I replaced the thermal paste on my PC as routine maintenance, and afterward it powers on but never displays an image or appears to complete POST. The CPU, graphics card, and power-supply fans spin, but the keyboard's LEDs never turn on. The mouse, speakers, and headset receive power, and the keyboard works normally when tested on another computer. The monitor and cables also work.
I have tried testing the RAM sticks individually in every slot, booting without the graphics card and drives, using both HDMI and DVI-D, clearing CMOS with the battery and motherboard pins, rebuilding the system several times, trying another power supply, reseating the 24-pin and CPU power connectors, loosening the heatsink, and testing with no peripherals connected. The CPU pins and motherboard socket appear undamaged.
The system uses a Ryzen 3 3100, ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 motherboard, 16 GB of GeIL Orion DDR4, an EVGA GTX 1660 Super, and a Thermaltake Smart M 850W power supply. What is the best way to determine whether the motherboard, CPU, RAM, or another component was damaged or is preventing POST?
4 Answers
Clearing CMOS can require fully removing AC power, disconnecting the power supply, removing the battery or using the clear pins as specified by the manual, and then waiting before reinstalling everything. Afterward, try one RAM module in the board’s recommended slot. If there is still no video or POST response with a minimal build, the motherboard is a strong suspect, followed by the CPU or RAM.
At this point, the most useful next step is testing the CPU and motherboard with known-good compatible parts, or having a repair shop test them. Repasting itself should not cause this unless something was disturbed during disassembly: inspect the socket again under good lighting, check for paste in the socket or CPU contacts, confirm the CPU is seated correctly, and make sure the cooler is not mounted unevenly or excessively tight. Static damage is possible, but leaving a processor sitting out for several minutes does not discharge it or repair anything.
The keyboard is very unlikely to be the reason the computer cannot POST. A motherboard should normally reach its startup checks even with no keyboard attached. Since you already tried booting without peripherals, test with a basic different keyboard only as a quick check, but focus on the core hardware instead.
Build the system in the simplest possible configuration: motherboard, CPU and cooler, one RAM stick, graphics card if the processor has no integrated graphics, power supply, and a motherboard speaker. Disconnect every drive, USB device, and front-panel accessory. The speaker’s beep code, or diagnostic LEDs if the board has them, can help identify whether it stops at memory, CPU, or graphics initialization. Also verify that the display cable is connected to the GTX 1660 Super, since the Ryzen 3 3100 does not provide integrated graphics.
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