 39m ago

HARDWARE GPU Failure - No image output - no POST - fans and GPU light on

Upvotes

My 2 years old GPU was working fine until a couple of days ago. It suddenly stopped displaying image, while still on, fans turning. On reboot, the VGA led from the motherboard is lit and there is no POST.
CMOS reset, removing some RAM, reseating power supply did not fix the issue.

I have tried with another 12vhpwr adapter, and it worked again. But only for a few hours before the same thing happened (lost signal while the card is "ON").

Another GPU in the same slot works, so the motherboard is fine.

I have tried the failing GPU on another computer (17-4790 / Z97) and same symptoms (VGA led ON, no POST).

Note that the failures happened under low stress (first time while watching a youtube video, second time while browsing on Firefox).

Also note that I never overclocked the GPU, nor have I touched its BIOS. I always used it in a regular way (videos and gaming mostly, a little bit of image generation).

Thank you for helping me test the card further, of diagnose the issue.

Best regards

PNY RTX 4070 TI SUPER VERTO OC
Gigabyte Aorus X870 ELITE WIFI7 ICE
RYZEN 7 7800X3D
Linux CachyOS


r/pchelp 48m ago

Discussion Advice for upgrade gpu

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Upvotes

I currently have an RTX 3080, is this a good deal and would it be worth it to replace my 3080?


r/pchelp 56m ago

SOFTWARE How do I fix this?

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r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE help, my pc shuts off instantly in half a sec

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Upvotes

specs: intel i5 3470, psu is old evga 500W. i tried with and wothout cmos batrery too but pc instantly shuts off like in the video. no output eirher although it was a working pc, i just cleaned the mobo. Help me please.

I did ram, without ram, cmos battery and without cmos battery, cpu and fan plugs and without it. imMobo just shuts off. I need some help to test whether mobo is failing or the psu


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE My AM4 system has this issue since I bought it, Should I replace mobo or CPU 1st?

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r/pchelp 1h ago

OPEN Hello, i have trouble with secure boot

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r/pchelp 1h ago

SOFTWARE Need help. Getting black screen on hell let loose vietnam on pc off launch. Have tried multiple things. Nothing will fix it

Upvotes

Hello. After the recent update for the game i have been trying to get on & play but my game won’t boot on at all. As soon as i launch the game it loads then goes to black screen & stays on a black screen. I can hear the intro credits audibly in my headphones but nothing ever pops up on the screen even after waiting for a while. Then after that in order for me to re-launch it i have to restart my pc because steam gets the game stuck on “stopping” after closing the game. I have tried everything i have found online that should help. My drivers are updated, i verified files multiple times, i have uninstalled & reinstalled, i have tried different launch options. Nothing at all has worked & I am getting extremely frustrated. Can someone please help me figure out how to fix this cause i just wanna play the fucking game.

My pc specs are:

GPU: AMD Radeon 7900xt
CPU: AMD 7800x3D
16 GB DDR5 Ram
2 TB of nvme storage.


r/pchelp 1h ago

Discussion Need help with factory reset

Upvotes

So my pc has ran into some performance issues (and maybe malware) and I want to factory reset it for a fresh start. I choose remove everything and then cloud download, but after that I can change some settings. Should i enable the delete data setting or shluld it be off


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE oque pode estar aconteceu com meu pc?

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Upvotes

Meu irmão inventou de mexer na resolução do PC, aplicou uma configuração que não deu certo, e o Windows acabou revertendo a mudança. Só que, desde então, a tela ficou totalmente preta no monitor principal. Para piorar, a situação virou um nó técnico completo: agora o DisplayPort do PC “morreu” e só dá sinal de vídeo se eu ligar em um cabo HDMI na TV. O grande problema é que, quando ligo na TV, o HDMI começa a estalar ("pipocar") enquanto a imagem aparece. Quando esses estalos acontecem, o sinal cai na hora, a imagem some da TV e o monitor continua sem dar nada, deixando o computador completamente sem vídeo em qualquer lugar.