Hey everyone, I need some advice before I start replacing parts on my PC. It powers on fine, with the fans spinning, but there's no display on the monitor and nothing lighting up on my keyboard. I can't get to the POST screen either. It was working briefly with some tweaking after a thorough cleaning, but things have gone downhill since then. Here's the timeline of what's been going on:
It all started when I turned the PC on and noticed no display and peripherals not responding. After cleaning out a lot of dust and reseating the RAM, I managed to get a signal to the monitor for a short time, but then it was lost. I've tested each RAM stick individually in all slots, and at one point, I found a combination that booted consistently. However, adding a second stick caused it to stop booting again, and now the original combination doesn't work anymore.
Currently, the fans spin, but there's still no display or keyboard lights, and they seem to be running slower than before. I even reset the CMOS but that didn't change anything. Here's what I've done so far: cleaned everything out, reseated RAM multiple times, tested each RAM stick and slot, performed a power drain with the CMOS reset, and tried a minimal boot setup with just the CPU, one RAM stick, and GPU. I've double-checked all power cables too. On top of that, the SSD has a red blinking light, which makes me wonder if that's relevant.
I'm leaning towards a failing PSU or maybe an issue with the motherboard or RAM slots. Does anyone have thoughts on whether this sounds like a PSU failure, a motherboard/RAM slot issue, or if there's something else I might be overlooking? I'm about to get a new PSU, but I wanted to double-check beforehand. Thanks for any guidance!
3 Answers
Have you tried booting with just the essentials? Disconnect everything except the CPU, one RAM stick, and the GPU. If it boots, add components back one at a time. It might also be worth reseating all power connections just to ensure they're snug and clean. It’s a tedious process, but it always helps to rule things out one by one.
Your symptoms do hint at possible PSU issues, particularly if the fans are inconsistent or run slower. If you have another PSU to test with, I’d try swapping it out to see if it resolves the display problem. Power issues can often cause peripherals to not respond, and sometimes the motherboard can also be the culprit. If the issue persists after testing the PSU, you might need to look deeper into the motherboard and RAM slots.
It sounds like you might be dealing with a RAM issue. Since you got a consistent boot with one stick, I recommend testing that particular RAM in different slots to see if they’re functioning correctly. I’d also use MemTest86+ to check for errors on your memory sticks. This tool can help you determine if any of your RAM is failing, so you don’t mix working and faulty modules. If it fails in another slot, it might indicate an issue with that slot or the motherboard itself. Let us know what you discover!
Thanks for the insight! I’ll get MemTest86+ set up and run some tests as soon as I can. I hope I can get back to booting, but it’s been tricky since I added the second stick.