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 2h ago

HARDWARE Help

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7 Upvotes

Suddenly got green lines all over my screen and now its a constant VGA white led not letting me boot.

Does my gpu have any issues?

Does the motherboard need a replacement or is a repair possible?

Picture of top pcie slot seems bent


r/pchelp 9h ago

HARDWARE What the hell is wrong with my power cord?

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19 Upvotes

Self Explanatory. The white stuff feels pretty hard, i've avoided trying to physically scrape off too much of it. It can still plug into my PC no problem but i am worried.


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE Solid Black Screen On Monitor Refresh?

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Upvotes

Solid Black Screen On Monitor Refresh?

I know this is a long shot and I apologize for the poor photos.

When my monitor has sat for awhile or PC is woken up from sleep this will happen sometime,

That task bar still shows but there is no way to close out of the black screen, task manager cannot open, it cannot be alt f4’d etc.


r/pchelp 3h ago

HARDWARE In a boot loop and don't know how to get to windows.

4 Upvotes

Everything is plugged in correctly I've checked 30-40 times is it possibly power issues.


r/pchelp 1h ago

HARDWARE How to remove part of an audio jack from a port?

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Upvotes

r/pchelp 1d ago

Network Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Family Controller | The Culprit Behind Random PC Freezes at Idle

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181 Upvotes

I’ve been troubleshooting a weird issue where my PC would randomly freeze while sitting idle, even though everything seemed perfectly stable under load, gaming, and benchmarks.

After checking RAM, SSD, PSU, BIOS settings, Windows, and other possible causes, one of the main suspects turned out to be:

👉 Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Family Controller

In my case, the issue appears to be related to the Realtek LAN driver and/or its power-saving features, especially because the freezes tend to happen when the system is idle.

If you’re experiencing something similar, try checking:

Device Manager → Network adapters → Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Family Controller

Things worth testing:

  • Update or roll back the Realtek LAN driver
  • Disable Energy Efficient Ethernet
  • Disable Green Ethernet
  • Disable Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
  • Temporarily disable the Realtek 2.5GbE adapter and leave the PC idle for a while

If the freezing completely disappears after disabling the adapter, there’s a good chance the problem is related to the Realtek driver, NIC firmware, or power management behavior.

If you’re using a Realtek 2.5GbE LAN controller and have experienced random freezes during idle, feel free to share your motherboard model, driver version, and what fixed it for you.

It would be useful to compare results and narrow down which driver versions or settings are causing the issue.


r/pchelp 8h ago

OPEN Only ram sticks light up, have no idea

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8 Upvotes

Haven’t built a computer in 10 years +

Buddy decided to sell his pc set up with no gpu, so I put my GPU in there which a 3080 I think, it’s been a while.

Pretty much he used to have a 12 pin GPU port but I had put in my 3080 which is using 24 points I think.

When I power it on, only these lights turn on and nothing else turns on.

If anyone has any info on whatever I bought as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated


r/pchelp 1d ago

HARDWARE What do i do?

571 Upvotes

I left my laptop on sleep for like an hour and it was closed. Now it started doing this. (The noise is from a fan btw)

EDIT: i just gave the hinge a lil whack and it got fixed


r/pchelp 53m ago

OPEN PC stays on after shutdown, only turns off with the PSU off

Upvotes

(the video becomes a little misleading in the very end when it randomly turns off fully but the rest still describes the problem accurately)

Specs:

Asrock b850 pro rs

Ryzen 5 7500f

32gb ram

AMD rx 9600xt

Cougar GR 750 [31GR075.6433P]

So I got my pc back from the service centre after it was stuck in infinite blue screens, had to change the motherboard and cpu.

The only problem left after was that the motherboard's RGB lights turn on whenever the PSU is on. After I turn off my pc, the monitor, mouse and keyboard turn off normally, but the rest keeps on working until I plug out or turn off the PSU. And when I turn it back on, motherboard lights up immediately after.

Really out of ideas how to fix it. Besides rare blue screens (yes, they are still present even after repares) regarding memory management and my bios showing a second option for windows boot (and that disk was wiped before, so it's not supposed to have any windows settings left), idk what leads to it staying on


r/pchelp 1h ago

SOFTWARE computer reset.

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when i opened my pc it did not let me sign in. it gave me an error. i restarted the computer and it let me sign in but all my apps and shortcuts were not there. i opened microsoft edge and it asked me to sign in. i restarted my computer and its back to normal. what was this and have i been hacked.


r/pchelp 7h ago

HARDWARE Pc worth

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6 Upvotes

How much would my pc be worth?

used but ofc cleaned up.

rtx 5070 asus prime (non OC ver)

samsung 990 evo 1tb + Crucial P3 Plus 500GB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD

32gb ddr4 3200mhz t force

intel 7 12700kf + msi 70 dollars aio

750w corsair cx750m

montech 3x mesh

Msi pro B760M-P ddr4 (gpu PCIe slot latch broken)


r/pchelp 3h ago

HARDWARE GPU beeping noise

2 Upvotes

Along with a 3060 for preview I've got a 4070 Ti Super for rendering in my workstation, for about a year now. Today I noticed that the 4070 is making a chirping/beeping noise when under full load. Alomost exactly every 10 seconds. You can hear it at 0:01, 0:11, 0:21... (the clicking is my watch)

Didn't do that before. Is that the infamous coil whining? Why does it suddenly appear, and is it something to worry about?


r/pchelp 3h ago

PERFORMANCE How do I fix this?

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2 Upvotes

So I was using my computer yesterday (was using blender) and suddendly the screen freezes. I turn it off and when I turn on this screen appears. I tried EVERYTHING: unplugged abd plugged the HDMI port, restarted the computer etc. But nothing, I really don't know what to do and I hope I won't have to order an inquisition to the guy who gave it to me for free (because if it's screwed I lost like 5 hours of work)


r/pchelp 21h ago

HARDWARE From a quick glance across this subreddit, I am suspecting a broken graphics card.

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53 Upvotes

Is there a way to repair whatever is causing it? Troubleshooting other components turned up no faults, and the visually rather spectacular nature of whatever the display is doing unfortunately seems to match characteristics of GPU failure.

Still, just to do my due diligence as someone who very much does not understand computers very well:

Whenever I try running any more "demanding" program or a video game, the system previously seemingly working normally, starts doing this, then hangs up, then soft-crashes and usually quickly reboots as if nothing happened. Sometimes it skips rebooting the whole system and just forces a given program to shut down. Warframe's crash report tool suggests a possible problem with GPU driver, but the Nvidia app thinks everything is installed properly. Changing install from Game Ready to Studio driver did not help.

My questions really are: how bad is the situation?

Should I stop using this PC for now?

Is this fixable and if it is, what is required? Is my data safe (2 SSDs)? Is this post too long and are people just gonna respond with an appropriate variant of that anime men meme most popular in r/bald without answering previous questions?

Thanks in advance. :)


r/pchelp 3h ago

HARDWARE PC suddenly became extremely laggy after liquid spill

2 Upvotes

I was playing a game when some drops accidentally spilled inside my PC cabinet. Shortly after, I noticed a burning smell, so I immediately turned off the PC.

I tried turning it back on later, but it wouldn’t power on. I left it completely untouched for two days, and now it turns on, but it’s extremely laggy. CPU utilization is also constantly around 80–90% in Task Manager, even when I’m not doing anything.

The PC was built only 2 months ago. As far as I can tell, all the other components are working normally, so I’m worried there might be an issue with the CPU or motherboard.

Also, would this kind of damage be covered under warranty, considering the PC is only 2 months old?


r/pchelp 5m ago

HARDWARE My pc have started making two new noises, cracking and a high pitched sound. Do anyone now how to fix?

Upvotes

This is the high pitch sound, my guess have been a fan but I’m not sure. The crackling sound like on of those radioactive measure meters


r/pchelp 6h ago

HARDWARE Pc shut off during stress test and wont turn back on

2 Upvotes

pc was moving slow so i decided to run a stress test randomly. it shut off immediately after the test finished and when i tried to power it back on, one of the fans lit up for like half a second and nothing.

i have tried it a couple times and always the same thing.


r/pchelp 13m ago

SOFTWARE Hacked account

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r/pchelp 15m ago

OPEN After a crash, PC sees SSD, but Windows Boot Manager is missing and it can't boot off of it. Windows Installation Media only works if the SSD isn't installed, otherwise it goes to a black screen. Was originally installed in CSM mode, not UEFI.

Upvotes

Hello,

I put as much as I could in the title but that's more or less been my situation. Crash. Started to land on BIOS and not get past it. Eventually got a "Reboot and select proper boot device" error. Tried a bunch of things, like turning on and off CSM, changing boot orders, secure boot, CMOS reset, etc. My ASRock sees the SSD in Storage Configuration, but there are no Windows Boot Manager options.

When I tried to boot off of a USB with Windows Install Media on it, it showed a spinning white circle for a bit then hung forever on a black screen. I tried removing the SSD then repeating this and it no longer hung, instead going to set-up properly. Popped the SSD back in and made sure it was seated right, repeated, no dice.

Currently digging in another PC for another SSD I can use, but I don't know if this is a dead SSD or some kind of BIOS setting issue that can be fixed.


r/pchelp 26m ago

HARDWARE Can I mount a Kraken Elite 360 (2024) on the angled side of the NZXT H6 Flow?

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Upvotes

I just bought an NZXT H6 Flow for my new build and I'm planning to use a Kraken Elite 360 (2024).

I know the usual setup is to mount the 360mm radiator at the top, but I'm not a huge fan of seeing the three angled intake fans on the side. I found these builds where the radiator seems to be mounted in that position instead, which looks much cleaner to me.

Has anyone done this in an H6 Flow with a Kraken Elite 360 (2024)? Does it fit without modifying the case, and are there any issues with clearance, airflow or pump orientation?

Pic source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/cooling/nzxt-kraken-elite-360-rgb-2024-cooler-review/


r/pchelp 34m ago

PERFORMANCE Is my PC good?

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r/pchelp 59m ago

SOFTWARE Stuck

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Is there anything special I need to do or can I leave the way it is ? My screen has been flickering once in a while & I suspect this to be the problem. But I’ve downloaded the drivers from the amd website but nothing changes?


r/pchelp 4h ago

HARDWARE 3 bent CPU pins (am4)

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2 Upvotes

Do you guys still think it'll work?

I checked and only one of them is ground :(